Saturday, November 15, 2008

Liberal Messages Saturday 15th November

Coalition welcomes 457 Skilled worker visa review
We welcome the greater support recommended for the families who may accompany the worker, this in particular focuses on them learning English.

Defence contract with ABC corporate care
ABC Corporate Care manages 18 Defence owned childcare centres and offers priority placing in another 20 ABC Centres for Defence families. Approximately 1450 Defence children are enrolled in ABC childcare centres across the country but this provision for priority placing which is so important for Defence Force families must surely be in doubt now.

Wong will decide fate of water diverted from the Murray
Water Minister Penny Wong will have to explain to South Australians why she is backing the diversion of at least 75 billion litres of water from the Murray River system every year – potentially for the next 100 years.

Visa victory for Down Syndrome child's family
In what will be huge relief for one small family and good news for the people of Perth the Federal Minister for Immigration, Chris Evans, today buckled to Coalition pressure to approve the permanent residency application for a family who had been denied this right because their daughter had Down Syndrome.

Bowen won't face FuelWatch facts
The Rudd Government has predictably tried to justify its failed FuelWatch scheme following its defeat in the Senate instead of doing something to help motorists.

Arm and Air Force left out?
The Bereavement Pin for Defence Navy families announced this week appears to have limited availability to just one service.

Congestion charges "a welcome step" say Federal Labor
Federal Labor has today given unqualified backing to the New South Wales Government’s economically damaging decision this week to introduce congestion charges in Sydney.

Gagging Turnbull is puerile
The Government today gagged debate on the global financial crisis on the same day it introduced the Economic Strategy Bill... This Government has repeatedly shown a blatant disregard for the Parliament and refuses to open debate on issues that are of national importance.

Rudd government campaign to silence any critics
The Opposition reserves the right to ask legitimate questions about how well thought through Government programmes are, how it will affect individuals, how it will affect jobs and businesses and people’s lives.

Empress Gillard "lets rip" - building her own childcare empire next to ABC
With 400 ABC Learning Centres labelled “unprofitable”, the Rudd Government is planing to build new Childcare Centres within a 5 km radius of 113 ABC Learning Centres.

Senator Fielding's select committee proposal
The Coalition continues to hold serious concerns about the Prime Minister's failure to address allegations of gross impropriety in relation to his involvement, or that of his office, in leaking information from a recent telephone conversation with the President of the United States.

Australian motorists benefit from failure of FuelWatch legislation to pass the Senate
Australian motorists will be the main beneficiaries from the failure of the FuelWatch legislation to pass through the Senate.

NSW Labor slugs childcare
At a time of crisis in the child care industry, Ms Gillard’s Labor colleagues in NSW are slugging childcare centres with a new $1100 fee that will ultimately hit already struggling working families.

Labor short sighted in higher education spending
A fund which was originally set up to provide universities with a secure and regular source of infrastructure funding in perpetuity has now been degraded by the Rudd Government into no more than a slush fund to use for the next two or three elections.

Rudd's lobbyist code exposed as hypocrisy
The revelation that Kevin Rudd’s outgoing Chief of Staff, David Epstein, has accepted a job as the executive general manager for government and corporate affairs for a major airline shows that Kevin Rudd’s over hyped Lobbyist Code is not worth the paper it is written on.

Stronger commitment needed to combat cyber crime
Fraudsters are infiltrating the social networking site Facebook in attempt to scam money from unsuspecting Australians and the Rudd Labor Government needs to outline what action it intends to take to fight the increasing prevalence of cyber crime.

Fishing convictions removed
The removal of criminal convictions from northerners breached for fishing offences was a great victory for fishermen generally and for a long campaign by Coalition Parliamentarians and the media.

Julia fails to understand what mums and dads want
Once again in Question Time today, the Deputy Prime Minister, continued to show her complete lack of understanding for the crisis facing thousands of parents and children embroiled in the ABC Learning collapse.

Labor backflips and supports opposition on Barrier Reef convictions
The Government has voted for and against the same Opposition amendments regarding the Great Barrier Reef in the space of less than 24 hours.

Further sancionts on Burma
The Coalition has had a longstanding concern with the oppressive regime in Burma. Not only has the regime caused grave damage to the rights and welfare of the people of Burma, the regime has also generated tensions within the region.

Nyrstar statement confirms government ignoring industry concerns
Today’s statement by Nyrstar confirms that the Rudd Labor is ignoring the legitimate concerns of Australian industry about the effect of the proposed so-called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme on Australian industry and on Australian jobs.

Peter Dutton Daily Telegraph Blog - Is Australia headed for recession like New Zealand
If you think we are facing economic pressures in Australia, have a look at NZ, where the economy has slipped into recession and suffered under the hands of a Government completely unprepared to modernise and reform.

Congratulations to National Disability Award finalists
Coalition Spokesman for Disabilities, Carers and the Voluntary Sector, Senator Cory Bernardi, today congratulated the finalists in the National Disability Awards ,which recognise the achievements of people with a disability and contributions to the disability sector.

Telstra exposes fatal flaws in Labor's National Broadband Network
Telstra has exposed several fatal flaws in Labor’s troubled National Broadband Network plan in evidence given to the Senate inquiry into the NBN.

Rudd government backs away from rental scheme's future
A last-minute announcement tonight from an absentee Treasurer will only partly resolve the deep concerns of charities over their participation in a new rental affordability scheme and represents a vote of no confidence in the future of the scheme, before it has even begun.

Government threat to veterans' entitlements
The imminent passage of legislation to terminate the Partner Service Pension entitlement for partners after 12 months separation, signals an ominous shift from entitlement to welfare.

Senator Bernardi introduces notice of motion on Dr Moeller immigration case
Senator Cory Bernardi today introduced a notice of motion in Federal Parliament regarding the rejection of Doctor Bernhard Moeller’s residency application due to his son who has Down syndrome.

Industry Minister disavows Treasury Emissions Trading Scheme modelling
It emerged in Senate Question Time today that the key Industry Minister, Senator Kim Carr, disagrees with the key modelling assumptions underpinning the proposed so-called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme.

Despite the spin Conroy and Rudd will appoint whom they like to ABC and SBS boards
Claims in Question Time today by Communications Minister Stephen Conroy that Labor’s new board appointment process for the ABC and SBS will restore integrity and be free from political interference are pure nonsense.

Carr refuses to reveal how many car industry jobs to go
Today in Senate Question Time Industry Minister Kim Carr refused to reveal how many car industry jobs the Government expects to be lost through their car package.

Garrett loses passion for whaling campaign
Peter Garrett is prevaricating about whether he will send out an Australian ship to monitor Japanese whaling in the Antarctic for the looming hunting season.

December too late for ABC parents and staff
The Government’s lack of a clear contingency plan for the future of ABC Childcare Centres could mean the further decline of the financial situation before the Government announces their long-term plan in December.

New code for mobile premium services good news for consumers
Shadow Minister for Communications Senator Nick Minchin has congratulated the Communications Alliance for today’s release for public comment of a new Mobile Premium Services Code which contains enhanced consumer safeguards and industry obligations.

Another record low for business confidence under Labor
The Rudd Labor Government has completely annihilated business confidence since coming into office with new figures showing confidence levels have reached a new record low.

Government should release MYEFO monetary assumptions
The Rudd Government should make publicly available the assumptions that it has made for interest rate cuts in the next seven months.

Alcoa decision a wake-up call on Rudd's Emission Trading Scheme
The decision by Alcoa to suspend work on the expansion of the Wagerup Refinery confirms the Coalition’s concerns about the Rudd Government’s rush to an Emissions Trading Scheme amid the worst financial crisis for eighty years.

Senate Inquiry into human gene patents
The Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs will inquire into the granting of patent monopolies in Australia over human and microbial genes and non-coding sequences, proteins and their derivatives.

Rudd Government confirms their own Emissions Trading Scheme failures
Yesterday’s speech by the Executive Director, Macroeconomic Group of the Treasury Department confirms all of the Federal opposition’s concerns about Mr Rudd’s Emissions Trading Scheme.

What does Mr Rudd have to hide?
The Prime Minister today in Parliament twice refused to deny that he or his office were responsible for the damaging leak of false and misleading details of a private and confidential conversation with the US President on October 10.

Rudd must explain Labor's voting record
The Rudd Labor Government must provide greater clarity of the reasons for instructing its diplomats to the United Nations to vote against Israel concerning activities in the Palestinian territories.

Attack no substitute for a plan
Minister Gillard’s decision to launch a personal political attack during Question Time was a sad attempt to deflect attention away from the Government’s failure to outline a clear contingency plan for Australian families attending ABC.

Conroy leaves stuctural separation of Telstra on the table
The Minister for Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy Stephen Conroy today refused to rule out the structural separation of Telstra should it win the Rudd Labor Government’s trouble-plagued National Broadband Network tender.

Car package
This package fails to address the biggest crisis currently facing the car industry – namely, the credit crisis, its devastating effect on car dealers, and the flow-on effect to local manufacturers.

Gillard refuses to confirm future of specialised education under national curriculum
The Deputy Prime Minister has refused to confirm that the future of schools offering unique courses is safe under a mandatory national curriculum, instead deferring the decision to the National Curriculum board.

Universities spell out the right message
Australian universities’ plans to improve the written and oral English communication skills of their graduates are a step in the right direction.

Julie Bishop Fairfax Blog - Support for developing countries critical
While these events have caused turmoil in financial markets and will continue to impact on economic growth in developed countries, it is highly likely that developing countries will feel the impact to a much greater extent.

On behalf of the Federal Opposition I congratulate John Key and the National Party of New Zealand on their election win
John Key will bring not just political change to New Zealand, but also his considerable experience in the international financial markets – a background he will put to great use in these current challenging times.

Gillard misleads over ABC learning funding
The Deputy Prime Minister has today sought to claim the Coalition does not support the Government's $22 million funding package for ABC Learning. This is incorrect.

Execution of the Bali bombers
The Coalition appreciates the difficulties for facing victims and their families at this distressing time.

Statement regarding Sunday Telegraph article
The article in today's Sunday Telegraph (9/11/08) by Sharri Markson relating to the Prime Minister's wife Therese Rein completely misrepresents comments made by me and is incorrect.

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