Monthly Archives: July 2017

Former prime minister Tony Abbott has used a guest appearance at a branch meeting in the electorate of Assistant Treasurer Michael Sukkar to bash Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's second budget and call on members to rise up against the Liberal Party's direction.

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In leaked audio obtained by Fairfax, the former PM this time criticises the government's budget and says the Liberal Party is at a 'low ebb'.

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The Northern Football League has ended the playing career of AFL diversity manager Ali Fahour, handing him a lifetime ban effective immediately.

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Australia's dark history of mass killings has been catalogued by the University of Newcastle, showing the prevalence of massacres in our own backyard

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New health research finds over the last two decades portion size increases has been going up at the same time as obesity rates.

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Hawthorn recruit Tyrone Vickery and former Richmond hardman Jake King have been arrested for alleged extortion and threats. Vision courtesy Seven News, Melbourne.

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Ben Wyatt was last seen at Black Rock and now his family, desperate to find their son, are hoping a possible sighting in Cheltenham on Wednesday morning will lead to clues. Vision courtesy Seven News, Melbourne.

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The death of Paul Costa is now the subject of a homicide investigation after his body was found in a Brunswick West reserve. Vision courtesy Seven News, Melbourne.

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The "con" of building resilience has left junior doctors vulnerable to mental illness and suicide by ignoring the systemic failures of the medical profession.

In leaked audio obtained by Fairfax, the former PM this time criticises the government's budget and says the Liberal Party is at a 'low ebb'.

Fairfax Mediahas obtained audio of Mr Abbott's speech to conservative Liberals on Monday night, in which he asserted Turnbull government ministers did not believe in the "second-best, taxing and spending" budget they had been forced to deliver.

Mr Abbott said the Liberal Party needed help "so that we can be what we really are", and said Australians had for too long tolerated those who did not share the fundamentalGod-given values that underpinned Western civilisation.

"Just at this moment, let me tell you, we're at a bit of a low ebb," he told the meeting in the Melbourne seat of Deakin..

"If you listen to some senior members of the government, because of the reality - the unfortunate reality - of the Senate, we have had to bring forward a budget which is second-best. A taxing and spending budget.

"Not because we believe in these things, but because the Senate made us do it. Well, a party that has to do what's second-best because the Senate made us do it is a party which needs some help."

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Facing questions from members eager for him to return to the prime ministership, Mr Abbott said that, as a conservative, "your first duty is to improve the existing situation" rather than change it drastically.

"Our first responsibility is to fight so that the existing government, the existing cabinet and the existing prime ministerare as good as they possibly can be," he said.

"One of the reasons why I'm speaking out is not because I think we've got to change the personnelbut because I think we've got to just move the direction a little bit.

"And if we can't, because of the Senate, entirely change the directionat least don't lose the sense of what the bloody direction should be, for God's sake.

"You can't always determine the speed of the advance, but by God we should be able to determine the direction of the advance. We shouldn't let the Senate go the wrong way, even if it is trying to stop us from going very far in the right direction."

Mr Abbott was invited to address Monday night's branch meeting in the electorate of Mr Sukkar, who played a significant role in putting together the May budget.

Branch members were invited to "a rare opportunity to join former prime minister Tony Abbottto discuss how to navigate the political sphere as a Christian and ensure legislation supports family values".

The event was organised in conjunction with Mr Sukkarand respected HIV specialistDr Ivan Stratov, a recent defector from the Family First party and convert to Mormonism.

A Liberal Party source who attended Monday night'smeeting said the audience of about 200 was "basically in raptures" at the end of Mr Abbott's presentation.

"He is definitely on the war path," the source said. "I have never seen him speaking so well or looking so good."

Mr Abbott began his address by imploring members to heed the "two fundamental precepts" of Western civilisation, "both of which stem originally from the Gospel". Those were equality in the eyes of God ("equal rights, equal dignity, equal responsibilities"), and treating others as you would have them treat you.

He also warned that, "for too long, the good people of our country have been too tolerant of people who do not share some of the fundamental values that have made us who we are".

"As Michael [Sukkar] said a few moments ago, a majority that stays silent does not stay a majority," Mr Abbott said.

Asked about the environment, he said "politics has got in the way of common sense" and that climate change should not take precedence over living standards, national security or matters of deprivation and justice.

"Yes it's an issue, but if it comes to a choice between your job and reducing emissions, I choose your job every time," he said to applause.

Mr Abbott was also asked about the United Nations' Agenda 21 sustainable development plan, derided by some nationalists and conspiracy theorists as a ployfor global government.

While he defended the globalised economy, he said: "There are a lot of people out there who worry about countries like Australia surrendering their sovereignty and losing, effectively,some of our independence.And I think this a real worry."

Mr Abbott has made a string of appearances at think tanks, in the media and at party functions in the past week, stirring internal ructions and condemnation from ministers and MPs. He reflected on the criticism in his speech.

"Just at the moment, I'm not always the person that every Liberal wants to associate with," Mr Abbott said, to laughter.

"But Michael [Sukkar] is someone who knows what he believes, he knows who his friends are, and he sticks by them through thick and thin. That's someone you can rely on."

Mr Sukkar on Tuesday defended Mr Abbott's attendance of the branch meeting, saying it was a long-standing commitment and one that had engaged his branch members.

He told Sky News he was"very proud" of the budget handed down in May and said the Turnbull government had got the major policy settingsright.

"It's a very routine branch meeting," Mr Sukkar said. "He certainly gave the government credit where it's due. I don't think there was anything that was a particularly tough critique."

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'We're at a low ebb': Tony Abbott bashes Liberal leadership in leaked audio - The Sydney Morning Herald

Updated July 05, 2017 13:25:20

A former candidate for a conservative Christian party is seeking Liberal preselection in a key seat for next year's Victorian election, amid internal tensions about the party "lurching to the right".

The Liberal Opposition needs to win a minimum of seven seats to seize government from Premier Daniel Andrews, including in Melbourne's sandbelt.

A former candidate for the Australian Christians party, Frank "Papa" Papafotiou, is seeking Liberal Party preselection for Bentleigh, which Labor holds by just 0.8 per cent.

In the race against Mr Papafotiou is former MP Elizabeth Miller and Asher Judah, who was the Victorian deputy executive director of the Property Council.

Preselection candidates are banned from speaking to the media. But Mr Papafotiou's candidate booklet for voters uniquely includes endorsement from the former state director of the Australian Christians.

Mr Papafotiou ran for the Australian Christians in the 2012 by-election for the seat of Niddrie, winning 5.75 per cent of the vote.

The Liberals did not field a candidate in the safe Labor seat.

The number of former members of conservative Christian parties, including Family First and the Australian Christians, trying to join the Victorian Liberal Party has recently been the source of internal tension.

Members of the party's executive have also revealed fears the party's religious right has been stacking branches with Mormons and Catholic groups in a drive to preselect more conservative candidates.

If a person has been involved in another political party they require the endorsement of the Liberal Party state assembly.

A group of prospective members was blocked last year, but others were allowed in.

Some members, including MPs, are concerned that the influx could see a potential "lurch to the right" on social issues such as gay marriage, which could dent Liberal chances at the next poll.

"We are in dangerous territory now," one senior Liberal figure said.

Also seeking preselection is Chandra Ojha, who stood as an independent for Bentleigh in 2014. He won just 271 votes out of 36,330 cast in the marginal seat.

In his candidate CV, Mr Ojha takes a swipe at previous Liberal election campaigns.

"During past election campaigns, I have observed that members of the Parliamentary Liberal Party failed to understand the genuine mood of the electorate, and for this reason, were not able to communicate in a succinct and timely manner the true essence of the policies offered by the Liberal Party,'' Mr Ojha said.

Liberal preselection ballots for a swag of Labor-held marginals Carrum (0.7 per cent margin), Cranbourne (2.3 per cent), Frankston (0.5 per cent), Mordialloc (2.1 per cent), Ivanhoe (3.4 per cent) and Bentleigh will be held early next month.

Topics: liberals, political-parties, states-and-territories, state-parliament, parliament, government-and-politics, melbourne-3000, vic, australia

First posted July 05, 2017 13:20:57

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Ex-Australian Christians candidate's preselection bid fuels tensions in Victorian Liberals - ABC Online

A NSW MP has apologised after she falsely claimed to have completed two undergraduate degrees on nomination forms for Liberal party positions.

North Shore MP Felicity Wilson claimed to hold "a double degree of Bachelor of Media/Bachelor of Arts from Macquarie University" when nominating for a vice-president position, Fairfax Media reports.

But in her official parliamentary biography, Ms Wilson is listed to hold a Bachelor of Media, attained in 2005.

A Macquarie University spokesman confirmed Ms Wilson had completed the single degree.

"She has not currently completed any further degrees at the university," they said in a statement.

Ms Wilson on Wednesday told AAP she began an arts degree in 2001 but later decided to also study subjects for a media degree.

"Due to the subjects I had completed, I graduated with a Bachelor of Media, however, I could have chosen to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts instead," she said in a statement.

The Liberal MP issued an unreserved apology for the "errors" on the forms and said she currently held two degrees - a Bachelor of Media and a Master of Public Policy - and had also deferred enrolment in an MBA to focus on her electorate.

"I will continue to give every effort to representing our community in NSW parliament," she said.

It's not the first time Ms Wilson, who scraped into parliament on preferences in an April by-election, has been somewhat loose with her words.

In the lead up to election day, she was forced to admit she gave misleading information about her residential and voting history.

Ms Wilson said it was "unintentional error" when she told party members she moved to the electorate in 2005.

The same justification was given for a Facebook post in which Ms Wilson wrongly claimed that the first vote she cast in an election was for former prime minister John Howard.

Opposition leader Luke Foley again dubbed Ms Wilson "fibbing Felicity".

"She's the Pinocchio of the parliament," he told reporters in Sydney.

"What will she say next?"

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NSW Liberal apologises for degree claims - NEWS.com.au

Jorge Bergoglio is the first Jesuit to become pope and may end up the last Jesuit to be pope, in light of the havoc that he is wreaking upon the Church. But who knows? After all, he is stacking the college of cardinals with liberal appointees in the hope that they will elect a modernist clone in the next conclave.

In any case, it was exceedingly reckless that the cardinals chose a Jesuit to lead the Church at the very moment that that religious order was at its most corrupt and theologically flaky. This fact alone will give Gibbonian historians in the future fodder for works on the decline and fall of the modern Catholic Church.

Bergoglio had entered the Jesuit order around the time of the revolutionary ferment of the spirit of Vatican II precisely because he wanted to push liberal revolution in the Church. A left-wing political activist who had been mentored by a Paraguayan communist, Bergoglio naturally gravitated to the Jesuits as they abandoned orthodoxy for social justice (which just meant the promotion of socialism) and trendy psychobabble. It shouldnt surprise anyone that the signature phrases of this pontificate Who am I to judge? and Inequality is the root of all evil come from a Latin American Jesuit immersed in the liberalism of the 1960s.

Pope Francis has described himself as undisciplined, implying that that made him an odd fit for an order founded by the militaristic St. Ignatius of Loyola. But in the 1960s it was that lack of discipline thatmade him a perfect fit. The Jesuits were busy turning their back on St. Ignatius and all of his reactionary hang-ups. Ignatiuss Spiritual Exercises had been replaced by the works of Sigmund Freud. Vatican II-era Jesuits were infamous for inviting destructive psychologists like Carl Rogers to hold seminars for them on non-directive therapy(repentant Carl Rogers assistant William Coulson once said to me that the purpose of those sessions was to make the priests feel good about being bad).

Pedro Arrupe, the disastrously permissive leader of the Jesuits as it plunged into socialism and modern morality in the 1960s and 1970s, saw Bergoglio as a rising liberal star within the order and elevated him to the top Jesuit position in Argentina at the mere age of 36. Arrupe used Bergoglio as one of his liberal enforcers against restless conservative Jesuits. At a worldwide gathering of Jesuits in the early 1970s, at which Arrupe blessed the liberal trajectory of the order, he asked Bergoglio to run off some Spanish Jesuits who had petitioned the Vatican for relief from Arrupes modernist dictates. Bergoglio complied.

If the future casts its shadow backwards, as Malcolm Muggeridge used to say, one catches a glimpse of it in these biographical details. Bergoglio was in on the ground floor of the revolution in the Church and bided his time until he reached the papacy. Safely ensconced within it, he then began throwing plums to his fellow liberal Jesuit revolutionaries.

I was never a right-winger, he said in an interview with Jesuit editors the same interview in which he declared the Church too obsessed with abortion and gay marriage.

The Jesuit Antonio Spadaro, one of Pope Franciss closest advisers, led that interview. Spadaro is openly heterodox, saying perhaps most famously that under the caring-and-sharing pontificate of Francis two plus two no longer equals four. In other words, the new orthodoxy is heterodoxy.

Not a month passes without some dismal announcement about this or that heretical Jesuit receiving a promotion under Pope Francis. I have already written about the Venezuelan communist and relativist he installed as the head of the Jesuit order.

In April, Pope Francis turned the Jesuit James Martin who has just published a book trashing the Churchs teaching on homosexual behavior into a consultor to the Vaticans Secretariat for Communications. Martin brings some weighty credentials to the position; he once served as chaplain to the Colbert Report.

Last week Pope Francis sacked the head of the Churchs doctrinal office Cardinal Gerhard Muller, who had annoyed Francis by not supporting Communion for adulterers and replaced Muller with a Spanish Jesuit, the pliable Archbishop Luis Ladaria.

An excited New York Timesturned to the aforementioned James Martin for insight into the meaning of it all. This gives the pope the chance to finally place his own man in a very important spot, said Martin. For many admirers of Benedict, Cardinal Mller was the last link to Benedicts way of doing things.

Translation: the modernist Jesuit captivity of the papacy continues apace.

George Neumayr is author ofThe Political Pope.

See the article here:

The Liberal Jesuit Captivity of the Papacy - American Spectator

The founder of a new liberal mosque in Berlin, Germany has received numerous death threats, prompting police protection around the clock out of fears for her safety.

Seyran Ates is a feminist Turkish-heritage woman who founded the progressive mosque that welcomes gay Muslims, atheists, allows women and men to pray together and prohibits Islamic full face veils inside.

She toldtoldWelt am Sonntanewspaper that shes under police protection following 100 death threats she has received since opening the mosque three weeks ago, The Local reported.

Over social media, I have received so many death threats due to the founding of the mosque that the State Office of Criminal Investigations has determined that they must protect me around the clock, Ates told the paper.

The 54-year-old claims she was once approached by three men in the street asking whether she founded the perverse mosque where men, women, lesbians and gays gather together to pray.

After dodging the inquisitors, they shouted youll die.

She recently met with Germanys Green Party leader Cem zdemir and out of safety concerns was driven in an armored limousine and had the protection of three guards.

According to the Green Party leader, however, the threats and harassment aret just from homegrownresidents. He claims Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan is behind the threats and even reportedly tried to pressure the German government into closing down the mosque.

That shows again what sort of man Erdogan is, that he has never understood democracy, or more precisely that he does not want to, Ates said. Erdogan thinks nothing of personal freedoms.

The founder of the mosque also said German media and Islamic organizations close to the Turkish governmentare behind the threats against her.

They have accused her and her mosque being aligned with exiled preacherFethullah Glen, who was blamed by Turkish President for an attempted coup last year.

This is how this line of thought emerges: Glen followers, terrorists, outlaws, she added, denying any contact withGlen supporters.

The Central Council of Muslims in Germany has condemned the threats.

I utterly condemn the death threats and can unfortunately empathize with Ms. As situation because I now and then also receive death threats, said the councils chair, Aiman Mazyek.

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Germany's First 'Liberal' Mosque Founder Under Police Protection After Death Threats - Heat Street

After months of weighty policy shifts by Premier Kathleen Wynne, Ontarians appear to be warming up to their unloved Liberal government, according to a new poll from the Innovative Research Group.

The long-governing Liberals have trailed the opposition Progressive Conservatives in a number of polls since last summer but with less than a year before the next provincial election, the gap between has closed and they are almost tied in public support, according to advisor Greg Lyle; 30 per cent of Ontarians say they would vote PC compared with 27 per cent who would vote Liberal.

The poll follows a number of feel-good announcements in April and May in which Ms. Wynne announced a tax on foreign buyers to cool an overheated housing market, the move to a $15 minimum wage, a balanced budget with a new pharmacare plan, a basic-income pilot project and a 25-per-cent cut to hydro bills.

Globe editorial: Why Kathleen Wynne has become a great NDP premier

Former Liberal heavyweights have suggested in recent months that the party could be staring at defeat next summer if Ms. Wynne stays on as leader. However, while Ms. Wynne remains unpopular with the majority of Ontarians, Mr. Lyle says his polling shows paths for the Liberals to win again. By next summer, the Grits will have been in power for 15 years.

What were seeing is that the pool of people open to the Liberals is starting to move, Mr. Lyle told The Globe and Mail. That doesnt mean that theyve got them, but theyve got a lead in party identification and the number of people open to considering them is growing.

Despite lagging in the polls, the Liberal brand remains the most popular in Ontario, with 34 per cent of those polled identifying as Liberals. The governing partys base has also grown over the past few months, with 25 per cent of Ontarians disagreeing that its time to change government nearly equal to the 27 per cent who say they are hostile with the government.

The Liberals are also in the lead across much of the Greater Toronto Area, after months of wobbly support in the partys seat-rich heartland. The Tories lead everywhere else in Ontario, with commanding leads in southwestern and south-central Ontario.

Since November, the Liberals base support has grown, while the number of Ontarians mad at the government has shrunk. Thats good news for Ms. Wynne, according to Mr. Lyle the pollster for former Tory premier Mike Harris.

Anger directed at Ms. Wynne has also dropped. While she ranks third when asked who would make the best premier, after PC Leader Patrick Brown and the NDP Leader Andrea Horwath, the number of people angry at the Premier has dropped five points to 41 per cent. Admittedly, thats still quite unpopular, according to Mr. Lyle.

While the numbers are improving somewhat for Ms. Wynne, Mr. Lyle said he was surprised by the incremental increase. Whats striking to me is that the policies were so dramatic and the gains have been relatively so small, he said.

What may account for the discrepancy, Mr. Lyle said, is the governments inability to form a narrative that has gained currency among Ontarians. While the governments announcements on housing and minimum wage have been well regarded, it hasnt led to a more cohesive story. In an interview with The Globe in June, Ms. Wynne summed up that narrative in one word: Fairness.

And while Mr. Browns party might be ahead in the polls, more than half of Ontarians say they dont know enough about him to form an opinion. Thats a problem also facing Ms. Horwath, as an increasing number of Ontarians have said they dont know much about her, either.

Follow Justin Giovannetti on Twitter: @justincgio

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Ontario survey shows rise in support for Liberals a year out from election - The Globe and Mail

To the editor:

Three simple thoughts shed light on the liberal, progressive, Democratic movement and the very biased, overly rich, celebrity elite and lemming so-called journalists and comedians who back and cover for Dems at every turn by bashing Republicans.

1: When gas was close to $4/gallon, the Dems and biased liberal lemming media blamed President Bush and the oil companies for gouging and making too much money. When prices came down the media applauded Obama. Now that gas prices are at or below $2 will they give President Trump and the evil rich oil companies applause and positive press? Not in my lifetime. By the way, the majority of people who own a retirement account with a mutual fund invests in oil companies. When they lose, you lose a bit also.

2: If the Deems and biased lapdog media are so worried about the Russian meddling matter related to the 2016 election and how it was threatening our democracy, why didnt they ask for an FBI investigation into what Obama, Kerry, Hillary, Podesta, and other Dem leaders knew and what actions the Dems took in the year they had knowledge about it, before the Nov 2016 election?

3: With climate change and the Paris Dis-cord, why are so many liberal officials suddenly for state rights and why are so many liberal mayors making up city rights"? If so many mayors are already undertaking actions similar to the Paris Dis-cord, it only proves President Trump is right, again. The federal government has no reason to give away billions to be wasted in other polluting countries.

Liberal hypocrites always parade as tolerant politicians who care about middle-class Americans.

James Dargan, Jacksonville

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LETTER: 3 strikes against the liberal agenda - Jacksonville Daily News