Since the longest tantrum in political history began (the day Tony Abbott found he couldn't convince any of the Independents to support him), Malcolm Turnbull has been under clear instructions... Demolish the NBN.
The sad thing about Malcolm is that, despite knowing better, he is willing to take instructions from a Luddite (I'm no Tech-Head) such as Abbott.
Nick Ross from the ABC provided a compelling rebuttal of the Coalition's plan, highlighting how poorly the Coalition alternative to the NBN would perform. He also raised questions about how much money it would save, and (given Turnbull's predilection for cost-benefit analyses) serious questions about whether those savings would cost us more in the medium to longer term.
Even the Business press is criticizing Turnbull. Steve Jenkin in the Technology spectator (part of the online business publication Business Spectator) also weighs into the debate highlighting how the Coalition NBN policy is about the politics and not the outcome for the community.
The verdict being that Turnbull's position is.... right behind the Mad Monk.But then that's what lawyers do... take instructions and then act on behalf of their client. If Malcolm was a Jockey and the NBN was his horse, Abbott would be instructing Turnbull to climb aboard Black Caviar (the NBN), face its arse, and whip it in the face.
Despite being bucked off repeatedly, Malcolm keeps following instructions.
But then in a masterstroke, the magic pudding policy that fixes everything (the Coalition's Direct action plan) will compensate anyone who is worse off according to Joe. Sadly Joe also forgot to talk to Greg Hunt... his contact details are here Joe. Hunt contradicted Hockey, like so many others do.
But then Tristran Edis from the Climate Spectator (part of the online publication Business Spectator) points out, even Greg Hunt is not across his own policy. Tristan writes:
I know for sure that there will be a line of companies at the door of Greg Hunt’s office claiming their past investments require payment from the Direct Action fund. How do I know this?
Take a look at all the Australian Industry Greenhouse Network submissions to government over the years (as early as 1999) demanding a “no disadvantage” requirement. This essentially would mean that polluting firms would gain credit for any abatement activities they undertook prior to the establishment of a carbon price.
Also, consider what happened with coal mine waste gas gaining access to renewable energy certificates. This was done on the basis that these projects should continue to be financially rewarded for abatement previously recognised and rewarded under the NSW Greenhouse Gas Abatement Scheme. But it had always been made plainly clear by the NSW government that this scheme would end by 2012 or once a national emissions cap and trade scheme commenced.
Once the lobbying starts, Greg Hunt will have to work overtime to prevent the Direct Action money evaporating through paying for abatement that’s already happened.
Greg... have a word to Tristan, your excuse for a policy obviously needs a serious re-think.
The Coalition are a special group of people.. they don't sit on the fence, they straddle it. They know how to have their cake and eat it too!
When asked to address sinking educational standards (comparative to other OECD nations) and levels of national funding, Pyne said we need to move on from the "asinine debate about more money", and instead talk about values. Prompted to provide examples of what the Coalition would do in practice, he said it would "bed down the funding model" and improve teacher quality by forming an advisory group on how to reintroduce more traditional teaching methods.
The full audio file of Fran Kelly's interview is below.
And these fools tell us they are ready to Govern! The Coalition is everything to everyone... they'll tell a different story depending on who they are talking to or what State they are in. And if you don't like it, they'll change it the next day.
If the policy stinks, they turn it into a discussion paper.
And they just keep changing until you stop asking questions. But in the off chance you don't stop asking, they'll just stop answering. Just look at Tony Abbott and his unwillingness to be interviewed by anyone over the past several months.
If this is as good as it gets under Abbott we are in serious trouble.