Thursday, April 14, 2005
Costello and Downer - two peas in a pod
Still trying to hammer out the GST-State taxes deal, Costello has said that States which agree to the deal [to abandon any sense of State sovereignty] will not be compromised by those do not. Yet he refuses to name the States that he claims are playing ball (though we know that at least Queensland and NSW have not).
Unfortuntely, Costello must be the most indiscreet man in Australia, as he continues to bludgeon the States live on air. It may mean that my taxes are not reduced (probably by all of a couple of hundred bucks per year), but the States should stick to their guns. While the SA Premier may feel like he is a pop-gun in the face of a bulldozer, he will be crucified if he caves-in.
Foreign Minister (Lord) Alexander Downer has long been a pompous git. His dismissive nature in dealing with challenging questions, by turning a different question back on the interviewer papers over his intellectual and policy contradictions, but most people with a modicum of political nouse can see through it for what it is - duplicitous.
Two years ago, Downer and the Howard Government were prepared to wash their hands of two Australians held indefinitely, without a recognised legal status and against all western sensibilities of due process. David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib both potentially faced the death penalty, not ruled out after the US sweep of young males in Afghanistan.
Australia, a long opponent of the death sentance, would never extradite anyone facing such a sentance, yet seemed determined to let the Americans do what they wanted with these two men.
Currently, a Gold Coast woman, Schapelle Corby, faces a possible death sentance in Indonesia for alledgedly smuggling cannabis into Bali. The evidence seems fairly circumstantial, but yet the defence was also based on possibilities. She is due to be sentanced very soon.
Downer is pulling out all the stops. He is appealling for clemancy and he has asked the Indonesias if Corby could do any time in Australian prisons.
As he should. Australia is against the death penalty and as such it should lobby hard for a custodial sentance.
Yet this wasn't good enough for Hicks and Habib.
Costello and Downer - two peas in a pod
Posted by Living with Matilda at 1:17 PM
Still trying to hammer out the GST-State taxes deal, Costello has said that States which agree to the deal [to abandon any sense of State sovereignty] will not be compromised by those do not. Yet he refuses to name the States that he claims are playing ball (though we know that at least Queensland and NSW have not).
Unfortuntely, Costello must be the most indiscreet man in Australia, as he continues to bludgeon the States live on air. It may mean that my taxes are not reduced (probably by all of a couple of hundred bucks per year), but the States should stick to their guns. While the SA Premier may feel like he is a pop-gun in the face of a bulldozer, he will be crucified if he caves-in.
Foreign Minister (Lord) Alexander Downer has long been a pompous git. His dismissive nature in dealing with challenging questions, by turning a different question back on the interviewer papers over his intellectual and policy contradictions, but most people with a modicum of political nouse can see through it for what it is - duplicitous.
Two years ago, Downer and the Howard Government were prepared to wash their hands of two Australians held indefinitely, without a recognised legal status and against all western sensibilities of due process. David Hicks and Mamdouh Habib both potentially faced the death penalty, not ruled out after the US sweep of young males in Afghanistan.
Australia, a long opponent of the death sentance, would never extradite anyone facing such a sentance, yet seemed determined to let the Americans do what they wanted with these two men.
Currently, a Gold Coast woman, Schapelle Corby, faces a possible death sentance in Indonesia for alledgedly smuggling cannabis into Bali. The evidence seems fairly circumstantial, but yet the defence was also based on possibilities. She is due to be sentanced very soon.
Downer is pulling out all the stops. He is appealling for clemancy and he has asked the Indonesias if Corby could do any time in Australian prisons.
As he should. Australia is against the death penalty and as such it should lobby hard for a custodial sentance.
Yet this wasn't good enough for Hicks and Habib.
Posted by Living with Matilda at 1:17 PM
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1 Comments:
wow you were ahead of your time
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