Our spies are legal

Tony Abbott told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday that he would not make public comment on intelligence matters in keeping with longstanding practice, but he suggested any activity being undertaken by Australian agencies or officials was entirely lawful Guardian

Aps cuts

 

The Federal Government has revealed its plans to rein in public service recruitment and cut 12,000 positions abc

Students burn Tony Abbott effigy, chase Joe Hockey

there may be hope for young people stilll

The protesters burnt an effigy of Prime Minister Tony Abbott and threw shoes at Liberal Party headquarters in a rally against proposed federal funding cuts to higher education.

About 100 student protesters gathered outside parliament house in Spring St before the group marched into the city.

news.com.au

The end of the war

Prime Minister Tony Abbott has used a surprise visit to Afghanistan to declare the end of Australia's longest war.

Speaking at a special ceremony at the Australian-run base in Tarin Kot in Uruzgan province, Mr Abbott told a gathering of Australian and international troops and Afghan leaders that the Afghanistan war is complicated.

ABC

Centrelink is now your Post Office

because selling Medibank wasn't enough

Labor and the unions have leapt on reports the Abbott Government is considering a plan for Australia Post to take over Centrelink's front office operations.
Treasurer Joe Hockey is known to be in favour of consolidating service delivery and has put "everything on the table" for the Government's newly formed Commission of Audit. ABC

Go to Syria, don't come back

Mr Morrison said the Federal Government was concerned about Australians involved in the Syria conflict returning to "disrupt the significant social cohesion we have in this country".
An insurgency expert has told The World Today that Australians make up "by far the largest" contingent of Western recruits to Syrian armed groups, and that those coming home could act as recruiters among the Middle Eastern community. ABC

Abbott Government: Week 6 in review

Here we go again

• Abbott goes on photo op with RFS
• His gay sister gets engaged
• Joe Hockey increases the debt limit. National credit card something something
• The Government will challenge ACT gay marriage laws
• Flogging off assets starts with Medibank
• Climate change isn't a factor in bushfires, says Tony
• Anyone who thinks it is, is talking through their hat
• Possible DD trigger: Direct Action tied to supply
• Barnaby Joyce says that free range could cause a bird flu epidemic
• Tony unimpressed by some more hogwash about climate change\
• Wrap it up guys the boats have stopped in just 50 days
• Carbon tax = SOCIALISM.

previous weeks wrap ups here

Carbon tax = SOCIALISM

"Let's be under no illusions the carbon tax was socialism masquerading as environmentalism," he said.

"That's what the carbon tax was."

ABC

Wrap it up guys the boats have stopped

So sayeth Abbott:

His 'stop the boats' pledge was already being realised, the prime minister said, despite Labor shifting to a hardline policy on Kevin Rudd's return as PM in June.
'I don't want to underestimate the difficulty of that challenge but they are stopping,' Mr Abbott said.
'Over the last month, illegal arrivals by boat have been scarcely 10 per cent of the peak under Labor in July.'
Mr Abbott said immigration officials had been 'managing a problem' under the ALP.
'Our determination is to end the problem,' he said.
'Our determination is not to guide the boats, our determination is to stop the boats.'
The coalition's asylum seeker policy was one on a long list of achievements Mr Abbott said the government had already ticked off.

Sky news

Abbott rubbishes climate link

It's hogwash according to Tony.

Barnaby Joyce on bird flu

The Federal Agriculture Minister claims there will be more avian influenza outbreaks and more chicken deaths if there is an increase in free-range egg production.

Barnaby Joyce says a move by Woolworths to phase out eggs from caged production systems has the potential to destroy the New South Wales chicken flock and, subsequently, the state's egg industry. Abc

Direct action tied to Supply

FUNDING for the centrepiece of Tony Abbott's Direct Action climate change policy, the Emissions Reduction Fund, will be attached to budget appropriation bills under contingency plans to thwart expected efforts by Labor, the Greens and crossbench senators to scuttle the policy. Australian

"talking through her hat"

said Tony Abbott to a UN official:

Earlier this week, the executive secretary of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change,Christiana Figueres, said the fires proved the world is "already paying the price of carbon".

ABC

Abbott says climate change but a factor in fires

THE prime minister has written off climate change as a factor in the NSW bushfires and defended his voluntary work in fighting the fires. News
    

Abbott to flog off Medibank

THE Abbott government will act within weeks to sell its first major asset as it hunts for deep cuts to public spending by launching an audit commission with unfettered scope to identify billions of dollars in budget savings.

The sale of health insurer Medibank Private will be under way before Christmas as the government appoints advisers to a scoping study to prepare it for a trade sale or public listing. Australian

Abbott Government to challenge ACT's move to gay marriage

PRIME Minister Tony Abbott says his objection to the ACT's decision to legalise gay marriage is a "legal one", not a moral one. News

Joe hockey increases the debt limit

It's now Five Hundred Billion Dollars

Abbott's gay sister is engaged

Totes awkward at family dinners.  News

Action man Abbott helps out RFS

Also poses for a few photos

Abbott Government: Week 5 in review

What new ways has Tony found to ruin Australia this week?

• Government at odds with IMF over carbon pricing
• Number of women on opposition front bench is 11x greater than on Tony's
• George Brandis' $13,000 bookshelf is too big to fit in his office
• Tony releases carbon repeal bill, urges Labor to 'repent' on carbon
• Govt floats the idea of flogging off the HECS debt
• Backbencher Don Randall buys an investment house, like everyone else in Australia.
• The cops are called over expenses. They decline to probe further
• Billionaire Twiggy Forest gets offered a job heading a review into Indigenous employment.
• Abbott revokes clean energy grants, saying 'you didn't say no takebacks'
• Temporary Protection Visas return 
• Tony Abbott proposes digging up the dead, reburying them in Canberra

A little quieter than previous weeks, sure, its tough work being Tory.