Gillard Addresses ACTU Congress: “I Fight For Australia”

May 15, 2012

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has addressed the triennial ACTU Congress in Sydney.

  • Listen to Ged Kearney introduce Julia Gillard (5m)

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  • Listen to Gillard’s speech (28m)

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Text of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s speech to the ACTU Congress.

Thank you so very much, and thank you to Ged for that kind introduction.

I’m so proud to be here today as a Labor Prime Minister, so proud to stand before you, and for me this has a real sense of homecoming.

Not to this place, but to the people who are gathered in it, a real sense of homecoming to the great Australian trade union movement, the trade union movement that gave birth to our political party. It’s good to be home with you.

A sense of homecoming too, because I learnt my trade union values in my family home.

My parents, John and Moira, taught me many things, but of all of them, first and foremost, they taught me to cherish family, they taught me to study and to work hard, they taught me to respect other people and they taught me to always, always, always carry your union membership card.

They taught me the value of trade unionism. [Read more...]

Obama Campaign Launches Anti-Romney Bain Capital TV Ad

May 15, 2012

The Obama campaign has released a new television advertisement targeting Mitt Romney over his record at Bain Capital.

The two-minute ad will run in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Colorado and Virginia. It features a Kansas City steel plant purchased by Bain Capital which shut it down after making a large profit. “They came in and sucked the life out of us,” one of the plant’s former workers says in the ad.

“If he’s going to run the country the way he ran his business, I wouldn’t want him there,” says another.

The ad signals a concerted attempt by the Obama campaign to define its Republican opponent.

The presidential election takes place on November 4, in just under six months time.

UPDATE – May 16 – The Romney campaign has released this video in response.

Q&A: Wong And Hockey On Gay Marriage

May 14, 2012

The final question on tonight’s Q&A produced an interesting contrast between Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey and Finance Minister Penny Wong.

  • Listen to the question and responses:

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Carbon Tax Ads Without The Carbon Tax

May 14, 2012

The Gillard government’s campaign to promote the “Household Assistance Package” has begun with the airing of television advertisements.

The ads focus on the compensation payments which formed part of the Clean Energy Future legislation but they make no mention of the carbon price.

The Critical Decade: NSW Climate Change Report Released

May 14, 2012

The Climate Commission has released a report on New South Wales climate impacts and opportunities.

Climate commissioners Tim Flannery, Will Steffen and Lesley Hughes spoke to the media about their report.

  • Listen to the media conference:

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  • Download ‘The Critical Decade’ report (PDF)

This is the Climate Commission’s summary of its report, ‘The Critical Decade’.

New South Wales (NSW) is home to over a third of Australians, 31% of the national economy and is highly vulnerable to climate change. Scientists are concerned that climate change is increasing the risk of hot weather, heatwaves, and bushfires, and changing the patterns of drought and heavy rainfall. A changing climate is costly, putting pressure on human health, agriculture, infrastructure and the natural environment.

NSW is becoming hotter and drier. Record-breaking hot days have more than doubled across Australia since 1960 and heatwaves in the greater Sydney region, especially in the western suburbs, have increased in duration and intensity. [Read more...]

Craig Thomson Says He Was Set Up

May 12, 2012

Craig Thomson has defended himself against allegations of misuse of union funds in an extraordinary interview with Laurie Oakes on Channel 9.

Thomson claims threats were made against him in 2004 that he would be set up with “hookers” to “ruin my potential political career”.

He argues that other members of the Health Services Union had knowledge of his credit card and driver’s licence numbers. He says “proof of a phone call is not proof of who is on the end of the phone…cutting right through it, Laurie, it was not me.”

  • Listen to Thomson’s interview with Oakes (18m)

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Peter Costello Responds To Michael Kroger

May 11, 2012

This is the text of a statement released today by Peter Costello.

STATEMENT – 11 May 2012

I did not hear Michael Kroger’s Radio Interviews this morning as I was Chairing a Post-Budget function for the Liberal Party where over 800 guests attended to hear Joe Hockey respond to the Budget. That excellent speech should have been the story of the day.

Since I have been deluged with media requests for a reply I will go to the factual matters. I will not reply to the attacks on my character, other than to say they are false. I have been elected to Parliament seven times and every aspect of my career and life has been scrutinized for decades. People can form their own judgements.

Since I voluntarily retired from Parliament I have not sought to return to Parliament. I have not sought Mr Kroger’s assistance to do so. I think the events of this morning indicate why I would not repose a confidence in him. And most importantly of all Mr Kroger holds no position in the Kooyong Electorate. What possible influence would he have? The Liberal Party is run by a membership not by factional bosses. I was the longest Deputy Leader in its history. I know how it works. I do not need to go to Mr Kroger for assistance in relation to its affairs. [Read more...]

Michael Kroger Unloads On Peter Costello

May 11, 2012

Michael Kroger has unleashed an extraordinary attack on Peter Costello in radio interviews this morning.

Kroger appeared first on Jon Faine’s program on ABC 774 in Melbourne, and then spoke to Neil Mitchell on 3AW.

Michael Kroger

  • Listen to Kroger’s interview with ABC’s Jon Faine:

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  • Listen to Kroger’s interview with 3AW’s Neil Mitchell:

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Tony Abbott’s Budget Reply Speech

May 10, 2012

The Leader of the Opposition, Tony Abbott, has delivered his Budget Reply speech in the House of Representatives.

Abbott reiterated his commitment to abolish the carbon tax as the key component of a plan to relieve cost of living pressures. His only new promise was “to work urgently with the states to ensure that at least 40 per cent of Year 12 students are once more taking a language other than English within a decade.”

In what amounted to a campaign address, Abbott said: “I want to reassure the people of Australia that it does not have to be like this; we are a great people let down by bad government that will pass. There is a better way.”

  • Listen to Abbott’s speech:

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Official transcript of Tony Abbott’s Budget Reply speech.

Tony AbbottThe job, Madam Deputy Speaker, of every member of this parliament is to help shape a better Australia.

It’s to listen carefully to the Australian people, respect the hard-won dollars they pay in tax, do our honest best to make people’s lives easier not harder, and honour the commitments we make to those who vote for us.

If that’s how we discharge our duties as members of parliament, politics is an honourable calling, the public can respect their MPs and MPs can respect each other even when we disagree.

My values are the product of an Australian life, a real life much like yours, with Margie, raising three daughters in suburban Sydney, paying a mortgage, worrying about bills, trying to be a good neighbour and a good citizen; appreciating that no one has a monopoly of virtue or wisdom, and grateful that our country has normally been free from the class struggle that’s raged elsewhere to other countries’ terrible cost.

In a healthy democracy, people need not agree with everything a government does but they should be able to understand its purpose and to appreciate why it could be for the long term good of the nation as whole. [Read more...]

Peter Costello: The Colt From Kooyong?

May 09, 2012

Peter CostelloPeter Costello has canvassed a return to federal politics with his old friend Michael Kroger, according to ABC 7.30′s Heather Ewart.

In a report broadcast tonight, Ewart claims Costello and Kroger discussed a return via the electorate of Kooyong, currently held by the promising newcomer Josh Frydenberg. Ewart says they also discussed the possibility of persuading other Liberal members to stand aside in favour of Costello.

Ewart says the discussions are common knowledge amongst Victorian Liberals and have contributed to factional infighting. She says Costello has not spoken with Kroger since word spread and that some Liberals believe Costello was behind the successful move to relegate Kroger’s ex-wife Senator Helen Kroger to the difficult third position on the next Senate ticket.

Ewart claimed that Kroger was under pressure yesterday to relinquish her position as Liberal Whip in the Senate by the Liberal Senate leader Eric Abetz. She says Abetz claimed that Senator Mitch Fifield, a former Costello staffer and Manager of Opposition Business in the Senate, could not work with her.

Costello was the member for Higgins, adjacent to Kooyong, from 1990 until 2009. Ewart claims he did not consider asking his successor, Kelly O’Dwyer, to stand aside.

  • Listen to Heather Ewart’s report on 7.30

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  • ABC News online report