ABC News, 31 December 2007:
The Australian, 26 May 2009:
Along the journey between these two opposing positions Minister Stephen has vociferously lambasted critics of his proposed intrusive mandatory censorship of ISPs, calling them alarmists and even suggesting that their position was tantamount to encouraging and enabling child porn.
Minister Stephen surely deserves to have these criticisms of the opponents of his mandatory censorship regime thrown back in his face, now that he has moved to the position they advocated. Although it's what Stephen deserves, for being so dismissive of legitimate concerns, it's probably better for all of us that this not happen; at least not yet, because we need the Federal Communications Minister to take his more sensible new position forward. Industry observers will surely continue to follow developments . They intuitively understand that if Labor can back flip once on this, then it means they are jelly backed enough to flip again, if they sniff another wind shift. Minister Stephen needs to be closely watched, if he's to be kept honest.
He was clearly above his pay grade trying to implement even this comparatively minor logistic catastrophe of a Labor policy. Can this augur well for Stephen's ability to provide the stewardship necessary to implement Labor's spectacularly over-ambitious plan to roll out optical fibre Internet broadband cable to 90% of all Australian homes within 6 or 7 years? It wasn't looking plausible when they first trumpeted this in March 2009. And it just keeps looking more implausible with time. But that's unlikely to stop Labor re-announcing this again and again in the coming months and years. It might just dawn on the electorate that they have been sold yet another pup by these leftist fantasists in about 3 years time. Long enough for them to get re-elected, and that's all that matters.
And they still haven't told us just where are they going to find the $48 billion for this fantastic boondoggle in this market? Neither Federal Treasurer Wayne and nor his pinch hitter when cornered, Treasury Secretary Ken, a servant of the public, enlightened the public about this in their fake "tough budget" in May. Is a budget "tough" when the minicule spending cuts were to the unrepresented: the youth allowance and those not yet in existence: people becoming pensioners in 2020. Such courage Wayne. And even then Labor's attempts to rein in the supposed tax rort of "employee share plans", only proved that these Labor geniuses know nada about either the private sector workplace or wealth creation. So what is it that they are good for again? Oh, I forgot, increasing public sector employment. Great. And remind me just how does that help turnaround the economy again?
And right up there with all this flip flopping is Labor Defence Minister Joel's spectacularly over-ambitious announcement last month in the midst of the GFC, of a new Labor plan to build 12 new submarines and 8 new frigates for the Navy. Yeah, right Joel. That's about as likely to happen as your earlier announcement that you were going to persuade the US to sell us F22 Raptor stealth fighters instead of those terrible FA18 SuperHornets that 4Corners reckoned a month before the Federal election were lemons. Remind me again how believing the ABC on that played out for you Joel. About as well I suppose as your ministerially weighty decision not to comply with you obligation to disclose gifts of numerous trips to China for you and you family funded by a Chinese national. I guess that's OK for you though, becasue that'd be about the standard that you've been expected to meet to date from your extensive experience in the Union movement. And we voters shouldn't expect a Labor Defence Minister to be able to recognise that there might be strategic implications in such trival guff.
And now even the Herald has started to publish doubts about Joel's defence White Paper dreams. And the Fairfax media has been giving Labor a free pass on just about everything theyve announced up 'til now. Wow.
But this is just more classic Labor magic pudding politics. They have already become world class specialists at this at State government level, especially in New South Wales and in the land where Kev learnt his manipulative dark arts, Queensland. They just keep announcing new stuff regardless of the government's ability to pay for it or implement it. Great politics I'm sure. But what does it do for the citizens whom these governments exist to serve, when these projects fail to materialise? Just ask the voters in New South Wales at the moment.
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