Australia PM defiant as popularity plunges AFP June 28, 2011, 11:50 am
SYDNEY, June 28, 2011 (AFP) - - Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard vowed to push on with her agenda Tuesday despite a poll showing she has sunk below opposition leader Tony Abbott as preferred leader for the first time.
The country's first female prime minister, who wrested power a year ago by ousting Kevin Rudd, vowed not to back away from her controversial plan for a tax on carbon pollution, a move that has badly hurt her popularity.
"I'm determined to push on with the agenda because it's the right thing to do for the country's future," she told ABC television.
"We need to tackle climate change, we need to cut the amount of carbon we put in the atmosphere.
"I'm not going to put this country's future in the too-hard (to tackle) basket and just hope that it will go away."
Climate change has been a thorny issue in Australian politics, with former prime minister Rudd's shelving of his emissions trading scheme helping pave the way for Gillard to replace him in a backroom party coup.
Her defiant comments come after a Newspoll for The Australian newspaper, conducted last weekend, showed only 39 percent favoured her as prime minister against 41 percent for Abbott.
The telephone poll of 1,158 voters also showed just 28 percent were satisfied with the Welsh-born Gillard, her lowest level since taking office.
Dissatisfaction with her performance leapt to 62 percent, making Gillard the most unpopular modern leader since Paul Keating at his worst in the mid 1990s.
According to the poll, her government was faring no better with Labor's share of first preference votes crashing to a record low of 30 percent.
The conservative opposition's support was steady at 46 percent, with the Greens on 11 percent.
Gillard brokered her way into office with the support of minority lawmakers after last year's election ended in deadlock and Abbott said the carbon tax, Rudd, and her alliance with Greens leader Bob Brown were to blame for her dismal polling.
He told Fairfax Radio voters recognised it was a "bad government getting worse".
"I think it's about the carbon tax, it's about the fact that Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard don't talk to each other and the fact that Bob Brown seems to be setting the agenda... and the people are responding," he said.
Gillard's deputy Wayne Swan said governments always struggled in the polls when they introduced important changes.
"Big reforms are always tough," said Swan, who is also treasurer.
Gillard has more leadership qualities in her little toe, than opposition leader, Tony Abbot, has in his wildest dreams.
Abbot supported a carbon pricing scheme when, Malcom Turnbull, leader of the Liberal (aussi conservatives) back a bit, was negotiating with Gillard couple? of years ago, then switched in a coup against Turnbull, now as leader of the opposition just obstructs.
This tells you more of what a scheming, azzhole, Tony Abbott, is ..
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Furious Reith hits out at Abbott
ANDREW PROBYN FEDERAL POLITICAL EDITOR, The West Australian June 28, 2011, 5:52 am
A seething Peter Reith has accused Tony Abbott of acting like a Labor factional heavy by showing how he was voting in the secret ballot to decide the Federal presidency of the Liberal Party.
The former Howard government industrial relations minister, who lost on Saturday by one vote to incumbent Alan Stockdale, has vowed to agitate for workplace reform, as "too many people are too worried about WorkChoices".
Mr Reith revealed he promised Mr Abbott he would suspend his interest in industrial relations reform if he won the presidency ballot but his defeat meant the deal was off.
He said the Opposition Leader should follow Liberal premiers Ted Baillieu and Barry O'Farrell in not being deterred by a union "scare campaign". He hit out at Premier Colin Barnett for not challenging one of Australia's "most over-regulated, pro-union" State industrial relations system.
Mr Reith's comments echo growing calls inside coalition ranks for the Opposition to re-embrace workplace reform but Mr Abbott, who declared WorkChoices "dead, buried and cremated" during the election campaign, fears that could cruel his political supremacy.
Despite encouraging Mr Reith to run for president, Mr Abbott at the last moment voted for Mr Stockdale, who won by 57 votes to 56.
_The West Australian _ understands Mr Abbott believed Mr Reith would win but voted for Mr Stockdale in a bid to stop an outbreak of factionalism between the party moderates and conservatives. With television cameras rolling, Mr Abbott showed Mr Stockdale and deputy Liberal leader Julie Bishop his ballot paper before lodging it - a move met with incredulity by other Liberals.
It is understood that when the result became known, Mr Abbott turned to Ms Bishop and said: "Hell! I thought Reith would win."
Ms Bishop, who voted for Mr Reith, was overheard replying: "Yeah. He lost by one vote, Tony."
Mr Reith condemned Mr Abbott's "show and tell". "This is the opposite of a secret ballot and much favoured by Labor Party factional bosses who like to see the ballots to make sure that their lackeys vote as directed or as agreed in a deal," he writes in _The West Australian _ today.
Mr Abbott's backers said he had never wanted a contest for the presidency and Mr Reith had misconstrued his unwillingness to declare support for a particular candidate.
Mr Reith's supporters say their man was humiliated and he would not have contested the position without Mr Abbott's support.
They point out that Mr Abbott appointed Mr Reith last year to review the Liberals' last election campaign and Mr Abbott had enthused about the "dynamism" Mr Reith could bring to the party in implementing his reforms, including giving grassroot members more say in preselections.
Reith's biggest moment was as Murdoch type union buster in 1998.. LOLOLOL .. 'ookat THIS!!!! .. an F6 copycat! .. links galore!
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Who is who in the War on the Wharfies
This is a listing of many of the more prominent players in the rightwing union busting attack on the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA). Most of these entries have been collated from the news summaries on the War on the Wharfies webpage. Any corrections or additions can be emailed to: Takver@onaustralia.com.au for consideration. .. continued.. http://www.takver.com/wharfie/who.htm
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Showdown on the Waterfront
THE WAR ON THE WATERFRONT - REPORT ON THE ONGOING WATERFRONT DISPUTE AT MELBOURNE'S WEBB DOCK. VARIOUS INTERVIEWS.
JIM WALEY - PRESENTER: Now to our cover story, the battle for control of the Australian waterfront. Last December a secret attempt to train union-busting mercenaries in Dubai collapsed when it became public. Now a stevedoring company linked with the Dubai fiasco has found another ally against the Maritime Union, the National Farmers' Federation.
The NFF has leased Melbourne's Webb Dock, where it plans to try to raise productivity by allowing non-union labour to work on the wharf. The wharfies say it's just trying to smash their union's power. Each side has some very heavy weaponry; the NFF a large war-chest and a battery of industrial lawyers, the union can call on international support that could cripple Australia's export drive.
The war on the waterfront is reported by Sunday's Ross Coulthart.
ROSS COULTHART - REPORTER: It was a moment many farmers and businessmen had dreamt of for a long time - an Australian wharf free of the restraints imposed by one of this country's most militant trade unions, the Maritime Union. The National Farmers' Federation claims it will soon transform Melbourne's number five Webb Dock into Australia's most internationally competitive stevedoring business.
The morning after the NFF's dramatic move onto the docks nearly two weeks ago, industrial warrior, Paul Houlihan, dodged the picketers to survey his latest battlefield. It's a gamble, isn't it?
A historic vote for Australia's Future .. Carbon tax becomes law .. [short VIDEO inside] Smiles from a little over half the Australian Senate as the carbon pricing scheme is officially passed 36 to 32.
The Gillard government declared victory for a "historic economic reform" today after the Senate finally passed a carbon tax - laws that have created political havoc for four years and have been debated for more than a decade. The government won the historic vote in the upper house 36 to 32.
Labor and the Greens combined to pass the 18 "Clean Energy Future" bills just after midday, to applause from the packed public galleries.
Historic day ... for Julia Gillard, who lost popularity after vowing before the election there would be no carbon tax under her government. Photo: Andrew Meares
Finance Minister and former climate change minister Senator Penny Wong said that, on the Labor side of politics, "we accept the science, we accept the need to act [on climate change], and, like John Howard and Malcolm Turnbull, we accept the science and the advice that putting a price on carbon is the best way to reduce emissions."
Senator Wong failed to secure the passage of the former Rudd government's emissions trading scheme.
Coalition leader Tony Abbott was overseas when the Senate took its vote, but National Party frontbencher Senator Barnaby Joyce declared it was "a sad day when we reorganise our economy on the basis of a colourless, odourless gas ... it is the height of foolishness."
He said the tax would do nothing to change the temperature of the globe "whether it is going up down or sideways" but said Australian households would definitely be poorer and the Coalition "would make certain" they hadn't forgotten the reason at the next election, when he predicted Labor would be "crucified".
Greens Senator Christine Milne said Mr Abbott had "cut and run" and could have delayed his departure for a conference in Britain to be in Australia for the vote.
A last minute amendment by the Coalition and independent Senator Nick Xenophon to allow electricity generators to defer payment for the purchase of billions of dollars in forward-dated pollution permits failed.
A $23 a tonne carbon tax will now be paid by about 500 high-emitting companies from next July, with about half the revenue to be returned to households in the form of tax cuts and increases in pensions and family payments, to compensate them as electricity generators pass through the cost of the new tax.
Another $9.2 billion over the first four years of the carbon pricing scheme will be paid to high-emitting industries with overseas competitors not subject to a tax. They will receive up to 94.5 per cent of their emission permits for free.
The carbon price is designed to meet the emissions reduction target endorsed by both major parties of at least 5 per cent by 2020, compared with 2000 levels. Labor is now promising to cut Australia's emissions by 80 per cent by 2050.
Mr Abbott, who took the Liberal leadership after a revolt against former leader Malcolm Turnbull's support for the Rudd Government's emissions trading scheme, has made opposition to the carbon tax a central issue of his leadership and has "pledged in blood" to repeal it.
AAP reports: The opposition's joint amendment with Senator Xenophon regarding deferred payment of future permits was defeated 36 to 32 just before the final vote was held.
Lenore Taylor is the Herald's National Affairs Correspondent.
Julian Assange will be granted asylum, says official
Ecuador's president Rafael Correa has agreed to give the WikiLeaks founder asylum, according to an official in Quito
Irene Caselli in Quito - The Guardian, Wednesday 15 August 2012 - Jump to comments(…)
"The other big moment will be a meeting with Mr Obama, where the exit strategy for the Afghan war and the global economic recovery will be likely topics.
But Ms Gillard has already indicated she will steer clear of difficult territory, including Australian WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange."
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange (left) will be granted asylum by Ecuador's president Rafael Correa (right), according to sources. Photograph: Martin Alipaz/EPA
"Ecuador will grant asylum to Julian Assange," said an official in the Ecuadorean capital, Quito, who is familiar with the government discussions.
On Monday, Correa told state-run ECTV that he would decide this week whether to grant asylum to Assange. Correa said a large amount of material about international law had to be examined to make a responsible, informed decision.
Ecuador's foreign minister, Ricardo Patiño, indicated that the president would reveal his answer once the Olympic Games were over. But it remains unclear if Assange will be allowed to leave Britain and fly to Ecuador, or amounts to little more than a symbolic gesture.
At the moment he faces arrest as soon as he leaves the embassy for breaching his bail conditions.
"For Mr Assange to leave England, he should have a safe pass from the British [government]. Will that be possible? That's an issue we have to take into account," Patiño told Reuters on Tuesday.
Government sources in Quito confirmed that despite the outstanding legal issues, Correa would grant Assange asylum – a move that would annoy Britain, the US and Sweden .. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/sweden .. They added that the offer was made to Assange several months ago, well before he sought refuge in the embassy, and following confidential negotiations with senior London embassy staff.
An official with knowledge of the discussions said the embassy had discussed Assange's request. The British government, however, "discouraged the idea", the official said. He described the Swedish government as "not very collaborative".
The official added: "We see Assange's request as a humanitarian issue. The contact between the Ecuadorean government and WikiLeaks goes back to May 2011, when we became the first country to see the leaked US embassy cables completely declassified ... It is clear that when Julian entered the embassy there was already some sort of deal. We see in his work a parallel with our struggle for national sovereignty and the democratisation of international relations."
However, on Tuesday night after the Guardian broke the story Correa wrote on Twitter: "Rumour of asylum for Assange is false. There is still no decision on the subject. I await report from [Ecuadorian] foreign office." Assange retweeted the message.
Assange took refuge in the embassy to avoid extradition .. http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/extradition .. to Sweden, where he is wanted for questioning over allegations of sexual misconduct. He is said to be living in one room of the diplomatic building, where he has an internet connection.
Ecuadorian diplomats believe Assange is at risk of being extradited from Sweden to the US, where he could face the death penalty. Assange's supporters claim the US has already secretly indicted him following WikiLeaks' release in 2010 of US diplomatic cables, as well as classified Afghan and Iraq war logs.
Correa and Patiño have both said that Ecuador will take a sovereign decision regarding Assange. They say they are seeking to protect Assange's right to life and freedom. On Monday the state-run newspaper El Telégrafo confirmed that a decision had been made .. http://www.eltelegrafo.com.ec/index.php?option=com_zoo&task=item&item_id=49722&Itemid=2 .., although it did not specify what that decision was. It said senior officials had been meeting to iron out the last legal details.
Two weeks ago Assange's mother, Christine, paid Ecuador an official visit, following an invitation from the foreign affairs ministry. She met with Correa and Patiño, as well as with other top politicians, including Fernando Cordero, head of Ecuador's legislature. Both Patiño and Ms Assange appeared visibly touched during a press conference, which had to be briefly suspended when Ms Assange started crying.
Ms Assange held several public meetings in government buildings, and in one instance she was accompanied by the head of her son's defence team, Baltasar Garzón, the former Spanish judge who ordered the London arrest of Chile's General Pinochet.
Other top political figures in Ecuador have been vocal about the government's support of Assange's bid. "Our comrade the president, who leads our international policy, will grant Julian Assange asylum," said María Augusta Calle, a congresswoman of the president's party, and former head of the Sovereignty, Foreign Affairs and Latin American Integration Commission during the 2008 Constitutional Assembly, during a meeting with Ms Assange.
Over the past year and a half, Assange has remained in touch with Ecuador's embassy in London. In April, he interviewed President Correa for his TV show on Russia Today, the English-language channel funded by the Russian government. The interview, which lasted 75 minutes, included a pally exchange in which Assange and Correa bonded over freedom of speech and the negative role of the US in Latin America. At one point Correa joked: "Are you having a lot of fun with the interview, Julian?" Assange replied: "I'm enjoying your jokes a great deal, yes."
Correa has made international headlines this year for what critics have called a government crackdown on private media. Analysts say that granting the WikiLeaks founder asylum could be a way for him to depict himself as a champion of freedom of speech ahead of the February 2013 presidential elections, in which he is expected to run again.
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