“Get a real issue!” yelled a wheat farmer from the gallery yesterday as Christopher Pyne asked about Belinda Neal in Question Time. Pyne looked up, unhappy at having his moment at the Dispatch Box ruined by a stroppy cocky.
The cockies were back in Canberra to protest, yet again, that their molly-coddling, anti-competitive rort of a single desk policy had been taken away from them. “UnAustrayan!” they cried at a press conference led by Barnaby Joyce. Yep, fellas, it might be unAustralian but it’s called the marketplace and it’s what everyone else in the country faces every day of their lives.
Not much other than protectionist drivel came out of the mouths of the farmers, but they were on the mark when they whinged about Belinda Neal. Even the Opposition only asked one question about it yesterday, a half-hearted attempt by Pyne to follow up Julie Bishop’s stupid claims of a Prime Ministerial cover-up on Meet The Press. The less said about Bishop’s effort, in which she also managed to cast further doubt on which petrol excise policy the Coalition has, the better. Luckily, Warren Truss rode to her rescue later on Sunday by proposing a 20c a litre excise reduction.
Any takers for the whole 38 cents a litre? Barnaby? Greg Hunt? How about a fuel subsidy?
Brendan Nelson got his big shot in early on petrol. “Is the Government all blow and no torch?” he asked first up. His backbench pretended to dissolve into helpless laughter, and the rest of us expected him to declare “I’m here all week,” which indeed he is. Nelson of course was referring to the presence of Martin Ferguson in Jeddah (pronounced “Jeddaaaaah” by Labor backbencher Chris Trevor, as if Obi-Wan Kenobi should’ve been sent instead of the Resources Minister). On the news, I saw all the conference delegates wearing those translation headphones. Arabic and Martinese, presumably.
The emphasis on petrol segued into the Coalition’s disgraceful scare campaign on emissions trading, but things only really livened up when the cockies interrupted Lindsay Tanner, in the midst of explaining how he’d handed out How-To-Vote cards for the Country Party as a kid, from the gallery. The heckling picked up when Simon Crean rose to report on progress with the Doha round — normally Australian farmers support free trade, of course, but wheat farmers presumably have different ideas. Speaker Harry Jenkins eventually warned the farmers to keep it down, while Parliamentary guards hovered anxiously.
Belinda Neal, meanwhile, kept her head down. Did she compel a staff member to sign a false stat dec? Or was it true in all of its particulars, but omitted certain details? Or are the claims rubbish? The only person in the firing line at the moment is her ex — and rather brief, staff member Melissa Batten. Everyone else is standing by their declarations except her. There are suggestions Batten received $100,000 for her ACA interview, which works out at about $30,000 a week for enduring Ms Neal. Sounds about right.
Crikey has been discussing the appalling conditions of politicians’ staff, and especially electorate officers, for some time. If there’s one guaranteed outcome from the now-multiple investigations into this matter, it’s that anyone considering working for an MP should run a mile. And then keep running.
Brendan Nelson, doubtless infuriated that there wasn’t actually anything else that could happen to Belinda Neal until the police have completed their investigations, today demanded that Neal be somehow suspended from Caucus by the Prime Minister. Nelson even bizarrely referred to Neal as “a key member of the Rudd Government”.
Take the advice of the cockies, Brendan, and find a real issue.
Remember those words ‘protectionist drivel’ in a few years Bernard, when Cargill, ADM, Conagra and a few other (mostly US) grain trading majors have sorted out the marketing of Aust wheat. You dont think the profits will stay here do you ? You really should ask a few people in soft commodity trading and shipping what they reckon about an opened-up wheat market. My guess 90% would say our smallish production and specialty markets wont matter to the world traders, ,most of whom already enjoy huge production (and non-production) subsidies back home in Europe and the US.
Just wondering if the same workplace rights you mentioned in the Crikey email were handed those ‘highly-paid hacks’ in the Press Gallery might be hived off to electorate staff like Melissa Batten and Gillian Sneddon. You know, the ones where you say f…k off when one of the Party minders or your MP threatens you – and you get to keep your job. Well, Melissa’s gone now setting a new precedent on dealing with MP behaviours. She cut with the red tape, got the satisfaction of giving lip to a bully now undergoing anger-management and was paid almost two year’s salary for short-time service. As Senator John Faulkner, Special Minister for State (and of MP electorate staffers that’s deplorable) will tell you, you’ve got to play the game according to the MOP(S) Act of 1984. That deal done about a quarter of a century ago was forged when vinyl records and Fruit Loops were cool and there wasn’t a computer in Parliament House. The same year a National Occupational Health and Safety Commission was established, that to this day, isn’t able to guarantee its then ideals to electorate staff. The media is on alert – get your cheque books ready, Neal sounds a pussy-cat to the MPs that still insist you Domestos the toilets!
Onya Bernard. Good to see you again fulfilling your promise to keep Rudd honest by launching at Nelson again. A couple of things for you, the honesty of Parliamentarians is of paramount importance, and the fact that Rudd hasn’t distanced himself from what looks like some pretty dodgy behaviour proves he is not different to any other Prime Minister – arrogant and above recriminations.
If you think petrol price is not an issue then you’d better go and talk to an average family. My question is, why your’s and the government hypocrissy over subsidies and protectionism for the famers, and then allow and endorse the OPEC parity pricing system. And all this from a bunch of guys who said GST (an indirect tax was evil).
Can’t wait until you take your rose coloured glasses of Bernard and start doing the job your promissed a few weeks back.
” Yep, fellas, it might be unAustralian but it’s called the marketplace and it’s what everyone else in the country faces” – Really,how about pharmacists and the nobbling of Woolies entry into the pharmacy business.
The cockies are sharing the general frustration out here in voterland. We may not agree with them about the single desk, but we all have issues we want addressed seriously by our parliamentarians. All we are getting are the ridiculous posturings of Julie Bishop et al trying to make something out of nothing. We are coming into the third week of this Iguanagate stuff! Last night on Lateline she managed to be at once obsessive and evasive, on top of being irrational. Tony Jones was too gentle with her, but perhaps he got it right and so encouraged her into even more outrageous stupidity. Of course Kevin Rudd, the notorious micro-manager, was behind the Belinda Neal cover-up! Even if he was in Japan! He colluded with Julia Gillard! He must have slipped out of a state dinner to take her call! Imagine the conversation…. “Good thinking, 99!” When will we have a real Opposition with something worth saying and worth listening to?