TRACKING ABBOTT’S WRECKAGE

Tony Abbott has been in power since 7 September 2013. From that moment, he and his government have broken promises and hurt Australians. This post will be regularly updated to keep track of the Abbott Government’s broken promises and everything his Government does to hurt Australians. Each separate item will have a link to a source. Broken promises appear in bold and in a separate fully referenced list at the end.

THE LIST

478. Breaks a promise to provide a stable and unified Government – 14 September 2015 

477. Laughs at Pacific countries who’s existence is being threatened by climate change – 10 September 2015

476. Rejects recommendations to make banks pay for tax payer funded insurance – 4 September 2015

475. Wastes $55 million, including $15 million on relocating four refugees to Cambodia before the deal to resettle refugees from Nauru collapses – 30 August 2015

474. Oversees botched Border Force announcement that they would stopping people for visa checks in the Melbourne CBD – 28 August 2015

473. Splurges $10 million to rename Border Force – 26 August 2015

472. Cuts $10 million from a grant to support sufferers of an incurable disease – 26 August 2015

471. Breaks an election promise to “make no changes to the GST” by extending it to purchases made online – 21 August 2015

470. Spends over $20 million on an advertising campaign to sell it’s free trade agreement with China – 19 August 2015

469. Tries to introduce laws to stop citizens exercising their legal rights to stop big developments that damage the environment – 19 August 2015

468. Allows Scott Morrison to describe paid parental leave as a “first world issue” – 17 August 2015

467. Asks for a list of national security related things to be announced weekly until the election – 14 August 2015 

466. Blocks a conscience vote on  same sex marriage – 11 August 2015

465. Reduces Australia’s carbon emissions reduction target – 11 August 2015

464. Oversees an inquiry that recommends cutting penalty rates, lowering the minimum wage, individual contracts and giving employers more power over workers – 4 August 2015

463. Scuttles a proposal from Indigenous leaders for constitutional recognition – 3 August 2015

462. Backs speaker Bronwyn Bishop despite revelations she has rorted her travel entitlements multiple times – 31 July 2015

461. Dramatically increases the cost of applying for a divorce – 14 July 2015

460. Bans the Clean Energy Finance Corporation from investing in roof top solar panels and other small scale solar energy – 12 July 2015

459. Directs the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to stop investing in wind power – 12 July 2015

458. Launches a review of the ABC program QandA – 29 June 2015

457. Closes off the possibility of High Court challenges to offshore detention – 25 June 2015

456. Cuts the pension for low and middle income earners – 24 June 2015

455. Establishes a Commissioner for Wind Farms – 24 June 2015

454. Slashes the renewable energy target – 24 June 2015

453. Signs a free trade agreement with China which allows companies who have a 15% Chinese investor to import 100% overseas workers, undermines Australians safety and environmental standards and allows companies to sue the Australian government – 16 June 2015

452. Gags doctors, teachers and nurses from speaking out about conditions in detention centres with new laws imposing jail for speaking publicly – 4 June 2015

451. Deregulates the shipping industry removing the requirement of companies to pay Australian wages and conditions – 26 May 2015

450. Muzzles the Freedom of Information watchdog – 26 May 2015

449. Refuses to join the international effort to resettle refugees in crisis, stating “nope, nope, nope” – 21 May 2015

448. Gives the Minister for Arts the power to decide what art gets funded – 12 May 2015

447. Makes medicines more expensive for the chronically ill – 12 May 2015

446. Stops Family Tax benefit B to parents when their child turns 6 – 12 May 2015

445. Removes childcare benefits from parents who cannot work or study – 12 May 2015

444. Abolishes another 71 net jobs in the Federal public sector – 12 May 2015

443. Scraps funding to the academic website “The Conversation” – 12 May 2015

442. Cuts $12.5 million from the National Heritage Trust – 12 May 2015

441. Cuts $140 000 from the Refugee Council of Australia – 12 May 2015

440. Cuts $72.5 million for health scholarships – 12 May 2015 

439. Reduces the take home pay of those who work for charities and NGOs but cutting tax benefits – 12 May 2015

438. Cuts $3.6 million from Screen Australia – 12 May 2015

437. Slashes $403 million from the Australia Council – 12 May 2015

436. Decimates aid to Africa with a 70% cut – 12 May 2015

435. Cuts aid to Indonesia by 50% – 12 May 2015

434. Gouges almost $2 Billion from health – 12 May 2015

433. Kicks 80 000 or 46% of parents off the paid parental leave scheme and labels them “rorter” – 10 May 2015 

432. Scraps a Ministerial directive for the Australian Federal Police to consider Australians opposition to the death penalty – 1 May 2015

431. Gives $4 million to an academic who’s views align with the Prime Minister’s on climate change – 16 April 2015

430. Spends millions on a widespread advertising campaign to sell their “Intergenerational Report” which is discredited by the celebrity scientist who they paid to sell it – 15 April 2015

429. Fails to act on allegations of physical and sexual abuse of asylum seekers on Nauru despite knowing about it for over a year – 9 April 2015

428. Introduces laws to retain the metadata of Australians that 85 security and policing agencies can access – 26 March 2015

427. Axes the National Produce Monitoring System which monitors chemicals in Australia’s domestic food – 18 March 2015

426. Threatens to sack 1700 researchers if the Senate did not pass their bill to deregulate universities – 15 March 2015

425. Dismisses Indigenous culture by describing living in remote communities as a “lifestyle choice” – 11 March 2015

424. Violates the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and has found to have done so multiple times by the U.N. – 9 March 2015

423. Defends the decision of the LNP to hold an International Women’s Day lunch at a club that only accepts male members – 4 March 2015

422. Dismisses the inquiry into the treatment of children in immigration detention as a “political stitch up” and attacks Gillian Triggs the President of the Human Rights Commission – 24 February 2014

421. Tried to induce the President of the Human Rights Commission Gillian Triggs to resign before her report outlining the abuse of children in Australia’s immigration detention centres was released – 24 February 2015.

420. Pays $3.32 million to the lead lawyer for the Royal Commission into trade unions for under two years work – 19 February 2015

419. Puts at risk efforts to halt the executions of two Australians in Bali by threatening Indonesia with aid funding  – 19 February 2015

418. Bungles the tendering process for building submarines threatening hundreds of jobs – 19 February 2015

417. Dismisses a damning report into the impacts of mandatory detention of children seeking asylum as partisan and politicised, and says the Human Rights Commission “should be ashamed of themselves” – 12 February 2015

416. Breaks promise to lead a “strong, stable, accountable” government – 09 February 2015

415. Dumps his signature paid parental leave policy – 2 February 2015

414. Awards a Knighthood to Prince Philip on Australia Day – 26 January 2015

413. Undermines court system by commenting on the bail decision of a Victorian magistrate – January 16, 2015

412. Announces a freezes to the annual increases to the Medicare schedule – 12 January 2015

411. Attempts to undermine Medicare by slashing the amount doctors get for consultations – 12 January 2015

410. Votes against a UN resolution calling for the end of the Israeli occupation of Palestine – 31 December 2014

409. Spends millions on market research and TV advertisements promoting their proposal to uncap university fees – 28 December 2014

408. Slashes funding to community organisations that support tens of thousands of vulnerable families and people in crisis causing 2500 community workers to lose their jobs two days before Christmas – 22 December 2014

407. Defunds peak organisations who advocate for the poor and oppressed including Homelessness Australia, Financial Counselling Australia and National Shelter – 22 December 2014

406. Appoints a climate skeptic who praised Rupert Murdoch as the “starting point for green innovation” to the position of parliamentary secretary to the minister of the environment – 21 December 2014

405. Backflips on clamping down on multinational companies who shift profits to avoid paying taxes in Australia – 17 December 2014

404. Blows out the deficit to $40.4 Billion – 15 December 2014

403. Abolishes the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency – 15 December 2015

402. Ceases payments to apprentices under Support for Adult Australian Apprenticeships program – 15 December 2014

401. Cuts funding for the National Trade Cadetships programme – 15 December 2014

400. Slashes another $3.7 billion from overseas aid – 15 December 2014

399. Cuts 26 more government bodies down to 6 – 15 December 2014

398. Abolishes the Operational Working Party which advises government on the needs of the ex-service community – 15 December 2014 

397. Cancels the National Health, Aged and Community Care Forum – 15 December 2014

396. Abolishes the Current and Former Members of the ADF Emerging Issues Forum – 15 December 2014

395. Abolishes the Australian Financial Centre Taskforce – 15 December 2014

394. Silences the National Injury Insurance Scheme Advisory Group – 15 December 2014

393. Abolishes the National Children and Family Roundtable – 15 December 2014

392. Silences the Minister’s Dementia Advisory Group – 15 December 2014

391. Cancels the Healthy Life Better Ageing Committee – 15 December 2014

390. Annuls the Aged Care Reform Implementation Council – 15 December 2014

389. Cancels the Aged Care Planning Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

388. Abolishes the Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency Ltd – 15 December 2014

387. Cancels the Indigenous Development effectiveness Initiative Steering Committee – 15 December 2014

386. Abolishes the First Peoples Education Advisory Group – 15 December 2014

385. Cancels the Australia in the Asian Century Advisory Board – 15 December 2014

384. Annuls the Regional Australia Standing Council – 15 December 2014

383. Dismantles the Northern Australia Ministerial Forum – 15 December 2014

382. Abolishes the Marine Council – 15 December 2014

381. Terminates the Expert Advisory Panel on Northern Australia – 15 December 2014

380. Silences the Northern Australia Indigenous Experts Forum on sustainable Economic Development – 15 December 2014

379. Annuls the Infrastructure Coordinator – 15 December 2014

378. Abolishes the Technical Advisory Committee for the Coal Mining Abatement Technology Support Package – 15 December 2014

377. Abolishes the Gas Market – Industry Reference Group – 15 December 2014

376. Disbands the Department of Human Services Council on Strategy and Innovation – 15 December 2014

375. Disbands the Anti-Doping Research Panel – 15 December 2014

374. Abolishes the Tourism Quality Council of Australia – 15 December 2014

373. Disbands the Australia Awards Board – 15 December 2014

372. Abolishes the National Marine Mammal Scientific Committee – 15 December 2014

371. Disbands the National Marine Mammal Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

370. Abolishes the National Landscapes Reference Committee – 15 December 2014

369. Gets rid of the Indigenous Water Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

368. Disbands the Iconic Sites Taskforce – 15 December 2014

367. Abolishes the Fuel Standards Consultative Committee – 15 December 2014

366. Abolishes the Emissions Intensive – Trade Exposed Expert Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

365. Disbands the Commonwealth Environmental Water Stakeholder Reference Panel – 15 December 2014

364. Abolishes the COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water – 15 December 2014

363. Abolishes the Bureau of Meteorology Water Accounting Standards Board – 15 December 2014

362. Abolishes the Antarctic Science Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

361. Cancels the COAG Select Council on Workplace Relations – 15 December 2014

360. Wipes out the Education Investment Fund Advisory Board – 15 December 2014

359. Dismantles the Australian Qualifications Framework Council – 15 December 2014

358. Abolishes the Strategic Cross-sectoral Data Committee for Early Childhood, Education and Training – 15 December 2014

357. Dismantles the Vietnam Veterans Education Centre – 15 December 2014

356. Abolishes the research working group – 15 December 2014

355. Abolishes the Peacekeepers Study Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

354. Abolishes the Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education Services Writing Group – 15 December 2014

353. Abolishes the Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education Services Veterans Reference Group – 15 December 2014

352. Abolishes the Medicines Advice and Therapeutics Education Services Practitioner Reference Group – 15 December 2014

351. Abolishes the Gulf War Study Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

350. Abolishes the eHealth Technical Advisory Group – 15 December 2014

349. Abolishes the Community Nursing Clinical Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

348. Abolishes the Australian National Memorial New Zealand Advisory Panel – 15 December 2014

347. Abolishes the Anzac Centenary Public Fund Board – 15 December 2014

346. Abolishes the Official Establishments Trust – 15 December 2014

345. Abolishes the Australian Council of Local Government – 15 December 2014

344. Abolishes the Urban Policy Forum – 15 December 2014

343. Abolishes the National Disaster Recovery Taskforce – 15 December 2014

342. Abolishes the Local Government Ministers’ Forum – 15 December 2014

341. Abolishes the Inter-Jurisdictional Working Group – 15 December 2014

340. Abolishes the Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics Advisory Board – 15 December 2014

339. Abolishes the Pharmaceutical Industry Working Group – 15 December 2014

338. Abolishes the National Precincts Board – 15 December 2014

337. Abolishes the Fair Work Building and Construction Independent Assessor – 15 December 2014

336. Abolishes the Standing Council on School Education and Early Childhood Joint Working Group to Provide Advice on Students with Disability – 15 December 2014

335. Abolishes the Department of Defence CEO’s round table – 15 December 2014

334. Abolishes the Committee which was overseeing reform to the repair and maintenance of the Navy’s ships – 15 December 2014

333. Abolishes the Department of Defence Diversity Advisory Group – 15 December 2014

332. Abolishes the Australian Defence Force Financial Services Consumer Council – 15 December 2014

331. Abolishes the Subcommittee on Animal Health Laboratory Standards – 15 December 2014

330. Abolishes the Rabies Preparedness Working Group – 15 December 2014

329. Abolishes the New Test Evaluation Working Group – 15 December 2014

328. Abolishes the National Strategies Working Group – 15 December 2014

327. Abolishes the Laboratories for Emergency Animal Disease Diagnosis and Response Working Group – 15 December 2014

326. Abolishes the National Surveillance and Diagnostics Working Group – 15 December 2014

325. Abolishes the Forestry and Forest Products Committee – 15 December 2014

324. Abolishes the Department of Agriculture – Live Animal Export Division – Industry Government Implementation Group – 15 December 2014

323. Abolishes the Benchmarks Working Group which monitors acute hospital performance – 15 December 2014

322. Abolishes the Australian and New Zealand Standard Diagnostic Procedures Working Group – 15 December 2014

321. Abolishes the Artbank Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

320. Cuts the Development Allowance Authority – 15 December 2014

319. Cuts the Reconstruction Inspectorate – 15 December 2014

318. Cuts the Inspector of Transport Security – 15 December 2014

317. Cuts the National Advisory for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment – 15 December 2014

316. Cuts the Health and Hospitals Fund Advisory Board – 15 December 2014

315. Cuts the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority Advisory Board – 15 December 2014

314. Cuts the Climate Adaptation Outlook Independent Expert Group – 15 December 2014

313. Cuts the Biological Diversity Advisory Committee – 15 December 2014

312. Cuts the Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee – 15 December 2014

311. Cuts the Antarctic Research Assessment Committee – 15 December 2014

310. Cuts the Forces Entertainment Board – 15 December 2014

309. Cut the Protection Zone Committees – 15 December 2015

308. Cuts the Telework Advisory Panel – 15 December 2014

307. Cuts the Australian Government Solicitor – 15 December 2014

306. Appoints the radically right wing John Lloyd from the Institute of Public Affairs to head the Public Service Commission – 12 December 2014

305. Appoints a former National Party MP who champions an abstinence policy on drugs over harm minimisation to be the new head of the Australian National Council on Drugs – 11 December 2014

304. Imposes a $900 tax on new homes connecting to the NBN breaking election promises on taxes – 11 December 2014

303. The unemployment rate hits 6.3 %,  it has not been this high since 2002 when Tony Abbott was Minister for Employment and Industrial  Relations –  11 December 2014

302. Announces a cut of $5 to the Medicare rebate after he fails to get his $7 Medicare co-payment through the Senate – 9 December 2014 

301. Breaks an election promise to improve transparency by restricting the transparency of overseas travel expenses after media reports on Christopher Pyne’s lavish trip to Europe with his wife  – 9 December 2014

300. Breaks a key election promise to bring in 26 weeks parental leave paid at a working mother’s actual wage – 7 December 2014

299. Introduces special work for the dole rules for regional and remote unemployed people so they have to work twice as many hours as city people in a measure that will mainly affect indigenous people – 6 December 2014 

298. Hands the immigration minister unchecked and unappealable powers to prevent refugees arriving by boat from seeking protection and allows him to return people to the country from which they fled – 4 December 2014

297. Reintroduces temporary protection visas for asylum seekers found to be refugees – 4 December 2014

296. Cuts  CSIRO funding, which means that CSIRO will lose 1/5 of its workforce  – 24 November, 2014

295. Slashes funding to the ABC and SBS resulting in job cuts and the axing of programs including state based 7:30 Report and breaking an election promise 19 November, 2014 

294. Refuses to contribute to the fund Green Climate Fund, which Abbott last year described as  “socialism masquerading as environmentalism” – 17 November, 2014

293. Uses G20 platform to comment on domestic political issues such as the fact people don’t like his $7 GP fee rather than international political issues – 15 November, 2014

292. Describes Australia as “nothing but bush” prior to the arrival of the First Fleet when addressing a breakfast for British Prime Minister, David Cameron – 14 November 2014  

291. Breaks promise to  achieve a surplus in the Government’s first year in office, instead overseeing an estimated $51 billion deterioration in revenue – 11 November, 2014

290. Describes coal as “good for humanity” while opening a coal mine in Queensland  13 October, 2014

289. Extends the Royal Commission into Trade Unions for another 12 months and expands the terms of reference despite their being no requests for either – 09 October, 2014

288. Cuts spending on science and innovation to the lowest levels since the data was first published – 07 October, 2014

287. Spends an estimated $500 million yearly participating in the conflict in the Middle East –  07 October, 2014

286. Limits scrutiny of ASIO, expands protections from prosecution for ASIO officers, and allows ASIO greater powers for surveillance with reduced requirements for warrants  – 30 September, 2014

285. Signs a deal with Cambodia to accept Australia’s refugees for a payment of $40 million over 4 years – 26 September, 2014

284. Breaks an election promise to a publish a proposal for constitutional recognition for Indigenous people and establish a bipartisan process to try to bring about recognition as soon as possible within the first 12 months of Government – 19 September 2014.

283. Breaks election promise to  build replacement submarines in South Australian shipyards, spending more than $20 billion on Japanese submarines instead – 8 September, 2014

282. Fails to provide adequate medical care to asylum seeker Hamid Kehazaei who died after developing an infection from a cut on his foot – 5 September 2014

281. Delays superannuation increases for seven years costing workers thousands of dollars in retirement savings2 September 2014

280. Kills the Low Income Super Contribution payment and the Superannuation Guarantee which aimed to boost the retirement savings of 3.6 million workers who earn $37,000 per year or less2 September 2014

279. Repeals the mining tax on the profits of big coal and iron ore companies – 2 September 2014

278. Bans secular workers from the school chaplaincy program – 27 August 2014

277. Refuses temporary visitors visas for Sri Lankan trade unionists to attend a union conference in Australia because they “do not have enough personal wealth” – 25 August 2014

276. Unemployment hits highest level in 12 years – 7 August 2014

275. Breaks an election promise to amend the race hate laws – 6 August 2014

274. Directs all government departments to disclose every contact with every union for any reason over the last decade to the Royal Commission – 28 July 2014

273. Allows the suspension of payments to parents whose children do not attend school in the Northern Territory – 19 July 2014

272. Axes the carbon tax with no viable policy to address climate change or Australia’s emission targets – 17 July, 2014

271. Risks up to $1 billion in revenue through job cuts at the ATO – July 15, 2014

270. Cuts all funding to Vibe Australia, the Indigenous organisation responsible for creating and producing the Deadly Awards, Deadly Vibe and InVibe magazines, Deadly Sounds radio, Move It Mob Style TV and deadlyvibe.com.au –  July 14, 2014

269. Detains 153 asylum seekers at sea on board a customs ship for a month, despite questions about the legality of this action – July 12, 2014

268. Offends China and many Australians by praising the “skill and honour” of Japanese soliders who killed 22 000 Australians and hundreds of thousands of Chinese during World War II – 9 July 2014

267. Hands over 41 Sri Lankan asylum seekers to the custody of Sri Lankan authorities after screening them at sea and transferring them while still on the water – 07 July, 2014 

266. Creates a strategic communications branch employing 37 people  and costing $4.7 million each year, to oversee communications in the department of Prime Minister and Cabinet despite saying at the 2013 launch of the Liberal Party’s book on ALP waste, that they would spend less on spin than the previous government  – July 05, 2014

265. Describes Australia as ‘unsettled’ before the British arrived, during an address to the Australia-Melbourne Institute Conference – 04 July, 2014

264. Grants the Immigration Minister power over the granting of permanent residence allowing him to personally decide the conditions of the test and his decisions will not be subject to appeal  – 03 July, 2014

263. Breaks a promise not to grant permanent permanent residency to people arriving by boat  by granting a visa to a least one refugee – 03 July, 2014

262. Prohibits Community Legal Centres from using Government funding to advocate for policy or law reform – 02 July, 2014

261. Appoints a former Liberal MP and a conservative columnist and vocal opponent of the ABC to the ABC and SBS appointments panel – 02 July, 2014

260. Strikes out protections for consumers of financial advice before the report into the Commonwealth Bank of Australia financial planning scandal is tabled, which recommends a Royal Commission into the bank to investigate allegations of fraud, forgery and a management cover-up – 01 July, 2014

259. Refuses to confirm the existence of two boatloads of refugees reported to be currently on board customs vessels. The Government previously denied the vessels were in trouble and refuses to comment on whether the refugees will be landing in Australia – 30 June, 2014

258. Revokes the residential determination of two asylum seekers from Vietnam currently in high school in Adelaide and removes them to a detention centre, resulting in up to 7 other children, also in school, running away for fear of the same fate – 28 June, 2014

257. Cuts Dementia and Severe Behaviours Supplement, a payment to those who provide care for people with severe behavioural  and psychological symptoms of dementia – 26 June, 2014 

256.  Breaks promise that no public servants will be forced into redundancy as it is revealed that staff in Treasury in Finance will be made involuntarily redundant  – 24 June, 2014

255. Seeks to reintroduce Temporary Protection Visas after the High Court strikes down the Government’s attempt to limit the number of permanent visas available each year  – 22 June 2014.

254. Refuses to halt return of refugees to war-torn Iraq – 18 June, 2014

253. Abandons the long-held, bipartisan position of referring to Palestinian land captured in 1967 as occupied – 06 June, 2014 

252. Abolishes the Corporations and Markets Advisory Committee, which has, for 25 years,  investigated gaps in Australia’s corporate and financial markets law  and recommended ways to close them – 05 June, 2014

251. Excludes Australian shipyards from a major new contract, sending jobs offshore and threatening the industry in Australia – 05 June, 2014 

250. Cuts funding to the peak refugee organisation the Refugee Council of Australia – 30 May 2014

249. Takes money from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and gives it to the Royal Commission into the Home Insulation Scheme – 28 May 2014

248. Breaks promise that no public servants will be forced into redundancy after revelations that public servants in the Department of Industry have been made involuntarily redundant – 19 May 2014

247. Scraps the National Water Commission – 13 May, 2014

246. Abolishes funding for Building Australia’s Future Workforce – 13 May, 2014

245. Abolishes the Get Reading Programme – 13 May, 2014

244. Scraps the annual subsidy to local ethanol producers – 13 May 2014

243. Slashes the Biodiversity Fund – 13 May, 2014

242. Cuts the Education Department’s Online Diagnostic Tools Programme – 13 May, 2014

241. Abolishes the Australian Organ and Tissue Donation and Transplantation Authority which was established to encourage organ donation – 13 May, 2014

240.  Introduces annual reviews for veterans receiving military compensation payments due to illness or injury – 13 May, 2014

239. Terminates the Office of Water Science research programme – 13 May, 2014

238. Abolishes the Commonwealth Human Rights Education Grant – 13 May 2014

237. Abolishes funding to the Exotic Disease Preparedness Programme – 13 May 2014

236. Slashes funding from the Indigenous Health Budget – 13 May 2014

235. Cuts funding for Indigenous language support – 13 May 2014

234. Cuts funding to the Torres Strait Regional Authority – 13 May 2014

233. Abolishes the Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, the only elected representative body for Indigenous Australians – 13 May 2014

232. Breaks election promise and slashes funding to Landcare – 13 May 2014

231. Abolishes the National Rental Affordability Scheme – 13 May 2014

230. Cuts funding from the corporate regulator ASIC which oversees the financial sector – 13 May 2014

229. Axes the first home buyers savings scheme – 13 May 2014

228. Reduces funding to the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency – 13 May 2014

227. Abolishes the Improving Educational Outcomes Programme – 13 May 2014

226. Cuts funding to the Child Care Early Learning Projects and the Professional Support Program which assist childcare workers gain skills – 13 May 2014

225. Reduces funding to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership – 13 May 2014

224. Cut the Research Training Scheme, with tertiary education providers to introduce student contributions for higher degrees – 13 May 2014

223. Ends the development of the Australian Baccalaureate – 13 May 2014

222. Cuts higher education reward funding – 13 May 2014

221. Cuts the Australian National University’s HC Coombs Policy Forum – 13 May 2014

220. Cuts Australian Research Council funding – 13 May 2014

219. Abolishes tax break for mature age workers and replaces it with a payment for employing people over 50 who have been on Newstart or the DSP for more than 6 months – 13 May 2014

218. Cuts an incentive program for graduates to take up work in regional locations of need – 13 May 2014

217. Axes the National Partnership Agreement on Certain Concessions for Pensioners and Seniors Card Holders which supports state and territory concessions for senior citizens including energy rebates. – 13 May 2014

216. Kills off four grant programmes including the the Australian Community Food Safety Campaign and Outreach Support Services for Criminalised Women – 13 May 2014

215. Cuts $2.3 million in contribution to the World Health Organisation – 13 May 2014

214. Abolishes the Australian Interactive Games Fund which helped support local video game developers – 13 May 2014

213. Breaks a promise not to cuts funding to health by dramatically cutting hospital funding – 13 May 2014

212. Cuts $240 million over four years to community programs that support poor, sick or disadvantaged people – 13 May 2014

211. Cuts $25 million over 4 years (a quarter of the total) funding to Community Legal Centres who provide legal support to the poor and disadvantaged – 13 May 2014

210. Cuts the Women in Leadership program – 13 May 2014

209. Breaks a promise to have one million more solar roofs across Australia and at least 25 solar towns – 13 May 2014

208. Breaks a promise to spend $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund by committing less than half this amount in the budget – 13 May 2014

207. Orders the spending of $11.7 million to plan the privatisation of: Defence Housing Australia, the Royal Australian Mint and the registry function of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission – 13 May 2014

206. Announces 3000 job loses at the Australian Tax Office – 13 May 2014

205. Freezes the Family Tax Benefit A at a set income level regardless of the number of children – 13 May 2014

204. Cuts the Family Tax Benefit B end-of-year supplement by 15% – 13 May 2014

203. Reduces funding for the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation – 13 May 2014

202. Reduces funding to the Australian Institute for Marine Science – 13 May 2014

201. Scraps a range of grant programs aimed at funding innovation and start-up businesses, including: Australian Industry Participation; Commercialisation Australia; Enterprise Solutions; Innovation Investment Fund; Industry Innovation Councils; Enterprise Connect; Industry Innovation Precincts; and Textile, Clothing and Footwear Small Business and Building Innovative Capability – 13 May 2014

200. Rips a further $111.4 million over four years out of the operating budget of the CSIRO – 13 May 2014

199. Ceases funding for National ICT Australia, which is a research centre for communications and information technology – 13 May 2014

198. Abolishes Medicare locals – 13 May 2014

197. Reduces payments to people under 35 with a disability who cannot find employment if they could work more than eight hours a week – 13 May 2014

196. Mandates religious education in schools by taking away the option for schools to opt for a secular social worker instead – 13 May 2014

195. Abolishes the ABC’s disability communities website Ramp Up – 13 May 2014

194. Abolishes the Disability Discrimination Commissioner – 13 May 2014

193. Abolishes the Better Schools Centre for Quality Teaching and Learning – 13 May 2014

192. Dismantles the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and will establish a health productivity and performance commission – 13 May 2014

191. Abolishes the Seniors Supplement – 13 May 2014

190. Axes the tax break for people with dependent spouses – 13 May 2014

189. Axes the Diagnostic Imaging Quality Programme – 13 May 2014

188. Ceases the Dental Flexible Grants Program – 13 May 2014

187. Axes the Charles Sturt University’s dental and oral health clinics – 13 May 2014

186. Axes funding for the nursing and allied health scholarships in Tasmania – 13 May 2014

185. Defers 13 Partners in Recovery programs which help people with severe and persistent mental illness and complex support needs – 13 May 2014

184. Cuts funding to the National Anti-Tobacco Campaign – 13 May 2014

183. Cuts Australia’s Animal Welfare Strategy – 13 May 2014

182. Abolishes Health Workforce Australia and cuts the expansion of the Clinical Training Funding Program – 13 May 2014

181. Axes the National Partnership Agreement on Preventive Health – 13 May 2014

180. Defers the National Partnership Agreement for adult public dental services until July 2015 – 13 May 2014

179. Reduces the Medicare benefit for optometry services and allows optometrists to charge more – 13 May 2014

178. Abolishes the GP Education and Training Limited and ceasing the Pre-vocational GP Placements Scheme – 13 May 2014

177. Axes industry and community clean energy programs include the Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund, the National Low Emission Coal Initiative, Energy Efficiency Programmes, the National Solar Schools Plan, Energy Efficiency Information Grants and Low Carbon Communities – 13 May 2014

176. Scraps The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) which was set up to support new and emerging renewable technologies and in doing so breaks an election promise – 13 May 2014

175. Scraps the Housing Help for Seniors scheme which provided assistance to older Australians – 13 May 2014

174. Pulls $2.5 billion from aged care, including $1.7 billion from home based support such as Meals on Wheels – 13 May 2014

173. Cuts the benefit for unemployed people under 25 by moving them onto the Youth Allowance – 13 May 2014

172. Kills off the Gonski school funding vision by cutting future funding by $30 billion – 13 May 2014

171. Reduces Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme safety nets – 13 May 2014

170. Breaks a promise to make no cuts to health with a $368 million cut from preventative health measures – 13 May 2014

169. Cuts the Family Tax Benefit A end-of-year supplement by 17% – 13 May 2014

168. Increases the fuel excise twice a year by indexing it to CPI – 13 May 2014

167. Forces students to repay their debt earlier by lowering the wage they need to earn before payments kick in – 13 May 2014

166. Increases debt for students by increasing the interest on their fees – 13 May 2014

165. Makes it harder for retirees to access the Commonwealth Seniors Health Card – 13 May 2014

164. Guts the Australia Council and Screen Australia by cutting $87 million for the Arts – 13 May 2014

163. Forces people under 30 to work for the dole if they want to receive any financial support after a waiting period of six months with no financial support – 13 May 2014

162. Imposes a six month wait for people under 30s to receive unemployment benefits – 13 May 2014

161. Cuts the Family Tax Benefit Part B – 13 May 2014

160. Cuts the old age pension by indexing it to CPI instead of wages – 13 May 2014

159. Increases the pension age to 70 from 2035 – 13 May 2014

158. Imposes a $5 increase on the cost of all medicines available under the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (80c for concession card holders) – 13 May 2014

157. Cuts the ‘Tools for the Trade’ program which helped apprentices buy their tools, and replacing it with a loan scheme apprentices will have to repay – 13 May 2014

156. Caps the amount of money workers can recoup in entitlements if their employer becomes insolvent or bankrupt to 16 weeks – 13 May 2014

155. Breaks a promise to only cut the foreign aid budget by $4.5 billion and cuts it by $7.9 billion instead – 13 May 2014

154. Axes funding to the Australian Youth Affairs Coalition, the national peak body for young people- 13 May 2014

153. Slashes Disability Support Pensions by indexing to inflation – 13 May 2014

152. Abolishes the highly successful Youth Connections program that supports young people who have not completed, or are at risk of not completing Year 12 or equivalent qualifications also costing hundreds of community sector jobs – 13 May 2014

151. Breaks a promise of “no new taxes” by introducing a fuel levy – 13 May 2014

150. Announces the sacking of 16,500 public sector workers as whole Departments are abolished despite promising only 12,000 job losses – 13 May 2014

149. Cuts $500 million from indigenous programs over five years – 13 May 2014

148. Breaks a promise of “no new taxes” by introducing a deficit tax rise of two percentage points for people earning more than $180,000 a year – 13 May 2014

147. Scrapping a net $1.2 billion in tuition subsidies for universities – 13 May 2014

146. Scraps the Australia Network, Australia’s international television service broadcast across our region that provides news and current affairs from an Australian perspective – 13 May 2014

145. Breaks promise of “no cuts to the ABC or SBS” by cutting $43.5 million from the ABC and SBS – 13 May 2014

144. Tried to undermine Medicare by announcing a $7 fee increase for GP visits – 13 May 2014

143. Tears up the Federal Government’s agreement with states and territories to help fund increasing health costs – 13 May 2014

142. Tries to abolish caps on university fees, meaning universities will be able to charge whatever they like for degrees – 13 May 2014

141. Abolishes the COAG Reform Council — which provides information to Governments so they can track the performance of their programs – 13 May 2014

140. Sacks the National People with Disability and Carers Council — which pushed for and then helped build the NDIS – 13 May 2014

139. Releases the Commission of Audit report which recommends savage budget cuts that would negatively affect every Australian – 1 May 2014

138. Breaks a promise to introduce the paid parental leave scheme he took to the election – 30 April 2014

137. Spends $12.4 billion on new fighter jets whilst claiming a budget “emergency” and preparing to make big cuts to health and welfare – 23 April 2014

136. Abolishes the research and development tax incentives board – 11 April 2014

135. Begins dismantling GP Super clinics – 8 April 2014

134. Cuts 480 jobs from the Environment Department who are responsible for protecting places such as Kakadu, Antarctica and the Great Barrier Reef – 7 April 2014

133. Forbids public servants from making political comments online, even anonymously, and instructs them to report on colleagues who do – 6 April 2014

132. Establishes a secret, publicly funded “hit squad” to target political opponents led by the man who provided a “chaff bag” for Alan Jones to auction at a Young Liberal fundraiser – 1 April 2014

131. Imposes fees and charges on people who become bankrupt – 1 April 2014

130. Axes free legal assistance for asylum seekers – 31 March 2014

129. Attempts to defund Ethical Clothing Australia that worked with industry to protect outworkers in the textile and clothing industry from exploitation and abandons the Governments ethical procurement guidelines – 30 March 2014

128. Opposes a UN resolution to conduct war crimes inquiry in Sri Lanka – 28 March 2014

127. Closes all Medicare offices on Saturdays – 26 March 2014

126. Brings back the awards of knights and dames which were abolished in 1986 – 25 March 2014

125. Cuts 400 jobs from the industry department – 25 March 2014

124. Ensures a human rights enquiry into the Manus Island detention centre is shut down and human rights lawyers are denied access to the centre – 23 March 2014

123. Abolishes one third of the jobs in Treasury costing approximately 300 jobs – 21 March 2014

122. Cuts welfare payments to orphans of soldiers – 16 March 2014

121. Moves to deny funding to artists or events that refuse corporate sponsorship for ethical reasons – 15 March 2014

120. Cuts hundreds of jobs at the CSIRO – 14 March 2014

119. Reopens 457 visa loophole to allow employers to hire an unlimited number of workers without scrutiny – 12 March 2014

118. Overturns a ban on cattle grazing in the Victorian Alpine National Park – 6 March 2014

117. Frustrated and defeated an attempt at the UN to highlight the humanitarian consequences of nuclear war – 5 March 2014

116. Axes funding earmarked to save the Sumatran rhinoceros from extinction – 28 February 2014

115. Introduces legislation to allow people aged between 17-24 years old to work for half the minimum wage and be exempted from all other work rights including health and safety laws and protections should they be injured at work – 26 February 2014

114. Axes funding to Aboriginal Early Childhood Support and Learning Incorporated, the only Indigenous peak body advising on early childhood issues for Indigenous people in NSW – 25 February, 2014

113. Misleads the Australian public about what occurred on Manus Island when asylum seekers were attacked killing one person and injuring seventy-seven. Once the information was known to be untrue, waited five days to correct the record – 25 February 2014

112. Contravenes 113 years of established practice by moving to release the previous Government’s confidential cabinet papers to the Royal Commission into the Pink Batts scheme – 22 February 2014

111. Scraps food grants program for small farmers – 21 February 2014

110. Pressured SPC Ardmona to cut the pay and conditions for workers in return for Government money – 20 February 2014

109. Blames carbon pricing for the close of Alcoa smelters and rolling mills and the loss of nearly 1000 jobs, despite the fact the company states it had no bearing on their decision – 19 February 2014

108. Breaches the privacy and puts in danger around 10, 000 asylum seekers and their families by releasing their personal details on the Department of Immigration website – 19 February 2014

107. Fails to ensure the safety of asylum seekers in our care on Manus Island who were subjected to a vicious attack, which left one person dead and seventy-seven seriously injured – 18 February 2014

106. Reverses the previous government’s decision to care for refugee children who are without an adult family member (ie unaccompanied minors) in the community and sends them to detention centres in Nauru – 17 February 2014

105. Removes poverty reduction from the goals of the foreign affairs budget –February 17, 2014

104. Appoints a climate change skeptic to head a review of our renewable energy target – 17 February 2014

103. Pays hundreds of indigenous workers in his Department up to $19 000 less than non-indigenous workers doing the same job and cuts the budget for the representative body the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples causing two-thirds of the staff to lose their jobs – 15 February 2014

102. Breaks a promise to provide fibre-to-the-premises for all Tasmanians for the National Broadband Network – 13 February 2014

101. Unemployment rate jumps to highest in more than 10 years – 13 February 2014

100. Lies to the Australian public about the reasons Toyota gave for their decision to close in order to blame the workers and their union – 12 February 2014

99. Takes down a website providing information to the Australian public on the ingredients and nutritional content of foods. It is later revealed that the person in the Minister’s office who gave this directive is married to a lobbyist from the junk food industry and was still a share holder in their lobbying company – 11 February 2014

98. Destroys the Australian car manufacturing industry by refusing to provide any industry assistance leading to the decision of Toyota to shut costing up to 30 000 jobs – 10 February 2014

97. Launches a Royal Commission into unions – 10 February 2014

96. Attempts to reintroduce temporary visas for asylum seekers found to be fleeing persecution preventing them ever settling in Australia and retrospectively applies them to 20 000 people. This is stopped in the Senate twice by the ALP and The Greens – 7 February 2014

95. Supports a reduction of penalty rates and other Award minimums in a submission to the Fair Work Commission’s review of all Awards – 4 February 2014

94. Lies to the Australian public about the wages and working conditions of factory workers at SPC Ardmona in Shepparton and uses this incorrect information to blame them for their job insecurity – 4 February 2014

93. Launches an “efficiency study” into ABC and the SBS – 30 January 2014

92. Cuts the wages of Australian troops deployed overseas by almost $20 000 per solider – 29 January 2014

91. Intervenes on the side of Toyota to support cutting Australian workers wages and conditions – 28 January 2014

90. Privatises the 104 year old Australian Valuation Office costing nearly 200 jobs – 24 January 2014

89. Seeks to wind back the World Heritage listing of Tasmania’s forests – 23 January 2014

88. Withdraws funding from Operation Newstart, an early intervention program to help vulnerable young people – 22 January 2014

87. Exempts Western Australia from national environment laws to facilitate shark culling – 21 January 2014

86. Defunds all international environmental programs, the International Labour Organisation and cuts funding to a range of international aid programs run by NGOs such as Save the Children, Oxfam, CARE Australia and Caritas – 18 January 2014

85. Violates Indonesia’s territorial sovereignty while turning back asylum seeker boats – 17 January 2014

84. Politicises the national school curriculum by appointing a former Liberal staffer and a Coalition supporter, both critics of the current curriculum to conduct a review – 10 January 2014.

83. Directs that people already found to be refugees who arrived by boat be given the lowest priority for family reunion – 8 January 2014

82. Fails to contradict or take any action against a member of his government, Senator Cory Bernardi, who makes divisive statements about: abortion, “non-traditional” families and their children, same sex couples, couples who use IVF and calls for parts of WorkChoices to be reintroduced – 6 January 2014

81. Scraps funding for the Jewish Holocaust Centre –January 3, 2014

80. Devastates Australia’s contribution to overseas aid by cutting $4.5 billion from the budget, causing vital programs supporting those in extreme poverty in our region to collapse – 1 January 2014

79. Drastically reduces tax breaks for small business and fails to publicise it – 1 January 2014

78. Appoints Tim Wilson, a Liberal Party member and Policy Director of a right-wing think tank to the position of Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission even though this think tank argued for the Commission to be abolished – 23 December 2013

77. Approves private health fund premium increases of an average 6.2% a year – 23 December 2013

76. Breaks his promise to provide the promised customs vessel to monitor whaling operations in the Southern Ocean – 23 December 2013

75. Requests the delisting of World Heritage status for Tasmanian forests – 21 December 2013

74. Cuts funding to the Energy Efficiency Opportunities Programme which makes it mandatory for large energy using businesses to improve their efficiency –17 December, 2013

73. Breaks a promise to make no cuts to health by cutting $150 million from hospital and health services – 17 December 2013.

72. Scraps the Home Energy Saver Scheme which helps struggling low income households cut their electricity bills – 17 December 2013

71. Defunds the Public Interest Advocacy Centre whose objectives are to work for a fair, just and democratic society by taking up legal cases public interest issues – 17 December 2013

70. Defunds the Environmental Defenders Office which is a network of community legal centres providing free advice on environmental law – 17 December 2013

69. Axes funding for animal welfare – 17 December 2013

68. Breaks his election promise of no cuts to education by cutting funding for trade training centres in schools – 17 December 2013

67. Abolishes the AusAID graduate program costing 38 jobs – 17 December 2013

66. Cuts Indigenous legal services by $13.4 million. This includes $3.5 million from front line domestic violence support services, defunding the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services and abolishing all policy and law reform positions across the country – 17 December 2013

65. Abolishes the position of co-ordinator-general for remote indigenous services – 17 December 2013

64. Breaks his promise to unequivocally support the NDIS by changing the name of NDIS “launch sites” to “trial sites” and flags cuts to funding – 17 December 2013

63. Abolishes the National Office for Live Music along with the live music ambassadors – 17 December 2013

62. Cuts $2.5 million from community radio – 17 December 2013

61. Weakens the ministerial code of conduct to let ministers keep shares in companies – 16 December 2013

60. Disbands the independent Immigration Health Advisory Group for asylum seekers – 16 December 2013

59. Dumps the National Occupational Licensing Scheme which was designed to increase productivity by making it easier for skilled workers to work interstate – 14 December 2013

58. Axes $4.5 million from charities and community groups for the Building Multicultural Communities Program – 13 December 2013

57. Starts dismantling Australia’s world leading marine protection system – 13 December 2013

56. Scraps the COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water – 13 December 2013

55. Breaks his NBN election promise of giving all Australians access to 25 megabits per second download speeds by 2016 – 12 December 2013

54. Overturns the “critically endangered” listing of the Murray Darling Basin – 11 December 2013

53. Dares Holden to leave Australia. Holden responds by announcing its closure which costs Australians tens of thousands of jobs – 11 December 2013

52. Approves Clive Palmer’s mega coal mine in the Galilee Basin which opponents say will severely damage Great Barrier Reef – 11 December 2013

51. Demands that the few childcare workers who got pay rises “hand them back” – 10 December 2013

50. Approves the largest coal port in the world in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – 10 December 2013

49. Removes the community’s right to challenge decisions where the government has ignored expert advice on threatened species impacts – 9 December 2013

48. Downgrades national environment laws by giving approval powers to state premiers – 9 December 2013

47. Undermines Australia’s democracy by signing a free trade agreement with South Korea allowing corporations to sue the Australian Government – 6 December 2013

46. Damages our diplomatic relationship with our nearest neighbour East Timor – 5 December 2013

45. Repeals the pokie reform legislation which was designed to combat problem gambling – 4 December 2013

44. Suspends the Wage Connect program, despite it being proven to deliver good outcomes for unemployed people – 3 December 2013

43. Axes funding to the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, forcing the 46 year old organisation to close. It is later revealed that a staffer in the Assistant Health Minister’s office had links to the Alcohol Industry – 27 November 2013

42. Breaks his promise to support Gonski and back flips three times – 25 November 2013

41. Shifts Australia’s position at the UN on Israeli settlements – 25 November 2013

40. Damages our diplomatic relationship with the Indonesian Government by refusing to apologise for tapping the phones of their President, his wife and senior Government officials – 23 November 2013

39. Converts crucial Start-Up Scholarships into loans, increasing the debt of 80,000 higher education students by $1.2 billion – 21 November 2013

38. Gifts two navy patrol boats to the Sri Lankan government to stop asylum seekers fleeing the Sri Lankan government – 17 November 2013

37. Introduces a Bill to impose on workers who are elected onto unpaid union committees huge financial penalties and jail terms for breeches of new compliance obligations – 14 November 2013

36. Condones torture by foreign governments by saying “sometimes in difficult circumstances, difficult things happen” – 14 November 2013

35. Hides information from the Parliament and the people about the government’s treatment of asylum seekers – 13 November 2013

34. Abandons Australia’s emission reduction targets – 12 November, 2013

33. Separates a refugee mother from her newborn baby – 10 November 2013

32. Cuts 600 jobs at the CSIRO – 8 November 2013

31. Abolishes Insurance Reform Advisory Group which provided a forum for industry and consumer bodies to discuss insurance industry reform – 8 November 2013

30. Abolishes the Maritime Workforce Development Forum which was an industry body working to build a sustainable skills base for the maritime industry – 8 November 2013

29. Abolishes the High Speed Rail Advisory Group whose job it was to advise Governments on the next steps on implementing high speed rail for eastern Australia – 8 November 2013

28. Abolishes the Advisory Panel on the Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula which for 21 years ensured companies comply with agreements on the advertising of infant formula – 8 November 2013

27. Abolishes the Antarctic Animal Ethics Committee who ensured research on animals in the Antarctic complies with Australian standards – 8 November 2013

26. Abolished the National Steering Committee on Corporate Wrongdoing that for 21 years worked to make sure the law was effectively enforced on corporate criminals – 8 November 2013

25. Abolishes the National Inter-country Adoption Advisory Council which provided expert advice on overseas adoption – 8 November 2013

24. Abolishes International Legal Services Advisory Council which was responsible for working to improve the international performance of Australia’s legal services – 8 November 2013

23. Abolishes the Commonwealth Firearms Advisory Council a group of experts in gun crime and firearms which was set up after the Port Arthur massacre – 8 November 2013

22. Abolishes Australian Animals Welfare Advisory Committee a diverse group of experts advising the Agriculture Minister on animal welfare issues – 8 November 2013

21. Abolishes the National Housing Supply Council which provided data and expert advice on housing demand, supply and affordability – 8 November 2013

20. Abolishes the Advisory Panel on Positive Ageing, established to help address the challenges the country faces as the number of older Australians grows – 8 November 2013

19. Refuses to offer support to manufacturing in Tasmania, despite requests and warnings. Caterpillar announces the move of 200 jobs from Burnie to Thailand, costing around 1000 local jobs – 5 November 2013

18. Provides $2.2 million legal aid for farmers and miners to fight native title claims – 1 November 2013

17. Abolishes the 40 year old AusAID costing hundreds of jobs – 1 November 2013

16. Launches a successful High Court challenge which strikes down the ACT Marriage Equality laws invalidating the marriages of many people and ensuring discrimination against same-sex couples continues – 23 October 2013

15. Denies there is a link between climate change and more severe bush fires and accuses a senior UN official was “talking through their hat” – 23 October 2013

14. Appoints the head of the Business Council of Australia to a “Commission of Audit” to recommend cuts to public spending – 22 October 2013

13. Cuts compensation to the victims of bushfires – 21 October 2013

12. Instructs public servants and detention centre staff to call asylum seekers “illegals” – 20 October 2013

11. Appoints Howard era Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC) Director to help reinstate the ABCC with all its previous oppressive powers over construction workers – 17 October 2013

10. Axes the Major Cities Unit a Government agency with 10 staff which provided expert advice on urban issues in our 18 biggest cities – 24 September 2013

9. Breaks his promise to “stop the boats” – 23 September 2013

8. Scraps the Social Inclusion Board, which had been established to guide policy on the reduction of poverty in Australia – 19 September 2013

7. Abolishes the Climate Commission – 19 September 2013

6. Appoints himself Minister for Women – 16 September 2013

5. Appoints only one woman into his cabinet and blames the women for his decision, saying he appoints “on merit”– 16 September 2013

4. Abolishes key ministerial positions of climate change and science – 16 September 2013

3. Breaks his promise to spend his first week with an Aboriginal community –14 September 2012

2. Takes away pay rises for childcare workers – 13 September 2013

1. Takes away pay rises from aged care workers – 13 September 2013

The Broken Promise Count

1. Does not spend his first week as Prime Minister with an Aboriginal community – 14 September 2013. This promise was made in front of indigenous elders and participants at the Garma Festival on 10 August 2013, this is a live recording.

2. Fails to “stop the boats” – 23 September 2013. This promise was repeated so many times I can’t count. Here’s Abbott’s 2013 campaign launch speech.

3. Breaks his promise to support Gonski – 25 November 2013 and 13 May 2014. Fails to commit to future funding or to require States to match the Commonwealth funding commitment. See paragraph two from Christopher Pyne on 29 August 2013

4. Breaks its NBN election promise of giving all Australians access to 25 megabits per second download speeds by 2016 – 12 December 2013 This was the Coalition’s policy they took to the election first announced 9 April 2013.

5. Breaks his election promise of no cuts to education by cutting funding for trade training centres in schools on 17 December 2013. He made this promise at the National Press Club on 2 September 2013 and in writing on 5 September 2013 as part of their policy commitments.

6. Breaks a promise to make no cuts to health. He made this promise at the National Press Club on 2 September 2013 and in writing on 5 September 2013 as part of their policy commitments. This promise was first broken on 27 November 2013 when they cut funding to the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council

7. Breaks a promise to make no cuts to health on 17 December 2013 when they cut $150 million from hospitals and health services.

8. Fails to provide the promised customs vessel to monitor whaling operations in the Southern Ocean – 23 December 2013 Promise made by Greg Hunt – 9 April 2013

9. Breaks a promise to provide fibre-to-the-premises for all Tasmanians for the National Broadband Network. This promise was confirmed my Malcolm Turnbull on 17 August 2013 and confirmed as broken by the NBN Co executive chairman Ziggy Switkowski on 13 February 2014.

10. Breaks a promise to introduce the paid parental leave scheme he took to the election on 30 April 2014 by reducing the promised benefit for those earning above $100 000.

11. Breaks promise of “no cuts to the ABC or SBS” by cutting $43.5 million from the ABC and SBS.

12. Breaks a promise of “no new taxes” by introducing a deficit tax rise of two percentage points for people earning more than $180,000 a year.

13. Announced to sacking of 16,500 public sector workers as whole Departments are abolished despite promising only 12,000 job losses and through natural attrition.

14. Breaks a promise of “no new taxes” by introducing a fuel levy.

15. Reduction in foreign aid budget of $7.9 billion over five years despite promise to not exceed $4.5 billion and cut via indexation.

16. Increases the pension age to 70 from 2035 after promising no changes to pensions 

17. Cuts to old age pension by indexing to CPI, while it was promised there would be no changes.

18. Scraps The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) which was set up to support new and emerging renewable technologies and in doing so breaks an election promise.

19. Tears up the Federal Government’s agreement with states and territories to help fund increasing health costs despite promise of no cuts to health.

20.  Breaks a promise to make no cuts to health with a $368 million cut from preventative health measures.

21. Reduces the Medicare benefit for optometry services and allows optometrists to charge more, despite promise to not cut health budget.

22.  Axes the Charles Sturt University’s dental and oral health clinics, despite promise to not cut health budget.

23. Abolishes Medicare locals, despite promise to not cut health budget.

24. Breaks a promise to spend $2.55 billion Emissions Reduction Fund by committing less than half this amount in the budget.

25. Breaks a promise to have one million more solar roofs across Australia and at least 25 solar towns.

26. Breaks a promise not to cuts funding to health by dramatically cutting hospital funding.

27. Breaks election promise and slashes funding to Landcare

28. Breaks promise that no public servants will be forced into redundancy after revelations that two public servants in the Department of Industry have been made involuntarily redundant since September.

29. Breaks promise that no public servants will be forced into redundancy as it is revealed that at least 30 staff in Treasury will be made involuntarily redundant.

30. Breaks a promise not to grant permanent permanent residency to people arriving by boat by granting a visa to a least one refugee

31. Breaks a promise to amend the race hate laws

32. Breaks a promise to “make no unexpected detrimental changes to superannuation” by killing the Low Income Super Contribution, the Superannuation Guarantee and delaying superannuation increases for seven years.

33. Breaks election promise to  build replacement submarines in South Australian shipyards, spending more than $20 billion on Japanese submarines instead.

34. Breaks an election promise to a publish a proposal for constitutional recognition for Indigenous people and establish a bipartisan process to try to bring about recognition as soon as possible within the first 12 months of Government.

35. Breaks promise to  achieve a surplus in the Governments’ first year in office, instead overseeing an estimated $51 billion deterioration in revenue.

36. Breaks a key election promise to bring in 26 weeks parental leave paid at a working mother’s actual wage

37. Breaks an election promise to improve transparency by restricting the transparency of overseas travel expenses after media reports on Christopher Pyne’s lavish trip to Europe with his wife  

38. Imposes a $900 tax on new homes connecting to the NBN and breaks his election promise on new taxes.

39. Dumps his signature paid parental leave policy 

40. Breaks promise to lead a “strong, stable, accountable” government

41. Breaks an election promise to “make no changes to the GST” by extending it to purchases made online

42. Breaks a promise to provide a stable and unified Government

902 thoughts on “TRACKING ABBOTT’S WRECKAGE

  1. Not recent, but certainly makes the skin craw;.

    A Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs

    Posted on April 19, 2013

    Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has pledged to take direct responsibility for Indigenous Policy…
    TONY ABBOTT: Under an incoming Coalition government, Indigenous affairs will be handled within the department of prime minister and cabinet. There will be, in effect, a prime minister for Aboriginal affairs.
    … in a speech given to the Sydney Institute on April 15th.
    While there was not much detail it certainly sounds impressive. A Prime Minister forcing improvements in Indigenous lives, closing the gap. But what sort of people would in effect be running the portfolio?
    On April 18th at a Qantas function his Director of Policy Dr Mark Roberts made a throat-slitting motion and threatened to “cut the throat” of funding to Andrew Penfold the CEO of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.
    Not only that, but when he realised there was a witness, Peter van Onselon, Mr Roberts apparently offered to become a deep throat from within Abbott’s office if van Onselon kept his mouth shut.
    The possible Prime Minister for Aboriginal Affairs only action was to not sack but only demote his Director of Policy.
    Makes me wonder how Indigenous Affairs will progress under Abbott.

    http://bitethedust.com.au/bitingthedust/category/indigenous/

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  2. Abbott’s new Energy and Resources Minister Anthony Roberts has warned NSW must expand the coal seam gas industry if it is to head off surging household gas prices.

    In fact the opposite is true. We all know that in reality it is the government’s rush to export LNG which is increasing demand and driving up prices.
    As usual for the COALition it’s all about short term thinking and short term profits at the expense of industrialising our agricultural land and threatening our water resources.

    Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/nsw-must-grow-coal-seam-gas-industry-to-keep-down-prices-minister-20140217-32vjt.html#ixzz2tdK7lODx

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  3. Great work on the list but I didn’t notice his abolition of the CEFC. On 2 December, the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (Abolition) Bill 2013 was introduced into the Senate. This after the CEFC Chair, Jillian Broadbent, testified in front of a Senate inquiry a week prior, stating that continuing the fund would provide taxpayers with $200m a year in revenue while accounting for 50% of Australia’s emissions reduction target.

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  4. This list is going to be very, very, very long by the time his term is finished.

    On one hand, I’m furious at the behaviour of this Neanderthal and the troglodytes that surround him. On the other hand, the morons who voted him in deserves every bit of pain that Abbott’s moronic policies and decision cause.

    Keep of the good work Sally. This helps makes Abbott accountable.

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  5. Seemingly caused our Navy to lose basic navigation skills and cross “mistakenly” into Indonesian waters, thereby further damaging diplomatic relations with our nearest trade neighbour.

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  6. And if we were to go this specific in to Labor mistakes lies and deception you would have to buy several servers to cover the amount of space it would take to write everything, you are all sheep, a pack of whining sheep who should shift to a communist country, it’s called democracy people, the rubbish gets removed when the people vote, the minority in this country are the biggest majority of crying sooks you will find anywhere in he world…………

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    • I would change one word in your statement, that being ” minority” to near “majority” and it is very scary.

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    • Thanks for your dumbed down redneck concept of politics Baa Lambs. Democracy also lead to the greens winning lower house seat at the 2010 election (need a majority by the way) which forced Labor’s hand on emissions trading scheme. Abbott has broken more promises in last 6 months than Labor’s last 3 years.

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  7. What about Greg Hunt pushing a law through to give himself immunity against future prosecution for his decisions regarding coal mines etc… that later prove to be against scientific advice???

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    • Disgusting…and hopefully has some smart legal types, or perhaps Greenpeace resources, already onto finding a legal way of overturning that …. he also exempted WA re threatened species regarding the shark cull. Obscene behaviour from a minister supposedly ‘for’ the environment – but Tony’s happy with him ….he praised him as a minister willing to let the environment be utilised (or words to that effect or similar!)

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  8. Is it worth running a crowd funding campaign to buy some full page ads in the WA press prior to the senate election? Probably couldn’t fit the whole list on one page, but enough to get people who aren’t aware of the contents of this rapidly growing list to maybe think. I’d be happy to kick in.

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    • Put me down for $50 a week through a 4 week campaign…Open up a page where people can donate through Paypal or something similar.

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    • The Greens or GetUp have funding request in play re ads toilet WA know their vote is important. But another, for this list – or an extract, with link to full list rather (full list’d take pages and pages! ) – would be great…and I would also contribute. I think many would. It’s been a hell’uva way to get the people more aware of the short comings of our electoral system, and so called democratic government/governance

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  9. 27 Feb:

    Bishop withdraws $3M promised by Labor to save Sumartran rhinos facing threat of extinction!
    – The Guardian

    The Guardian prints a lot more abbott horror stories than e.g. the SMH.

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  10. I’m really enjoying the record keeping Sall. It’s good to have someone journal the long over due reduction in government policy and agencies that interfere in our lives.

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  11. People could do some lateral thinking here – i.e. all the personnel who have been shafterd by Abbott when he closed down or cut funding to their organisations are now free to critisize this appalling government and by my calculations there are hundreds of them and they are now in a position to let the public know the damage that’s been done to Australia.

    Like

  12. This is a wonderful email. You could fill out the stuff on the Gonski programs perhaps. Trevor Cobbold at Save Our Schools maintains a running brief on this posting material examining the numerous reversals by Minister Pyne of the Government’s promises made before the election. Below is a list of cancelled Indigenous programs with links. The last of the NACCHO documents contains a full list of cancelled programs. You may care to add something about the continuation of the Intervention in the NT and the appointment of truant officers to get kids into school which is entirely the wrong approach!

    Coalition cuts to indigenous legal aid under fire,
    Jane Lee Legal Affairs Reporter The Age September 6, 2013
    http://www.smh.com.au/national/coalition-cuts-to-indigenous-legal-aid-under-fire-20130906-2tah9.html

    From 26 indigenous programs to five, Patricia Karvelas The Australian January 22, 2014

    http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/from-26-indigenous-programs-to-five/story-fn9hm1pm-1226807204320#

    Australian government cuts billions of dollars from social programs, Gareth Hutchens, Peter Hannam December 18, 2013 http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/australian-government-cuts-billions-of-dollars-from-social-programs-20131217-2zjbn.html

    NACCHO 2014 political news: Warren Mundine warns of budget pain for Aboriginal funding http://nacchocommunique.com/2014/01/06/naccho-2014-political-news-warren-mundine-warns-of-budget-pain-for-aboriginal-funding/

    NACCHO political health news : Abbott Government cuts to impact on Aboriginal health
    http://nacchocommunique.com/2013/12/18/naccho-political-health-news-abbott-government-cuts-to-impact-on-aboriginal-health/

    I think you are following the Trade Agreement which is vital: Australia’s position ought to be to not sign any agreement with the US which incorporates US practice; instead any agreement should incorporate Australian BEST practice in IR, health incl pharmaceuticals and the environment plus no provision for corporations to sue governments.

    Last you might like to follow the decisions made about submarines and the Joint Strike Fighter which John Howard unilaterally approved sight unseen so to speak.

    Thanks again and please keep on.

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    • “Best practice” unfortunately does not mean best in an absolute sense but relative to other lesser options… in itself it has no standard and no meaning. What happened to SAFE practices?

      Like

      • One part of Pyne’s educational policies that seems intact and not short of funding is the intent to fill the minds of children with religious nonsense about the age of the earth at 6,000 years, talking snakes, and the rest of the creationist absurdity through the SRI program. This is “taught” by volounteers, with little or no training, and profoundly conservative religious ideas. The strategy of moving biblical literalism from the pulpit, where attendance is optional, to the school, where attendance is compulsory, and the audience is impressionable children, is one that Abbott and Pyne seem to endorse. Mind you, child abuse, in all it’s forms is no stranger to their church.

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    • Yep Tony has sure lied about things look he has even got Russia to invade the Ukraine. He never told us that at election time.

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      • It’s okay Fred Julie called the Ruskin Am assador in and sorted him out and the Russians are in retreat!

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    • Totally agree, Abbot should be removed from office. He has gone way too far already. Simply can’t understand how he is still in office.

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    • The Queen and the Governor General indirectly give the orders so there is no point! We must lobby the Senate to stop supply and create a Vote of No Confidence.in the Government who are intent in encouraging Foreign Ownership and reducing workers pay rates and benefits. By increasing Unemployment they will create a Nation of People who have to accept anything in order to be in work.

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    • Hi, I wrote to the GG’s office to ask she (back before change of governor to Peter Cosgrove) dismiss Tony Abbott. Got a reply indicating this is a matter for the sitting government. IE he is their elected leader. Considered writing to the Queen but in process of research discovered the Gov Gen CAN dismiss the PM if a vote in the House of Reps about seeking the GG to do that succeeds.

      So the way I see it there’s at least three ways we can be rid of the lunacy being endured since Sept, and partly as a result of his own party not being able to keep him in line (as I suspect many other LNP voters like myself hoped/assumed would happen):
      The March in March sees Tony shocked into reality and he resigns to protect the party and Coalition – highly UNLIKELY, as we now have seen more of and therefore better understand his personality
      Due to the MiM (March in…) – either before hand, to finally show the internal checks that should already have kick into place, or soon after – the Liberal Party mounts a leadership challenge, and we end up with the leader of it that we should have had – Malcolm Turnbull
      Due to the MiM the opposition puts it to the House and they all, plus enough Libs/Nats MPs (many must also be aghast as their “leader’s” performance and want him ousted), carry the vote to seek the GG to dismiss the PM.

      I suppose there are at least a couple more ways….. am surprised he, and Campbell Newman haven’t met with misadventure. And the incoming Gov Gen may do a John Kerr and dismiss the whole sitting govnment. Very unlikely tho’, but I think that power, as well as the Queen still being the ultimate authority, however unlikely to actually exercise such power, does still exist. But only done limits research and am not a lawyer……

      My money is on the LNP itself finally feeling safe enough to upend him themselves…..once they have the March in March as justification. They didn’t want to follow Labor’s habit of internal woe and chucking out their leader. But once the people, incl a significant proportion being people who voted for them, demand it via rallies to declare no confidence they will be seen to be free of that concern….

      If they don’t it is within the Reserve Powers of the Gov Gen that we need to look and ask the Opposition to implement

      Hope this helps, and perhaps reassures….all is NOT lost yet

      Like

  13. Guillain-Barré syndrome introduced by detainees!!!? bahahaha are you serious? The tip of an iceberg when it comes to to this massive brain fart…

    Like

  14. Keep up the good work Sally…, as far as I am concerned, like the previous Federal coalition government, this one also appears to be devoid of a social conscience.
    If they had have been in power at the onset of the GFC with their abhorrent Work Choices fully bedded down, job losses would have been astronomical.

    Like

  15. National occupational licensing system abandoned by COAG on 13 December on brink of fruition throwing away six years work tens of millions of dollars and foregoing $200 million in productivity savings

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  16. I’m sorry Sally, but whilst I was initially keen to see your list it left me very disappointed. I checked three of the first four items I read (110 – 113) and found them to be in error, specifically:

    110 & 112 are proposals and not law. Whilst both are of concern, your list implies they are already done.

    111 is incorrect (or at best an exaggeration). A few hours after making his comments, Morrison held another press conference and cast doubt on his previous comments.

    I stopped reading because I no longer had any confidence in your analysis. That isn’t what you want – unless your only audience is rabid Abbott-haters, and really, do they need convincing?

    If you want to hold the govt to account – and who would not? – then you need to be more circumspect: quantity is not a substitute for quality. A smaller more soberly accurate list would have far greater impact.

    Cheers,

    Claude.

    Like

    • Hi Claude – I am only putting things on the list if they have actually taken an action to do something. There are lots and lots of ideas that have either been floated or foreshadowed that are not on the list. 112 – introducing legislation fits this criteria. If the law passes, the item will change and this one will be deleted. We dont know if things will pass the Senate. With 110 – I will check this. My understanding is they do not need a law changed to break a convention. With 111 – please provide me with a link to back up what you say. My information is it took him five days to correct the record.

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      • Thanks for the reply Sally.

        RE: 111. http://www.minister.immi.gov.au/media/sm/2014/sm211891.htm – this is the transcript of the press-conference held later that day. During that press conference he stepped back from his earlier comments and said he was getting conflicting reports about where the incident took place.

        RE: 110 & 112. The list has “Wreckage” in its name and promises to highlight “everything his Government does to hurt Australians”. Both are strong indicators of outcomes, rather than proposals or intentions. I think the list would be stronger if such things were left off until the damage (as you see it) is done, or (perhaps better) highlight them as not actually implemented but actively under discussion.

        Also, if you want to change things, you would be wise to think about your audience. Reading the comments, its hard to find a single comment that doesn’t support you whole-heartedly. These people are already convinced so I have to wonder about the purpose of your list.

        I think you would get better results targeting disappointed swing or LNP voters. Imagine how you would feel if the comments were full of “I voted for this govt and I’m so disappointed!” People like me 🙂

        Of course, its your list and you can do with it what you want!

        Cheers,

        Claude.

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  17. In 2008 Minister Jenny Macklin recognised the special disabilities of the indigenous people on Groote Eylandt who are crippled by the genetic disease Machado Joseph Disease (MJD). Initially $100,000 was provided but later Macklin provided funds to be invested to provide on-going assistance to victims to give them some sense of social security.
    The Abbott Government has now withdrawn that funding and created despair in this small community. http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2014/02/24/foundation-hits-back-mjd-funding-cuts
    This sure looks like a very mean funding cut from some of the most disadvantaged and vulnerable people in society; very un-Australian. How low can you go?

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  18. You can now add National Parks to the list. Apparently we need to chop them down so the Green Army can replant them.

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  19. Number 99 needs an update. The person in the Minister’s office who gave this directive is actually still a lobbyist for the junk food industry. At the time the food rating website was pulled he owned 50% of the shares in the lobbying company with his spouse owning the other 50%.

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  20. Let’s not forget that Abbott rolled Turnbull by 1 vote, thanks to Minchin who is now on his way to a perk in New York City. Abbott was schooled by the Jesuits but shows no compassion, no humility. He was a thug in his days in kindergarten politics at Sydney U & he hasn’t changed. He sets the tone of arrogance that has quickly become the signature of his administration. I have diehard Liberal voter friends who openly say ‘What have we done?’ Abbott is a boy on a man’s mission: a buffoon, a caricature of a national leader, a fool. Surely he’ll be a oncer. In the meantime, batten down the hatches.

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  21. A sad and sorry list and it hasn’t been that long, 6 months and look at the damage so far and we haven’t had their first Budget yet. There will be page after page of cuts in that.
    However, just for comparison and balance, can we compile a list of the positive achievements of the Abbott gov’t, those that benefit Australians in general. It shouldn’t take long to list them but probably a long time to find them.

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  22. Looking at this litany of betrayal one might be inclined to think perhaps Turny About is a more appropriate name.

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  23. Those of us who are seriously concerned about the future of our country were always fearful of an Abbott Government. Well it is worse than any of us anticipated. When will the masses really stand up and be counted.

    We need quality rather than quantity. People Power! Myrtleb

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    • Greens Senator To Tony Abbott: “We Want Our Country Back”

      Seems this guy has what it takes to tell the moron running our country exactly what he thinks.
      In my book that makes him the sort of Australian we can all be proud of, unlike the spineless mRabbott.

      Check it out…………

      http://junkee.com/tony-abbott-slammed-by-greens-senator-in-jaw-dropping-speech-of-the-year-we-want-our-country-back/30146

      I think Ludlum has done a fantastic job of telling Abbott just how people feel. Not just Western Australians but the vast majority of us from all over Australia!

      This guy makes me think there is still some hope.
      I’m going to donate to his Senate by-election fighting fund and urge everyone to join me please.
      I’m not even in WA (In NSW) but I care deeply about our country, and we need to show Abbott we have all had enough.

      This is a great opportunity do do just that.
      If everyone gave just $5 it can make a huge difference.

      Power back to the people!!!!!!

      https://greens.org.au/civicrm/contribute/transact?reset=1&id=379

      Like

  24. Why not to be fair list what good things this government is doing for the people of Australia or is your agenda just to stick it up this government. I also notice you have not listed the lies and stuff ups and broken promises of your beloved Labor Party the former government of this country. I thought this was supposed to be a democracy not a Socialist State.

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    • Fred, I don’t think the two lists you propose are necessary

      (1) The govt will promote everything they do, so we do need some balance to hold them to account. I don’t think Sally’s list is a good way of doing that, but I also don’t think it needs to be balanced.

      (2) The old Labor govt is history. Yes, I agree it was a terrible mess but that has been well documented and the electorate knows it – that’s why they were chucked out and an (unpopular) opposition elected.

      But I think you have hit on something useful: a list of the things that the current non-govt parties are blocking as this creates damage too. E.g. Qantas!

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      • They are trying to protect 30000 jobs!!!!!!!! As soon as Qantas is taken over all the jobs will go overseas. only jobs left here will be the baggage handlers!!!!!!!

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      • Darko, Qantas is going broke. In the end all the jobs are gone anyway unless something changes.

        One change would be giving Qantas money thru debt-guarantees, etc. But that only works in the short term and it hurts every over business. Most likely Virgin will start to suffer and jobs will be lost there.

        And ultimately, it it will never work long term. The car industry is a perfect example of the rivers of money wasted with no actual outcome.

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    • You need to read the title. It would be inappropriate to list any good things. Also impossible. The guy keeps going from one stuff up to the next.

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    • I;m trying hard to think of something that this government is doing for Australia Fred… and this country has been a social democracy pretty much since its inception – opting to take the best from both systems.

      I wonder which socialist states you are referring to though – Iceland? Norway? in fact all the Social Democracies in northern Europe that should be our models for welfare, education and medicine – rather than the failed behemoths of Britain and the US…

      Oh – and by the way – I’m not a Labor voter and am just as disgusted about them as I am about the LNP and I know a lot of staunch unionists that feel the same way.

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  25. Oh the press, the press
    The freedom of the press
    We must be free to say
    Whatever’s on our chest …
    For whichever side will pay the best!
    – Marc Blitzstein, “The Cradle Will Rock,” 1936

    The media is a corporation with intent to maximise profit. Murdoch’s multiple and global presses do not provide objectivity. How can it? It represents ruling class capitalist interests – the rest of us can work, consume and die. Capitalist elites fears critical analysis and the media and commentators as crude as Bolt keep us distracted and ignorant playing on fear, celebrity and sporting entertainment. Oi, oi, oi.

    I’m old and educated enough to remember the media campaign that destabilised Allende’s Chile and Whitlam’s time. It’s a tried and true strategy. Goebbels was Hitlers propaganda man. Nowadays it’s called Public Relations. The media campaign against Labour started when Rudd won and lasted until Abbott did. Since it has retreated to business as usual.

    Abbott is a wrecking ball, that’s his job. Labour is no alternative. Hawke showed us that when he told thousands of demonstrators in Melbourne protesting at Kerr’s coup to go home. He was rewarded with the top job and brought Australia into line with yanquee imperial policy to deregulate our economy. He, Keating and all governments since have obliged. They are all traitors.

    Time to read Uncle Karl dudes and work it out for yourselves.

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  26. Yes but in a Democracy should we not know what both sides are doing and why they are doing it I would be saying the same if this forum was about a Liberal Party that had just been kicked out of office and why they were kicked out and what the present government which in this case would be Labor was doing and why they were doing it. I know this post forum has been started by a staunch Unionist and there fore either a Labor or Communist supporter. In some posts people have complained about the press being against the Labor Party I did not see many bitches from Liberal Party members when this same press was backing the previous Labor government. If all some people can do is complain about this present government I am sure there are other countries overseas who would welcome them with open arms and then we could afford to bring in some of the poor refugees who have been surviving in camps for years and years around the world and not the ones who jump in front of those in the camps by paying people to get hem here by boat which by the way Tony Abbot appears to have stopped.

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    • Fred,

      Sure – balance is good and we should know what both sides are doing. But I think it is a stretch too far to expect this author to cover both sides fairly. Given normal human frailty, any given author will be unlikely to serve both sides of the argument fairly.

      Like you, I have also complained here about the structure/content of this blog. Instead of complaining to Sally, perhaps you and I should start our own blog’s and put in the time to create something better.

      However, If you are anything like me, this is unlikely to happen. Unfortunately Sally has me beaten 10x over with respect to the dedication required to create & maintain something like this 😦

      For that dedication she has my respect, if not my agreement on her opinions.

      Cheers,

      Claude.

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      • Claude,

        This is not a list of Sally’s opinions. These are facts backed up by enumerating the source.

        The only opinions on this blog are ours – yours and mine and Fred’s and lots of others.

        You will not find many of these facts – now 115 – discussed in the Murdoch media outlets.

        Please set up a blog listing Abbott’s achievements. It won’t take you long.

        Go for it.

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    • You don’t see a lot of shades of grey, do you? From Unionist to Communist in one breathtaking leap! Wow!
      And, appearing to stop the boats is different to doing it. Finally, what is wrong with the boats? The bigotry of “illegal people smuggling” is just that.
      Waving like mad to attract the attention of the Navy is not smuggling, nor is it actually illegal.
      The only person acting illegally may be the Master of the vessel should he undertake an International passenger voyage without providing a “Passenger Vessel” within the meaning of the IMO and relevant codes, which is why they do not want to enter Australian waters, and therefore complete an “International voyage.”
      Finally, as far as “queue jumping” is concerned, where these refugees come from, there is no queue to jump.
      I wish you could speak to the electrical engineer of my acquaintance who came by boat, escaping from the secret police in his country with his family after his father and brother were shot.
      He adores Australia, and will frankly have more to do with building the country than the redneck bigots who understand nothing, apart from their possible origins in the first fleet.

      Like

    • Why is it that these Liberal trolls that spout their anger and hatred are ungrammatical, can barely spell, don’t use much punctuation and have lots of typos?

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      • Fred, have a bex & a good lie down, mate, and suppress your hysteria & your blood pressure. Just enjoy the day. I suppose every society has its nut cases but you don’t have to be one.

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      • Fred, That is a non sequitur. Your message is lost as soon as you lose punctuation, spelling, grammar and make typos.

        This contribution would have been an F for Fail in the school you would have attended all those years ago.

        “Fred must do better if he wants his message to get through”

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  27. Good list. We were really between a rock and a hard place at the last election. I can’t believe this child is now PM. No one should be surprised about the wreckage his party leaves. What is wrong with our public, this Turny About has always looked like a rotten, cocky [insert every swearword you have ever heard].
    Just hope all his damage is reversible… and we get a chance to have a Good Leader again.

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  28. Bob Hawke, Fabian Soclialist, sold out along with Keating – they are both Traitors and set the scene for current Government Policy with pro-yankee and obedience to the Banking Cartel and Corporate Business!

    Like

    • Mike, a personal friend of mine asked Hawke why he sold out so badly to the yanks. His reply, ‘It’s the only way to keep the job’. Fair dinkum. I’d say God’s truth, but i’m an atheist.

      Like

  29. There is nothing wrong with welfare as long as it given to the people who genuinely need it when we have people taking the dole instead of a job because they would not get much more money by taking the job then the system fails. I took think it is entirely wrong that people like JOYCE earn $5 million a year ad other CEO earn such astronomical amounts whilst some workers are paid $17 per hour but if you take all the money the rich have and give it to the poor of this country I wonder how many more more would be on the dole because the rich cannot afford to employ them any longer because the government has taken all their money off them. As for England I can quite well remember a tax called the Super tax where the very rich were taxed at 90% of their earnings at lot of private companies were closing down and leaving the country as they could not afford to live or run their companies any more. Oh and by the way LABOR was in power in England when this was happening to.

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    • “There is nothing wrong with welfare as long as it given to the people who genuinely need it when we have people taking the dole instead of a job because they would not get much more money by taking the job then the system fails.”

      You bet it fails. And exactly how will this situation will be be solved by reducing wages even further? I have never been able to understand what it is that conservatives have against paying the people who work for them a decent living wage.

      The Abbott solution of course will be to reduce welfare even further along with wages.

      I see a surge in street swags coming.

      And, I have never understood the appeal to the poor of voting for those representing money and greed in the weird hope that there will be some sort of trickle down effect.

      How often do they have to watch the trickle turn into a drip, and then dry up entirely before they wake up to the fact they have been had.

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      • The original term was coined by Thatcher – who spoke of “drip down economics”. It was amended by cooler heads to “trickle down” when it was perceived how derogatory the first term sounded.

        That it doesn’t work under whatever name is rarely spoken of. Only upward flow works to get the economy moving effectively. Better welfare and low paid work models have to be tested and implemented.- this supports local economy and works its way up.

        Pumping money in at the top just buys Gina a new yacht – or a CEO a new imported TV – or pads out his cayman Island bank account…

        You have a street swag for sale? If I get arrested at one of the weekend marches in Victoria I automatically lose my Housing Commission flat

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      • unfortunately JDC, those representing money and greed employ divisive tactics to gather support from the poor and uneducated. Think Racism (the phantom terror of boat people, really muslims) same sex marriage, abortion. They don’t give a stuff about these issues really, but they know they can divide and conquer.

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  30. In a word, ‘arrogance’ (no, add ‘incompetence’) characterise Abbott & his Ministers. There is not a breath, not a hint of humility. I gave them a chance with Turnbull, who seemed to offer a moderate stance. But now the Tea Party runs the show.

    Minchin has been given his reward for installing Abbott, off to NY City with his snout in the public trough. ‘Thanks mate’ & all that goes with such perks. Downer off to London: surprise, surprise!

    The loonies are running the asylum.

    ‘Poor fella, my country!’

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    • I can’t imagine the mentality of the folks who actually selected him as a leader, but when I see them in Parliament, I don’t need to imagine any longer. It is really CRISTAL CLEAR, Abbott’s Government is totally UNFITT to sit in PARLIAMENT. Poor fella, my country! sadly truth.

      Like

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