Michael McCormack's actions over the last two days are an attempt to take Australia down the dangerous path of post-truth politics.
The facts are simple. The Black Lives Matter movement is a push back against racist policing and politics. In contrast the Capital riots were because the far right didn't want to accept the results of a fair and democratic election.
The Coalition is growing afraid of the truth. Craig Kelly and the Nationals are avowed deniers of reality, and the cost of the Liberals and Nationals making up their own facts will be the degradation of Australian democracy.
Trump's closest allies are deserting him like rats leaving a sinking ship, yet Morrison and McCormack seem locked in to support him to the bloody end.
There’s a reason McCormack won’t condemn Trump and his rabble of far-right nationalists, racists & conspiracy theorists. He wants their votes at the next election, and is willing to put the Australian people at risk to get them.
Our warning to the Liberals is simple. Taking up Trump style politics is poison to democracy. If this is the direction the Liberal Party is heading, it bodes terribly for the future of Australian politics.
Michael McCormack knows what he’s doing by using this phrase. He’s telling Australia’s racists that he is taking their side.
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Last week, the Government introduced the Surveillance Legislation Amendment (Identify And Disrupt) Bill. It gives security agencies massive new powers to access data on people’s computers and devices, and they are trying to rush it through Parliament.
This Bill creates three new types of warrants that would allow officers to modify, add, copy or delete information on people’s devices, and in some cases, take over people’s accounts.
As always, Peter Dutton is using the threat of terrorism and the most serious offences imaginable to scare people into accepting this legislation, but in reality the thresholds are set at a much lower level.
So as Treasurer Josh Frydenberg delivers his budget speech, and outlines the Liberals’ plans to make Australia less fair and the climate crisis worse, here’s a helpful translation of his speech.
Frydenberg: “Australians have been tested like never before. Flood, drought, fires, and a global pandemic.”
Translation: “Floods, droughts and fires are made worse by the climate emergency, which we are actively making worse by doubling down on coal and gas.”
Frydenberg: “In the space of just one month, more than one million Australians lost their jobs or saw their working hours reduced to zero.”
Translation: “We have already cut support for most of these people and this budget has bugger all to help them.”
Since Labor absolutely insists on talking about the CPRS vote in 2009, rather than focusing on the present or the future, I thought I'd give them a list of some of the people they should invite to their pity party.
Firstly, former Labor MP Martin Ferguson. He thought the CPRS was great. Entirely coincidentally, Martin now works for the oil and gas industry.
Secondly, Ian Macfarlane, who was Labor's negotiating partner on the CPRS Bill. Entirely coincidentally, Ian left politics in 2016 to run the Queensland Resources Council.
So the AFP has apparently dropped its investigation into the leaking of a confidential Home Affairs briefing that was based on ASIO advice.
This was the Simon Benson story in The Australian on February 7, shortly before the Medevac Bill came before the House of Representatives.
Later that morning, Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton went for his weekly interview with Ray Hadley in which the advice was openly discussed, with no mention of the fact it was classified.