dover, I had that post that was moderated last week and before you released it, I could see it in…
Open Thread- Weekend 6 May 2023
- Bumtree #1
- Open Thread – Mon 29 April 2024
- Open Thread – Weekend 27 April 2024
- Nuclear power and the foundational lie
- Open Thread – Anzac Day 2024
Very strange that it would be visible while waiting for moderation.
How could anyone reply to a comment that was pending? today I saw at least one comment in the OT…
dover0beach April 29, 2024 11:20 pm Replies to unapproved comments are not allowedHow could anyone reply to a comment that…
Replies to unapproved comments are not allowedHow could anyone reply to a comment that was pending?
oooooh
Sooner or later …
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bM0wVjU2-k
Third!
Go fourth.
And Johnny Rotten came forth (with much respect to Moses).
And Johnny Rotten came forth
Missed it by that much.
Johannes Leak.
Mark Knight.
Peter Broelman.
David Rowe.
Bob Moran.
Steve Bright.
Graeme Bandeira.
Peter Brookes.
Dave Brown.
Michael Ramirez.
A.F. Branco.
Matt Margolis.
Al Goodwyn.
Steve Kelley.
Gary Varvel.
Henry Payne.
Robert Ariail.
Lisa Benson.
Ben Garrison.
they can’t take it with them is cold comfort to locals getting priced out
SBS
Ravi Lochan Singh, Director of an education agency Global Reach, says ‘uncapped part time work hours’ for international students is one of the reasons why Australia has seen workers arriving as ‘disguised students’.
Thanks Tom.
Tom says:
May 6, 2023 at 4:03 am
Mark Knight, and reading to children by drag queens, I can’t see the point of it, if there is one.
There must be, otherwise why bother?
For an early riser, Sydney is a fantastic town.
reading to children by drag queens, I can’t see the point of it, if there is one.
How different is it to Pantomine?
Kids find that pretty funny.
But, yeah, The Government is bringing 20,000 unassimilable aliens in through the airports every week and buying properties to house them.
Since they don’t want you talking about that, let’s have Trannies in Womens “Sport” and Drag Queen Story Hour to talk about instead.
For those with an interest in history I met a grand-daughter of an interesting military man / politics.
Never heard of him before but an interesting life
Rhodes Scholar, WW1 Lighthorse Palestine (Major & Military Cross), Olympian athlete, married US heiress, Deputy Premier VIC, Fascist for a short time in 30’s, WW2 LTCOL under Gordon Bennett and captured in Singapore, POW, Minister in Menzies Government, Chairman of Melbourne Olympics. Wrote books about his WW1 and 2 experiences.
Immigration must be kept high to keep the stamp duty and capital gains of property turning over.
Low birth rate for decades = low demand now without Immigration = market stagnation or collapse which leads to the biggest problem of all…
The party in power looks bad.
Both sides contribute to this.
… for an early riser…
That’s what the missus and I used to call a quickie before going to work.
It sure is — On a morning like this morning I am blessed each morning to see the dawn seeping over the horizon in dusty pinks and mauves before the sun bursts into a burning blue sky. Yesterday was simply stunning, magnificent Sydney day in Autumn. Buongiorno gatti.
The Leak is a little unfair. Deep down Albo is still an 18yo Trot. The 6 negatively geared houses (or whatever) and a nine digit superannuation balance are just the perks of office.
Bob Moran very dark this morning on the new Rex
And the Anzac bridge being closed, completely messing up our work sites starting time and planning
Anyone read Dissolving Illusions by Suzanne Humphries? It’s about the early vaccine studies. Wikipedia only gives a very brief account of Jenner’s work.
The rules for student visa holders are that they can only work 20 hours per week when their university course is in session. Pretty sure no one is policing this and no doubt some jobs would be cash in hand.
Think of the poor suffering Poms…
Met Office weather: Blistering Spanish heatwave rages on with UK finally set for hot plume (5 May)
Blisteringly hot 17C, ouch! Soon anything over the freezing point will be scorching heat.
“Plasmamortarsays:
May 6, 2023 at 5:55 am”
Brendan O’Neill on Spiked has uploaded a very good Youtube discussion with American author/academic Michael Lind. They talk about Lind’s latest book, “Hell to Pay, How the Suppression of Wages is Destroying America“. They discuss discuss “the crisis afflicting the American working class, the disaster of deindustrialisation and how the woke cultural elite shores up the status quo.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1XHuncC1dk
It’s excellent listening, it applies across the West.
As I understand it, you could come a foreign student, enroll in a course to allegedly train for a job where there was a shortage and then get your PR. What a sick joke. I assume that’s still the case. Canbra is an abomination.
Rough winds shaking the darling buds of May? Happened before.
Seventeen degrees should warrant another ermine wrap.
Yes I listened to that talk last night Cassie. So much of this modern leftist assault on society is essentially class warfare aka bogans shouldn’t have nice things.
40 hours per fortnight was the pre covid rule, then it was made unlimited, dropping back to 48 hours from the 1st of July.
Not surprisingly people were are masquerading as students in order to work full-time.
Doesn’t say how many were here on student spouse visas also working.
I wonder how many of the private tertiary institutions are out and out visa mills?
The Oz has a piece written by the expert fellator himself, Dribbler Sheridan, on his recent hobnobbing with Rishi Sunak in Downing Street. It’s a typical fawning Dribbler piece, read it and vomit. He is a clown.
Further to clowns, the Daily Telegraph is reporting Mrs Clown, aka Olena Zelensky, hobnobbed overnight with foreign royals and world leaders at a Buckingham Palace reception. My oh my, words fail me. Her country at war, the corpses of dead men, women and children scattered everywhere, yet Mrs Zelensky models for fashion magazines, and attends Buckingham Palace receptions and sips champagne. Please don’t tell me there’s nothing wrong here and there’s nothing to see here. It’s ghoulish. Olena Zelensky reminds me of Elizabeth Bathory. And like her husband, Mrs Clown is a fraud.
Oh well, I suppose there’s some logic to all of this, a clown writing a puff piece on Rishi Sunak, and a Mrs Clown attending a Buckingham Palace reception. After all, we do live in a “clown world”.
Nice day here in Sydney.
Chinese travellers voice frustration over Australian tourist visa refusals
West Australian paywalled
Founder of NDIS provider Forward Focused Group tight-lipped on if she still plans to fight charges
Mr and Mrs Clown were appointed by the US State Department. Pay to play. Show biz for ugly people.
America wants this war.
Victoria Police sergeant Bruno Staffieri pleads for job back despite over homophobic comments
A veteran cop dismissed for making racist and homophobic comments online is pleading for his job back — with his police mates labelling the ordeal a “witch-hunt”.
A veteran cop who posted “racist” and “homophobic” comments online has been backed by his police mates who say his dismissal was a “witch-hunt” by Victoria Police.
Sergeant Bruno Staffieri was booted from his job earlier this year after posting a series of “offensive” comments online to express his views about Victoria Police and the LGBTQI community.
Mr Staffieri begged to return to the force at a Police Registrations and Services Board dismissal hearing on Friday flanked by five former and current police officers, his partner and a priest.
The 62-year-old, who argued he was expressing his Christian beliefs, repeatedly told the board he “didn’t mean to offend anyone” and that he “won’t do it again”.
In comments on a Victoria Police LinkedIn post supporting LGBT community members for “WearItPurpleDay” in 2021, Mr Staffieri wrote: “I do not bully or tease or harass these people. I just don’t agree with what they do as it disgusts and repulses me … I hate having it shoved in my face.”
In another comment, on a Daily Mail article about an aboriginal woman who was refused a taxi in Cairns in 2022, the cop wrote: “You people cause your own problems (not all of you). Don’t blame the whitefella.”
Mr Staffieri had also had a dispute with Deputy Commissioner Neil Paterson, the state’s second-highest ranking officer, after he questioned why Victoria Police was only recognised as a “silver” employer at the 2021 Australian LGBTQ+ inclusion awards.
“Great achievement. But if the public knew how much time, effort and taxpayer dollars went into this, they would also be demanding why we didn’t get a gold,” he wrote on Mr Paterson’s post on online police forum, Yammer.
The board heard that a string of comments between the two were then deleted by Mr Paterson after he suggested Mr Staffieri find another job.
The cop was slammed by PRSB president Andrea Lester who listed many of “the 68 rationalisations” Mr Staffieri had given for his “offensive” comments during numerous interviews.
“You were joking … it’s a different police force now … people didn’t make complaints” she said.
But Mr Staffieri’s police buddies said his dismissal was “completely unfair”.
One former colleague and friend, who wished not to be named, said Mr Staffieri was a “victim of evolution”.
“This whole thing is a witch-hunt,” he told the Herald Sun.
“Bruno had a dignified career” and has “always stood up for what’s right”, he said.
“Thirty-seven years of service speaks for itself.”
Another former colleague and ex-detective sergeant accused Victoria Police of “testing the boundaries of freedom of speech”, calling his friend’s posts “colourful”.
“This is a character assassination,” he said.
Inspector Michala Maskell, representing Victoria Police, argued Mr Staffieri should not be reinstated.
She said his behaviour was “absolutely appalling” and had hurt both Victoria Police and the wider community.
“They were simply, hurtful, mean and harmful … (and) not in line with the community of today,” she said.
In referring to his letter of apology to the force, she labelled him “self serving” and said she had “no faith that training in the future will work”.
A copy of a Fair Work complaint submitted by Mr Staffieri following his dismissal will be handed to the board before it hands down its decision.
Herald-Sun – no comments allowed of course
Bugger – Was that due to the late finishing overnight roadworks?
Fair Shakesays:
May 6, 2023 at 3:34 am
And Johnny Rotten came forth
Missed it by that much.
LOL. My forth was in relation to Moses –
And God said unto Moses, “come forth and receive eternal life in heaven” … But Moses came in fifth, and received a toaster.
John Pesutto on expelling Moira Deeming from the VIC Liberals:
“We want to reform the party, we want an inclusive, welcoming party…”
When mention of being inclusive seems always to be linked with excluding someone, one is entitled to question whether it’s about inclusion at all.
Don’t expect to build up the weak by pulling down the strong.
– Calvin Coolidge
Wow to think I actually used to give the Lieboral party my hard earned.
And in case there was any uncertainty as to the message – the frame of the painting reads ‘May he burn for eternity’.
Was that Jimmy Saville in the King’s groin? And the sausages for fingers?
America does not want this war, the Department of State does and the Biden family. Just as America does not want open borders and unlimited immigration, the elites do who depend on low wages to make a profit.
Do you think they’d be in business otherwise?
They’re just doing a purge of dissenters, however mild. See the sacking of the policeman above as well.
Lockstep into da fucha! With a jackboot on a human face.
That broad church is becoming a single aisle chapel.
See the sacking of the policeman above as well.
Reminds me of eastern Europe in the 70s.
Yes, it was Saville. Moran is making an unsavoury connection between the two men. I presume they partied together along with a lot of other notorious nobs and slobs.
From Top Ender’s post:
Can somebody point out the offensiveness of the quoted texts, please?
I am sick to death of this woke garbage.
I take your point Crossie
Which is eloquent enough, in its own way.
Discovered a large lion slug on my back step. Well, I actually stood on it by accident. Made me think about I Cook foods. Does anyone know what happened to the case? It seems to have disappeared down the plug hole.
Thanks Plasmamortar re closure of Anzac Bridge. We are returning to Sydney today & will return a few days later.
Who knew about the closure of the Anzac Bridge AND a rolling closure of the Harbour Bridge & Tunnel over the next few weeks? Nothing that we have seen. Last time Bridge was closed it took us 45 minutes to get from our house 2 minutes from Bridge! We had a birthday bash at Art Gallery to attend. Most guests turned up almost an hour late. NO prior warning that any of us knew.
Always the way.
What begins as a call for tolerance ends with a demand for conformity…or else.
It has been good over the past week to have it confirmed that Clarence Thomas is a corrupt bought-and-paid lackey of the Federalist Society.
Roger has penned a winner. I shall use that!
Just the tip, I promise.
BTW first frost of the year up here this morning on Central Tablelands. Our Scottish Belted Galloways have already got their woolly winter coats – now not so hot for them!
So much rain in the last few months – pasture is still green & long. Husband has even done some last slashing for the season. That – despite having a new tractor refuse to start & being told warranty could not be honoured by a service call for at least 3 weeks. He searched for problem ( a broken bolt which triggered a safety shutdown on PTO) & fixed it himself.
Our neighbour’s old Massey Ferguson never fails. Bloody modern safety technology!
Monty rises from his fetid sheets, hopes Mum doesn’t spot the latest crusty stain and sallies forth to demonstrate once more how, despite an IQ roughly equally to his shoe size, he can still fill in a blog-comment field and hit ‘enter’.
Happy coronation day !
In other big news WHO boss declares pandemic over and Head of CDC Walensky has resigned.
““They were simply, hurtful, mean and harmful … (and) not in line with the community of today,” she said.”
Note those words in bold. We’re now being told what is and isn’t “in line with the community of today“, that’s not our community, it’s their community and we are being officially warned, if we don’t celebrate it, then we will be dealt with. Ask Mark Latham, they’re now resorting to legal warfare. Oh and the next “community of today” is the pedophile community. Make no mistake, the push is on. They’re coming for the children.
We now live under a LGBTQI+ tyranny. No dissent, no dispute, and no disagreement is permitted.
I voted NO to SSM, and I don’t regret for a moment. All of this was predicted. I could see it, Blind Freddy could see it. As for those libertarians and soft “right of centre” wimps who said and still say (because deep down they know they have egg on their faces) that no harm will come out of SSM, well we’re now witnessing in real time the societal repercussions, and this is only the beginning. It will only get worse.
Oh look, the pervert apologist rises from the fetid swamp.
Re resignation of Walensky etc – noticed lots of legal actions beginning OS re mandates, vaccine injuries etc.
“areffsays:
May 6, 2023 at 8:28 am”
Snap areff.
“Yesterday was simply stunning, magnificent Sydney day in Autumn.”
Beautiful yesterday here in the Southern Tablelands. Shaping up to be great today also. Not so great, yesterday was the first frost of the season, today the second. Had to smash the ice on my ducks and geese plastic ponds. They don’t seem to mind the cold though. 😉
And ‘Sunrise’ reported this morning that our new King wants his coronation to reflect inclusion, diversity and unity.
Diversity AND Unity FFS
Pro tip: Diversity Divides – the clue is in the name.
Which means we court all the people who claim to be excluded (the tyranny lobby, the gay lobby, the Muslim lobby etc) and let them tell us who should be excluded – and if that is most of our previous base, and that now abandoned base outnumbers our newly included, then so be it.
“… (and) not in line with the community of today,” she said.
But stitching up a cardinal, shooting fellow citizens with rubber bullets, always answering the hot line to the Premier’s office on the first ring, refusing to investigate Labor mates and arresting pregnant ladies in their kitchens for Facebook posts — all of that is OK.
Very much in keeping with Victoria’s new “community standards”.
areff, excellent comment. Beautifully written.
Cassie, re Mark Latham, if Greenwich goes ahead with his suit, I hope Mark goes for discovery. That would be so funny.
Also, re Farookie’s, (yes, I know but I prefer my spelling) suit against Pauline Hanson, Pauline should send back one line, “Suck my Dick”.
King Egg.
Is this legit?
A 62 year old Sargeant?
Why would he keep working when he coulda retired on an extremely generous pension 7 years ago?
Julie Bishop’s heavily mascara’d eyes still don’t seem to have found what they’re looking for.
Everywhere I click I come to the same photo of her frocking off to a coronation party.
The Chancellor likes a party. Her PR assistant must be busy.
It’s over, Julie. Do you own any cats, yet ? If so they probably need a feed.
Give Julia a ring. She’s staying home tonight with some Tim Tams, though sadly it could be Tams, no Tims.
Here you go Monty.
Sotomayor Took Millions from Ex-Nazi Publisher While Voting on its Cases (4 May)
“We want to reform the party, we want an inclusive, welcoming party”
No conservatives welcome, especially pesky conservative women.
28 degrees in D-Town, with a bit of sweaty 85% humidity which will burn off in the next few hours.
Luvverly.
Damn Auto-corrupt.
The Tranny lobby!
“Mum and dad just suddenly kicked me out of my house and they said ‘go to Australia’ … so I came here for school, and then when I finished school, I helped my parents migrate and I got married and got a job here,” he said.
The Oz OS education/university scam explained in one sentence .. FFS!
Courier Mail reported that Neil Breen of 4BC will be leaving to spend more time with family. Said it had been a tough three years and for part of it had been separated from family in Sydney.
I liked him as good on pretty much all subjects and held Government to account. Only point disappointing was his over enthusiasm for the vaccine and almost counting down to when he would get 5th jab.
Seems he may move to Sydney.
Looking at the comments under article their morning show before 0900 not getting favourable response. Have never listened to it myself.
Meanwhile Peter Costello has given an interview with John Anderson where he talks about over reaction in relation to Covid lockdowns etc. Chairman of Ch 9, SMH and 2GB etc !
That’s pretty lame.
Bertelsmann has had plenty of ownership changes since the Nazi Party ceased to exist [5/30/1945].
Let’s say someone bought Hitler’s childhood home in Linz, Austria?
Do they then become literally Hitler?
And here’s me thinking mutley had OD on Krispy Kremes. Special Ed has
been making up for the usual mutley dribbling excrement so there was no need to hurry back. Tell us about Sotomayor munster or didn’t that come in the talking points?
Reports that Tucker pushed back against Fox’s over early call of some states on election night.
Tucker Carlson recognized that Fox News’ core viewers would be angry over their decision to call Arizona while the polls were still open….. Tucker Carlson asked Bret Baier if there is anything he could do to help stop the Decision Desk from calling more states.
“Is there some way I could help?” Tucker asked. “Obviously I’d never do anything without full approval from the top.”
https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2023/05/texts-between-bret-baier-and-tucker-carlson-show-concern-over-fox-news-decision-desk-calling-arizona-for-biden-too-early-on-election-night/
That’s my problem with Tucker – he *knew* that Fox wasn’t telling the truth, but he folded and went along with it. Thats why I have not watched him since – trust once broken 🙁
To paraphrase the words from the mouth of an AEMO executive yesterday.
‘We have to build in order of six times the current energy generation capacity to move to an equivalent renewable supply.’
Watched her say it.
You’re welcome to, mem.
Mother Lodesays:
May 6, 2023 at 8:49 am
Not to worry ML “the tyranny lobby” is an apt description.
Geoffrey Blainey lost his job for wrong think. That was in the mid 80s.
Someone should tell Forooki she should not be dissing descendants of the great Prophet and possibly Caliph of the Islamic World. I believe the connection is through the marriage of Pedro the Cruel’s daughters to the Dukes of Lancaster and York.
The rules for student visa holders are that they can only work 20 hours per week when their university course is in session. Pretty sure no one is policing this and no doubt some jobs would be cash in hand.
You have to wonder why there are hours worked rules for anything .. how on earth does anyone , let alone incompetent gummint(s), monitor the activity and, more importantly, what are the penalties for breaching your hours .. a stint in the “naughty corner” wearing the ‘dunce” cap .. ? ..
Do you realise how weird you sound, Cranky? Your rhetoric is indistinguishable from homeless people on street corners ranting about the End Times.
You have spent too much time in the weeds. You sound like Riccardo Bosi.
Meanwhile, another scandal came out this week over the Australian Church shielding a rock spider in their ranks. Ho hum, chuck it on the pile.
Every accusation is a confession with you Tory jokers.
Both work.
areff, just now:
The picture wireless also informs me that VicJack Inc is 1500 cops underneath their minimum staffing levels, that recruiting is abysmal and that there’s no sign of it changing.
I have made this assertion before, but will reproduce it here because I still believe it to be true:
People join the cops to lock up shit people who are bothering and/or killing normal people. They do not join the cops to target said normal people.
Enforcing thought-bubble policy developed by a government of the day and spruiked by unelected mid-level bureaucrats, and arresting punters (or not) on the personal whims of a Minister are not, I would have thought, attractants for Joe Normal.
I also hold the humble view that none of the above has anything to do with police work – but that’s what that job entails now (in Vicco at least), and it is therefore no surprise that nobody wants to do it.
Consequently, recruiting standards have burnt to ashes which means they’ll now take anyone, which also means the few they do get will be so god-awful at it that their bosses will wonder why the public don’t trust them.
To whoever it is that runs Victoria – reap it. If you couldn’t see this coming three years ago, you deserve everything you get.
That’s my problem with Tucker – he *knew* that Fox wasn’t telling the truth, but he folded and went along with it. Thats why I have not watched him since – trust once broken
It’s worse than that.
TC was only concerned about his viewing numbers, that’s why Sidney Powell later got a platform, even while Carlson and his cronies knew she was either Controlled Opposition or a Fruit Loop.
Geoffrey Blainey lost his job for writing a book “All For Australia”, criticizing the level of Asian immigration to Australia, in 1984.
Seems like Ralph Babet might be doing ok-
Global warming causes warts.
If You Had To Choose “Ignore Or Believe All Academics On Climate Change”, Which Is Smarter? (4 May)
In my talk at Hillsdale, I emphasized the many sins of academic science, including the quite unbelievable idea that only bad things can happen because of “climate change”. Nothing good is possible. Or nothing good can be admitted, for fear of the academic mob.
If it’s delicious, photogenic, or useful, “climate change” will quash it. If it stings, bites, or is a menace “climate change” will cause it to flourish.
…
My first thought was to run a reader contest: FIND THE THING THAT WILL NOT BE NEGATIVELY AFFECTED BY “CLIMATE CHANGE”.
But I realized that this is an impossible task. For fun, I thought I’d do a few myself. How about, I don’t know, something hilariously stupid, like warts?
Yes: the peer-reviewed paper “The effects of the El Nino Southern Oscillation on skin and skin?related diseases: a message from the International Society of Dermatology Climate Change Task Force” says, “Wart viruses may be susceptible to changes in temperature, a fact that coincides with a significant increase in the prevalence of viral warts during El Nino in Peru”.
…
So. Which way should you bet? Ignore or believe all academics on climate change?
I think the answer is pretty obvious.
Ho hum, chuck it on the pile.
The pile of dickless perverts, eh dickless. Church paedophilia justifies trannie kiddie fiddling; is that your point, retard.
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2023/05/this-can-only-be-good-news-from-victorias-senator-ralph-babet.html-try again
LOL, as Groogs says, that is extremely weak. All SCOTUS justices have book deals, does that mean they should all recuse themselves when setting precedent in literary publishing cases? They refused to take the case anyway.
Meanwhile, over many decades, Clarence Thomas accepted a string of corrupt payments from rich pricks with business in front of the court that is longer than Wembanyama’s arms.
Thanks, KD:
The fascist pig state of Victoria perfectly summarised in two sentences — all made possible because it has more scared little mob fascists per head of population than anywhere else on earth.
There is no actual historical trannie kiddie fiddling being debated here. All you lot are complaining about is the possibility of such in future, because you are so dumb that you don’t understand performance art. You are arguing with a weird-arsed fantasy in your own heads.
Meanwhile, decades of organised crime within the Church to protect rock spiders and enable them to reoffend with new victims… you prefer to ignore it.
Ding Dong the witch is dead?
https://www.michaelsmithnews.com/2023/05/this-can-only-be-good-news-from-victorias-senator-ralph-babet.html
Of course. How can they declare a new one (with their new overarching powers) if they don’t end the old one first.
Don’t think it’s not in the works.
Catturd ™
@catturd2
Truth Bomb.
DC_Draino
@DC_Draino
AOC would *hate* to see this video of Jordan Neely going viral that shows him violently assaulting a man & using the homophobic “F-word” slur about gays and drag queens
Would really hurt her efforts to start race riots
Now we know why he was arrested 40+ times
Thanks Mem.
Like my former profession (medicine), the COVID response was used as a screening test for a ‘new’ type of Police Officer, one who will ‘follow orders’ and collaborate with the government to oppress the people.
Just as Drs no longer work for their patients, Police Officers no longer serve the public – both are now agents of the state to be deployed against the public.
Those who refused, self identified and were weeded out over the last 3 years.
And all SCOTUS justices go on holiday Monty. Do please try to be a little bit consistent sometimes.
This is simply unbelievable. I’ve never heard of the second song but I assume it’s genuine. We’re living in a cesspit.
“Meanwhile, decades of organised crime within the Church to protect rock spiders and enable them to reoffend with new victims… you prefer to ignore it.”
Ah the pervert apologist uses his favourite words..”rock spiders”.
Any condemnation of the organised crime within Labor that protected “rock spiders” for decades? The ALP has a long history protecting various “rock spiders”, and rapists. Or is it because you and your lot prefer to ignore those “rock spiders” because they don’t suit your ideological narrative?
Oh and have you told your wife you’re a pervert apologist?
“Do you realise how weird you sound, Cranky? Your rhetoric is indistinguishable from homeless people on street corners ranting about the End Times.
You have spent too much time in the weeds. You sound like Riccardo Bosi.”
Nah, don’t think so pervert apologist, my rhetoric makes complete sense.
Go dig up some rock spiders.
Just remember, the pervert apologist approves of intimidating, threatening and bashing women.
It’s War: 19 US States fight back against the Woke Banker Cartel
By Jo Nova
Oklahoma blacklists BlackRock and 12 other banks that boycott fossil fuels
We may yet be saved by states in the US that are pulling the pin on the Big Banker Cartel. In this case Oklahoma wrote laws to investigate and ban state investments with banks that boycott the energy sector. They’ve now decided that 13 banks fail the bar, and should be banned from all public business. In response BlackRock and JPMorgan Chase are now dancing to a whole new tune, suddenly protesting that they invest billions in the energy sector. The twisted truth is, that it is no defense at all, it was part of their strategy. Often they used their major voting interest to oust directors and pressure boards to pick up more “woke” ESG policies. These are big targets. JP Morgan Chase is the largest bank in the US and BlackRock is the largest asset manager in the world.
This is excellent news, and we need more. Spread the news. But how did it get to the point where a bank that outspokenly campaigned to end fossil fuels was managing 60% of the state employees retirement funds in a state that is the fifth or sixth biggest oil and gas state in the US? This rort meant the bank managed funds on behalf of people who spent their whole lives working in the oil and gas industry — yet it used their funds as leveraged power to try to destroy their livelihood, to make their energy costs rise and to undo their democratic choices.
Make no mistake, the banker money isn’t following the fashions, it is creating them. The way to win is to turn off the tap…
Thanks to NetZeroWatch
Any condemnation of the organised crime within Labor that protected “rock spiders” for decades? The ALP has a long history protecting various “rock spiders”, and rapists.
The difference is this:
The ALP has never denied that it is a criminal organisation infested with Rock Spiders.
No pig aviation either.
Hey Monty you don’t happen to be German by any chance?
Journalism is Left-Wing as Profession Requires Critical Thinking, State Broadcaster Boss Says (5 May)
Uncritical unthinking more like. The baaing of the journalistic sheep at the ABC is endless.
Mischief
@4Mischief
Hungary’s Prime Minister (Viktor Orban) says that if Trump were President there would not be war in Ukraine or Europe
Fauci and Pfizer Lied to Trump About COVID-19 Vaccine, Claims Navarro
Do you think it’s unreasonable for the authorities to require police checks (e.g. a working with minors card) of those engaged in this “performance art”?
Not all of them go on free holidays paid for by billionaires with Nazi memorabilia collections. Just the conservative ones.
You’re a bit thick, aren’t you Bruce.
Biden Opens Doorway for 350,000 Migrants from Mexico
Relevant to the Non-Stop emails & Indian Call Centre Phone calls re NSW Govt replacement Gas HWS with $330 Electric Heat Pump HWS- My Electricians & Gas HWS/Spa people say avoid – yeah only $330 with NSW Govt Subsidy. but the break down quickly & are expensive to replace – “Stay with Gas HWS they say”
Brits forced to spend £22,000 ripping out gas boilers and installing heat pumps. ‘Absurd’
SCRAPPING GAS BOILERS and forcing everyone to replace them with expensive electric heat pumps could cost homeowners more than £20,000 each and drive up their energy bills as well, experts warn.
On top of the “eye-watering expense” of installing heat pumps in tens of millions of homes, the running costs are likely to be higher, too. The Government must reconsider its “absurd” plans which could cost taxpayers an incredible £115 billion in total, energy experts say.
As we reported on Wednesday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson wants 600,000 heat pumps installed every year by 2028, as part of his drive “net zero” carbon emissions drive.
But the Government’s infrastructure chief Sir John Armitt said most people would refuse to spend between £5,000 to £15,000 on a heat pump when a new gas boiler costs just £1,500.
His conclusion? Households must be forced to make the switch by BANNING the sale of new gas boilers.
The International Energy Agency has already said that gas boiler sales should cease after 2025, if the UK is to hit its net zero target.
The Government has indicated that it is likely to ban gas boilers in all newly built homes from that date.
This triggered a furious response from Express readers, who slammed the “bonkers” idea and said people cannot afford the expense.
We contacted energy experts and they agree. The Government’s scheme will cost a fortune, and YOU will be footing the bill.
“Some of the options put forward to achieve net zero homes involve eye-watering sums of money, which frankly, people do not have.”
Installing a heat pump as an alternative to a gas boiler will cost at least £10,000 and that is only the start of the expense, he said.
Those living in period or poorly insulated homes might have to pay another £12,000, to retain the heat generated to make them work efficiently. This could lift the total cost to around £22,000.
“These absurd sums might mean nothing to the millionaires suggesting heat pumps are the future, but to ordinary hard-working families, they are beyond reach,” Foster said.
He said there’s a much cheaper option. Gas networks plan to blend low carbon hydrogen with natural gas, allowing us to continue using our existing boilers for now, and switch to zero carbon “hydrogen-ready” boilers later.
Even heat pump manufacturers are sceptical about scrapping gas boilers. Christian Engelke, technical director at Viessmann, said “heat pumps are not the only game in town”.
They will not suit every UK property, and it is unrealistic to expect the nation, its heating industry or electricity grid to embark on a mass rush to adopt heat pumps. “Especially as the industry is struggling to meet demand right now.”
Engelke called for a mixed approach, including hydrogen boilers, hybrid heating systems, and fuel-cell boilers. “This is on top of improving leaky and inefficient housing through insulation.”
Yet the Government looks set to press ahead with its heat pump plans and the nation’s 26 million gas boilers are living on borrowed time.
Get back to us in February. Winter in the north is great – all 3 months. Summer in Perf is an acquired taste.
That seems reasonable if they are interacting one on one. If it’s a crowd performance, no, not necessary.
Do you think buskers and other street performers need working with children checks?
New World Odor™
@hugh_mankind
It’s astonishing how easily some people fall for woke ideologies – like this lady for instance.
The gender mind virus is spreading.
New World Odor™
@hugh_mankind
Celtic fans voice their thoughts of King Charles’ coronation:
“You Can Shove Your Coronation up Your Arse”
I’d also suggest shoving Coronavirus up in there as well!
Bob Moran’s ‘toon above is superb.
Nicely distills my opinion of that disgusting inbred big eared hypocrotical imbecile, who in any just world would have already gone the way of the Romanoffs and the Bourbons.
The Savile codpiece is a functional addition as well as a blunt reminder.
Meanwhile, over many decades, Clarence Thomas accepted a string of corrupt payments from rich pricks with business in front of the court that is longer than Wembanyama’s arms.
That’s a lie dickless; and the point is sotomayor adjudicated where she had a vested interest. Thomas didn’t.
There is no actual historical trannie kiddie fiddling being debated here
Hundreds of families could sue transgender clinic Tavistock for medical negligence
One of many law suits. Kiddie fiddling is not just fat drag shitheads waving their lumpy arses in front of the kids. It also includes the widespread abusive medical and hormonal intervention by activist teachers, medicos etc.
You’re such a retard.
We’ll bear that in mind.
Yeah nah cohenite, you are mistaken there. Gender reassignment is not pedophilia. Words mean things.
Still love Perth summers but they were better in the 1990’s when we had more days over 40C.
Health and Human Services Folds Like a Cheap Suit Over Threat to Deny Catholic Hospital Accreditation
The Department of Health and Humans Services has folded on its demand that Catholic hospitals in Tulsa-based St. Francis Healthcare System extinguish the Eternal Flame candle burning it is chapel Confronted with a lawsuit that it was doomed to lose over an indefensible position contrary to law, HHS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed to grant a waiver to the bizarre inspection finding that concluded that a single beeswax candle on a wall sconce enclosed in glass constituted a fire hazard to patients.
Wednesday, I reported on how HHS was poised to pull the accreditation of the St. Francis Healthcare System; see Xavier Becerra and HHS Threaten to Strip Catholic Hospital of Accreditation Over Chapel Candle. This hospital network, the twelfth largest in the nation, runs five hospitals in eastern Oklahoma serving about 400,000 patients annually. Many of the patients use Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP to cover medical expenses. To retain accreditation and the ability to serve patients reliant on Federal programs, the hospital had to pass a safety inspection.
Because the hospital is Catholic, it has a chapel. The chapel has a candle that burns 24-hours a day.
Under Canon Law, the candle has to meet certain specifications (like 50% beeswax). It can’t be replaced with a light bulb or an emoji.
Whether the inspector had a hard-on for Catholics or he’d been told to f*** with the “mackerel snappers” is a matter of speculation.
But the inspector made a beeline for the chapel and cited the hospital for a fire code violation even though the candle had been in the same place since 1960 without complain or conflagration.
The hospital appealed. HHS denied the appeal and gave the hospital the choice between shuttering the chapel or keeping accreditation. It was at this point that The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty intervened.
Just three days after sending its “pre-litigation” letter to HHS, which included the zinger,
“If we go to court, you will lose. I write in the hope that you will see reason (or at least the law) and we can skip to the easy part,” HHS beat a hasty retreat.
There is no doubt that the Biden White House and its parent organization, the Obama administration, are implacably hostile to Christianity in general and public devotion to it specifically.
It was Barack Obama who tried to convert the Constitutional Freedom of Religion into FDR’s Freedom of Worship.
We have to be constantly on guard or this liberty will be snuffed out by the use of the regulatory power of the administrative state.
Many municipalities do in fact require such if the busker or street performer’s act is directed at children.
Do you suppose the councillors who require this are merely the victims of their own”weird-arsed fantasy”?
Knuckle Draggersays:
May 6, 2023 at 9:05 am
The picture wireless also informs me that VicJack Inc is 1500 cops underneath their minimum staffing levels, that recruiting is abysmal and that there’s no sign of it changing.
I was talking to a QLD Cop at an RBT. I was in my work uniform and he asked me about our recruiting (beating them off with a stick). He said they were 50% under their target. He was an old school beat copper.
Much the same as Vic, some QLD cops didn’t cover themselves in glory during the scamdemic hysteria. Also, the vaxx requirements were so strict for them. I think they dropped the mandate recently but they lost a lot through sackings and are still punishing those they reinstated, so they cut off their nose to spite their face.
I would guess that the type of people that refused the vaxx are not the type they want to recruit. They want the sort you mentioned KD.
Thomas has been on the majority side of a long procession of rulings opening up US politics to dark money from megarich donors like his old mate Harlan Crow. Shelby County was probably the most famous, there were many others before and after with Citizens United another big one.
Thomas has a vested interest in keeping his rich mates happy so they continue to give him corrupt payments and gifts. It is blatant corruption of the worst kind. It is hard to see how much more corrupt it could be. Swamp creatures all.
Gaborsays:
May 6, 2023 at 4:44 am
Tom says:
May 6, 2023 at 4:03 am
Mark Knight, and reading to children by drag queens, I can’t see the point of it, if there is one.
There must be, otherwise why bother?
Grooming new recruits.
Mutley and critical thinking is the same as a pile of poo and knowing that it stinks when you smell it. The left sprinkle it with glitter and admire it as a work of art.
My employer requires that I have a Working with Children card even though I only visit schools to access the headmasters office or staff rooms. Generally much less interaction with children than a tranny “guest” story teller.
Nailing Elephant Seal snot to the wall.
Her body, her choice!
What if she’s doing Meth?
Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!
It’s hard to believe the troll has children of his own. Poor kids.
Right, so if the performance is directed one on one at children, check required, job done.
That is a far cry from the current situation where police refuse to protect the performers so they are effectively banned. So much for liberty.
I happen to be very fond of windburn.
Vida Reid: Founder of NDIS provider Forward Focused Group tight-lipped on if she still plans to fight charges
Sarah Steger
The West Australian
Fri, 5 May 2023 12:17PM
Sarah Steger
Alleged NDIS fraudster Vida Reid leaves Perth Magistrates Court. Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian
A woman accused of ripping off hundreds of thousands of dollars destined for people with disabilities has remained tight-lipped on whether she still intends to fight the charges.
Vida Reid, founder and executive director of Forward Focused Group an Armadale-based disability provider, appeared in Perth’s Central Law Courts on Friday morning on allegations she used her position to defraud almost $250,000 from the NDIS by submitting false claims as well as overcharging clients.
Alleged NDIS fraudster Vida Reid leaves Perth Magistrates Court. with lawyer Hubert Gawley (left). Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian
Ms Reid is also accused of bullying harassed and intimidating some of her clients.
The 35-year-old, who has become as notorious for her fashionable outfits as the charges she is facing, wore a hound’s tooth blazer, slim-fitting black pants and knee-high black leather stiletto boot ensemble.
Her outfit was completed with a trendy black scarf draped over her left shoulder, a diamond-encrusted crucifix around her neck, and black Versace sunglasses to shield her eyes from waiting TV crews as she left court.
Ms Reid was charged with two counts of dealing in proceeds of crime and two counts of general dishonesty causing loss following a major investigation involving multiple agencies after the National Disability Insurance Agency, Federal police and WA Police, began looking into the not-for-profit last year.
When Ms Reid first faced court in October, she was granted bail on a $100,000 surety and a personal undertaking of the same amount and was ordered to report to police three times a week.
A month later, Ms Reid — who was nominated for last year’s AusMumpreneur awards — vowed she would fight the allegations against her, telling reporters outside court she would be pleading not guilty.
It came after her lawyer, Nick Scerri, told the court the matter would be going to trial
Ms Reid has not formally entered any pleas.
Alleged NDIS fraudster Vida Reid leaves Perth Magistrates Court. Credit: Jackson Flindell/The West Australian
Then in December, she returned to court again, this time in the hopes some of her bail conditions would be relaxed.
At the time of that hearing, which he granted. Mr Scerri asked Chief Magistrate Steven Heath to reduce the number of days his client had to front a police station to one day a week
Ms Reid brushed off questions from The West Australian on Friday when asked whether she would be entering a plea.
It came after prosecutor M’mbijiwe Gatwiri asked the court for more time to gather disclosure, including a forensic analysis report that was still outstanding.
Ms Reid’s lawyer, Hubert Gawley, did not oppose an adjournment, and the matter has been listed for July 21.
According to its website, Forward Focused is a family-owned and operated registered NDIS service provider in Perth which provides a range of services and programs that supports people and families who live with a disability.
Following the charges, the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission suspended the company and issued a notice of intent to revoke its registration.
Bourne1879says:
May 6, 2023 at 5:55 am
For those with an interest in history I met a grand-daughter of an interesting military man / politics.
Never heard of him before but an interesting life
Rhodes Scholar, WW1 Lighthorse Palestine (Major & Military Cross), Olympian athlete, married US heiress, Deputy Premier VIC, Fascist for a short time in 30’s, WW2 LTCOL under Gordon Bennett and captured in Singapore, POW, Minister in Menzies Government, Chairman of Melbourne Olympics. Wrote books about his WW1 and 2 experiences.
Sir Wilfred Kent-Hughes?
Speaking of which:
To outdoor pursuits!
Tintarella di Lunasays:
May 6, 2023 at 6:55 am
Bob Moran very dark this morning on the new Rex
Almost getting to Rowe Standard?
No…children is plural.
It really annoys me when TV people reporting on the coronation comment that Charles is about to become king. He became king when his mother died, this is the formal confirmation of that fact. The sad fact is that their producers are even more ignorant yet these people are describing the world to us even when they are not deliberately lying.
Yeah nah cohenite, you are mistaken there. Gender reassignment is not pedophilia. Words mean things.
Sounds like a viable defence; send it off to the litigants: dickless : Gender reassignment is not pedophilia your honour, it’s just words. His/her/it honour: well argued dickless; case dismissed.
Disappointing to read about The Australian club troubles in Teh Paywallian. A chap doesn’t like to see this.
Oooohhhhhhhh I get it, cohenite.
You have shit for brains.
Carry on.
Only if you let them into your lounge room.
😀
They do, mOron.
How about child abuse and those who support it? Like you. That’s exactly what gender reassignment is in children. You really are a sick little fat fuck. Does your better half know you come on here advocating for creeps and pervs having access to kids?
Why is my comment in moderation, dover?
Watch The Other Hand – The Potential for One Million Illegal Alien Migrants Expected to Swarm the U.S. Southern Border, May 11th With Biden Ending Title 42
May 5, 2023 – Sundance
On or around May 11th, will the U.S. launch the new spring offensive in Ukraine? Will Fulton County Georgia release unseal their indictment of Donald Trump? Will Jack Smith release his assault upon the former president? Will Main Justice finally release, through the USAO in Delaware, the indictment of Hunter Biden?
These are the questions we should ask as approximately 1,000,000 economic migrants are positioned to swarm the U.S. southern border on the same date. They will need a distraction, a BIG distraction.
What we can anticipate is that on/around May 11th something big will be delivered as part of that distraction.
The people in command and control of the Biden administration will need to coordinate something big to cover for their May 11th removal of Title 42, the public health authority currently being used to slow illegal alien migrants from entering the U.S.
They have already positioned Vice President Kamala Harris as the sacrificial lamb to take the blame, via her appointment as border czar. Harris essentially representing a pre-deployment of a defensive narratives.
The United States is about to be crushed by the largest mass migration of illegal aliens in history. Yeah, you can guarantee there’s something planned to distract everyone from the reality of a purposefully collapsed border.
The only question remains, what will it be?
m0ntysays:
May 6, 2023 at 8:22 am
It has been good over the past week to have it confirmed that Clarence Thomas is a corrupt bought-and-paid lackey of the Federalist Society.
And your comments on Sotomayor affair?
Thanks dickless. The inverse rule applies to tards like you: the opposite to everything you assert is the truth.
It seems you are out of step with community expectations on the protection of children, monty. Might warrant some introspection and correction, wouldn’t you agree?
I just can’t see the Coronation helping the quiche. Which is a shame because a well made quiche Lorraine and salad makes a delightful light lunch in summer.
Gold Coast seat of Fadden to face a by-election.
Meanwhile, mUttley waddles in and denounces an uppity negro, while loudly expressing his enthusiasm for the mutiliation of children.
Grate work, you festering lump of lard. You’re an adornment to this blog, but not in the way you imagine.
Mother Lodesays:
May 6, 2023 at 8:49 am
the tyranny lobby
Damn Auto-corrupt.
The Tranny lobby!
Hmmm, tyranny and tranny are almost homophones. How appropriate.
Not at all, Roger. Mums keep taking their kids to drag story time without complaining about police checks on performers, how about asking their opinions? Or are their views not in line with your concept of “community”.
Anyone working with children should have a WWC approval. Anyone.
It’s quite easy to get one. I can’t see a problem for the drag queens unless they have been involved in some sort of felony.
They should all be on charges. Every single one of the sickos.
Good riddance, Stuart Robert.
$50 Trillion For What? Kennedy Dumbfounds Biden Climate Peddler In Fiery Exchange Over ‘Carbon Neutrality’
Kennedy: “Let me ask you. Maybe I’m not being clear. If we spend $50 trillion to become carbon neutral by 2050 in the United States of America, how much is that going to reduce world temperatures?”
Turk: “This is a global problem, so we need to reduce our emissions and we need to do everything to, uh…”
Kennedy: “How much of we do our part is it going to reduce global temperatures?”
Turk: “So, we’re 13% of global emissions…”
Kennedy: “You don’t know, do you? You don’t know, do you?”
A fully flabbergasted Turk then says “In my heart of hearts, there is no way the world gets its act together on climate change unless the U.S. leads.”
Watch (with full exchange here):
As energy expert David Blackmon writes in the Daily Caller;
And there we have it. Americans are being asked to accept the force-feeding of an incredibly radical set of policies with a price tag that is unprecedented in global history to achieve a “carbon neutrality” goal, whose benefits are so nebulous, negligible and wholly reliant on the cooperative actions of other countries beyond U.S. control that they cannot be measured in any reliable way.
Instead, we are being told by senior political appointees forcing those policies into being that we should simply trust them because they think it is the right thing to do in their “heart of hearts.”
This is madness. For some context, $50 trillion is an amount that exceeds the gross domestic product of the U.S., China, India, Germany and Japan, combined. It is a number that drastically exceeds total U.S. national debt. It is more than 135 times the $369 billion in green energy subsidies contained in last year’s Orwellian-named Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
That is five new IRAs each year for the next 27 years. Madness.
Madness indeed.
I have to have one because I work with old ladies. It’s about coercion and control and being aware of someone being in danger. It’s church policy now.
Libraries need to catch up.
Ed Casesays:
May 6, 2023 at 8:53 am
Sotomayor Took Millions from Ex-Nazi Publisher While Voting on its Cases
That’s pretty lame.
Bertelsmann has had plenty of ownership changes since the Nazi Party ceased to exist [5/30/1945].
Grandpa Ed Simpson does the usual,leftard shilling to try to cover for a leftard caught with her fingers in the till.
FMD halitosis and flatus, a nasty combination today.
Anyhoo, from the Hun:
A bit of a word wall but FMD.
Keep digging that hole, monty.
He rose without trace.
Embodied the ethos of the ScoMo years.
It’s uncanny how the third generation in successful business families tends to destroy the empire.
The Murdoch children are hellbent on destroying the goliath their father and grandfather built.
They’re now decimating the top-rating formula that Rupert (and Roger Ailes) brought to Fox News.
Their latest stunt is to appoint a public relations hack to fill Tucker Carlson’s evening slot, a slap in the face to the fans who built the network’s unassailable lead in the US cable news ratings – an audience that has disappeared in the past fortnight since Carlson’s sacking:
As areff says, the decimation of the Rupert’s News Corp empire is proceeding at record pace because his children are both business dunces and cowards.
Farmer Gezsays:
May 6, 2023 at 8:55 am
To paraphrase the words from the mouth of an AEMO executive yesterday.
‘We have to build in order of six times the current energy generation capacity to move to an equivalent renewable supply.’
Watched her say it.
Expecting around a 16% capacity factor.
After years of reducing maintenance, NSW coal fired stations are still delivering a 76% capacity factor. And they do not need thousands of kilometres of new transmission lines with the associated transmission losses.
That’s not mediation; it’s a struggle session.
Qwerties gotta groom, and lefties gotta abet.
Colorado Dem argues against indecent exposure law that targets drag queens and the trans community (29 Apr)
Liberals like to play deaf: They opposed the “Don’t Say Gay” law that kept sex education out of kindergarten classes. They’re all for “all-ages” drag shows and “drag camp” for kids. They want minors to be able to consent to “gender-affirming care” that alters their bodies for life. It’s the children, stupid.
We wish we knew this representative’s name, but here she is in Colorado arguing against a House bill setting the penalty for indecent exposure “in view of minors.” Once more for the hard of hearing: “in view of minors.” She claims bills like this have been used to target drag shows and keep biological males out of women’s bathrooms.
Here’s the bill summary:
Under current law, indecent exposure is a class 1 misdemeanor; except that it is a class 6 felony for a third or subsequent offense. The bill makes indecent exposure a class 6 felony if committed in view of a person who is under 18 years of age.
All it does is clarify the penalty for indecent exposure in front of minors. And Democrats oppose this.
The context was drag queen story time, so the Democrats are actually in favour of allowing drag queens to flash their dicks at kids. That’s how deep the evil is currently at.
Hopefully Clarkson and Fagan stay the distance. The process is the punishment.
A worthy candidate for HOP Time™.
I’ll never forget the look of sheer uncomprehending bemusement (i.e. staggering stupidity) on his face when confronted by the braindead lamestream meeja about the kilometres long queues outside of centrelink offices the morning after Goose Morristeen and the provincial tinpot tyrants decided to lock everyone in their homes for years on end.
A scene of unrelenting human misery that should have resulted in every politician in this country being dragged out into the street, subjected to a series of lengthy public floggings before being hanged from their necks until dead with their heads later mounted on pikes along public thoroughfares.
No, I haven’t forgotten.
Fat fascist fool
Meanwhile, another scandal came out this week over the Australian Church shielding a rock spider in their ranks. Ho hum, chuck it on the pile.
Citation needed. Current or historic?
It’s uncanny how the third generation in successful business families tends to destroy the empire.
When did that ever happen, dickhead?
Murdoch Pere was part of the Syme family, they went back generations.
16% of nothing is still nothing. #winddrought
Be patient on spending measures, Chalmers tells Labor base
Phillip Coorey – Political editor
Jim Chalmers has appealed to the “impatient” Labor base to temper its expectations on spending, as he promises cost-of-living measures that would come with the bonus of lowering inflation.
In an interview with AFR Weekend before Tuesday’s budget, the Treasurer said he could understand the impatience of colleagues and like-minded lobby groups in demanding big spending on cost-of-living assistance, but the inflationary environment and the state of the budget made this impossible.
“We can’t do all of the things that we want to do,” he said. “Everything we want to do for people in our society, in our economy, needs to be built on the foundation of a much more sustainable budget.
“Our base is impatient, and that’s good. They are big-hearted and that’s welcome. My job is to corral all of those ideas and all of that goodwill and all of that ambition into a budget that adds up.”
The interview came at the end of a week in which the Reserve Bank of Australia raised interest rates for the 11th time in 12 months, highlighting that inflation remained a major economic challenge.
Apart from increases to social security payments for over-55s and single parents, Dr Chalmers said the cost-of-living assistance for low-income households, classified as those receiving pensions and other payments, had been designed to cause a net reduction in CPI.
The measures would be similar, and in addition, to the already promised one-off $3 billion in energy bill discounts, which will be funded 50:50 by the states and the Commonwealth, and which Treasury has previously said would lower the CPI.
“There is a wrong assumption out there that cost-of-living relief can only add to inflationary pressures,” Dr Chalmers said.
“Our job has been to try and find ways that it can put downward pressure on the CPI forecast.”
In December last year, when the government announced price caps on black coal and gas, and plans for $3 billion in energy bill assistance, Treasury said the combination of these measures would collectively reduce forecast inflation for 2023-24 from 4.2 per cent to 3.5 per cent.
These estimates will be revised in the budget.
On Friday, the Reserve Bank of Australia gave a hint in its statement on monetary policy, saying energy prices were expected to “add significantly to inflationary pressures” over the coming year, but “government policy measures are expected to limit the increases”.
Dr Chalmers is not ruling out announcing the first budget surplus in 15 years, as first forecast by AFR Weekend a week ago, but said any surplus or balance would not last long because of the longer-term structural pressures caused by the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS), interest payments on debt, aged care, health and defence.
‘Substantial improvement in bottom line’
“The budget is under substantial pressure into the medium term,” he said. “There will be a substantial improvement in the budget bottom line this year and an improvement next year.”
That would be due to commodity prices, lower unemployment, quicker wage growth and banking most of the revenue windfall, he said.
The budget will contain more upbeat forecasts on wages and unemployment than the October budget.
On Tuesday, unemployment will be forecast to be 3.5 per cent in the June quarter of this year, and 4.25 per cent in the June quarter of next year, which is an improvement of 0.25 of a percentage point for both years.
Unemployment is still forecast to peak at 4.5 per cent, but this will occur in 2024-25, rather than a year earlier as previously forecast.
The budget will also forecast a return to real wages growth early next year, rather than mid-next year as forecast in October. This is because of forecasts of lower inflation and stronger wage growth.
On the revenue side, Dr Chalmers said there would be more measures on multinational tax, to augment the $1.9 billion in measures in the October budget.
He is also likely to unveil plans to bolster the Petroleum Resources Rent Tax, which The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age reported would raise $3 billion over the next four years.
The budget will also include the already announced increases in tobacco excise and the doubling of the 15 per cent tax on earnings from superannuation funds from balances above $3 million.
Dr Chalmers has faced strong demands from his own backbench and welfare groups to boost spending on welfare, with the biggest request being a $24 billion, across-the-board increase to the JobSeeker unemployment benefit.
That has been ruled out on the basis that it is unaffordable and inflationary. Moreover, with unemployment at a near-record low of 3.5 per cent, and 420,000 job vacancies, Dr Chalmers said the budget would have an extensive program to tackle entrenched unemployment and get people into work.
He spoke of a “series of place-based initiatives to try to shift the needle in disadvantaged communities”.
“It has been, I think, a concern of ours for some time that even in an economy which is capable of creating opportunities and an economy with 3.5 per cent national unemployment, there are parts of Australia, there are pockets of disadvantage in this country, and we don’t want to see long-term unemployment,” he said.