Save Our Snowy
In yet another sign that Victorians won't take much more of the Bracks government, I am pleased to introduce you all to
Save Our Snowy. Classics so far include:
Can You See The Difference?,
Australian Latte Party Strikes Again and
Fuhrer Bracks of the fourth Reich orders Vic Cattlemen OUT!. Enjoy!
The Snowy As It Once Was
Bracks Tries To Shake "Do Nothing" Tag By Calling On Howard To Do Something
As we
made clear recently Bracks has coasted through one of the biggest economic expansions in living memory barely making an impact at all on Victorian unemployment or growth.
The other states, all but NSW which have seen managed to significantly improve their position during the economic boom of the past five years, are
now aghast that Bracks would dare call for a "
national kick-start" which is not much more than another whinge for the Commonwealth to take responsibility for Bracks' problems.
A
fawning opinion piece is declaring that Bracks has "come of age" by stepping up as "a national policy leader." Yet this ignores the glaring fact, that Bracks has been elected as a State policy leader, and there, he can't escape the reality of his do no good government which has wound up Victorians in even more red tape, attacked their freedom of speech and religious expression, destroyed their property rights and barely reduced unemployment throughout five and a half years of economic boom times.
Bracks cannot escape his "do nothing" tag by calling on John Howard to do even more of the work for him. Eventually, the people of Victoria are seeing his government for what it is and will vote him out when they get the chance.
New Revelations Of Division In Bracks' ALP
The Other Cheek is carrying
new revelations of the hopeless division and factionalism within Bracks' ALP.
What is amazing is how a faction as disconnected from the reality of life for most Australians, such as the Socialist Left Alliance, is able to hold any power at all within a mainstream political party like the ALP. Undoubtedly, the sympathy of journalists at The Age and the ABC has a lot to do with it, as does their control of trade and student unions.
Warlords, phantoms and stacks
Australian Labor Party frontbencher Kelvin Thomson thoughtfully provided a definition of branch stacking and phantom branches within the Victorian Branch of the Australian Labor Party:
1. Branches that don't meet;
2. Members who don't pay their own fees;
3. Members who are invisible during election campaigns.
One of the Labor Party branches in Thomson's electorate of Wills, Anstey, has not contacted him in his nine years in parliament, and has held meetings just a handful of times.
Labor Party Socialist Left faction warlord Senator Kim ("Il") Carr contended that 71 per cent of Labor Party members in Victoria pay one of the two concessional membership rates. In the electorate of Gorton the figure is almost 95 per cent. This means that either the overwhelming majority of Labor Party members are unemployed, healthcare card holders, or earning up to just A$32,000 per annum; or that some factional warlord is paying the bulk of membership fees, and wanting to get as much value for money as possible by signing up concessional members.
There are some wonderful articles about the Labor Party shenanigans
here and
here, while some of us are also revelling in the revelations of Labor Party businessman Andrew Landeryou in his own
weblog.
Unemployment Under Bracks - Another Story Of Bracks' Underperformance
Swept along in the years of long economic growth under the Howard Government, Victorians are beginning to realise that the Victorian economy, while it hasn't fallen apart, has given up it's leadership status within the Australian economy.
This story is in many ways, emblematic of the entire Bracks government. The Bracks government has enjoyed every benefit a State government could ever wish for: It inherited a budget surplus, has governed through a period of enduring economic growth and stability, and at a time when a vast new source of taxation revenue has been made available to the States. Yet what do Victorians have to show for it?
- Police out on the streets collecting revenue rather than catching criminals.
- Public works projects coming in over budget and months if not years behind schedule.
- A selective toll on the Eastern suburbs while the North & West still drive free.
- Revelations of hidden and unreported State Government fees and charges that the Government refuses to disclose.
Whereas Jeff Kennett left Victorians with the second lowest unemployment rate among the States, Victoria under Steve Bracks today has the second highest unemployment rate. Whereas Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia & Tasmania have all managed to reduce their unemployment rates by between 1.97% and 3.45%, the Bracks government has only managed a measly 1.1%.
Victoria Deserves Better.
As Australia Surges Ahead, Victoria Posts Weakest Growth In Car Sales
Statistics released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics show the relative weakness of the Victorian economy under Bracks. While the whole of Australia, including Victoria, is benefitting from one of the longest periods of growth in Australian history, Victoria under Bracks has gone from leading the nation to lagging behind as the other states go from strength to strength.
Sales of New Motor Vehicles rose a seasonally adjusted 7.1% nationally between April 2004, but just 3.3% in Bracks' Victoria, the weakest performance out of all the States. Lagging the rest of Australia isn't a new experience for Victoria under Bracks, in fact, as the chart below makes clear, it is the story of the past five and a half years.
Many in the Bracks government will even argue this fall in car sales is a good thing. After all, this is a government so anti-car it spends a billion dollars on bailing out a bankrupt public transport bailout then levies a selective toll on a freeway in the Eastern suburbs to promote new growth. It is a government so anti-growth, it drew a green line around Melbourne and told us we couldn't build on one side of the line at all, and we could only build on the right side if we met half a dozen new planning regulations, and if we did meet all those conditions, maybe we would think about putting up a six story apartment building instead of a family home?
While the rest of Australia, bouyed by confidence in their economic futures, are out their investing in new cars, Victorian households seem to be spending a clear message that in Victoria under Bracks, confidence isn't on the menu. While Bracks is distracted by
factional wars and getting his name in the paper
looking after London based celebrities, the people of Victoria are losing ground, and Bracks doesn't care.
Bracks - Ruling For World Famous Ex-Victorians, Not For You
When you are a normal, working, voting Victorian wanting equitable motorways, free speech, or a safe State, Bracks is nowhere to be found. When you are a London based multimillionaire performer, Bracks will
come out swinging for you, just to get his name in the paper next to yours. Kylie needs the support of friends and family, but surely it is an insult to Victorians when Bracks time and energy are spent trying to direct media coverage for one of the most media savvy performers in the business, who no doubt has an entire staff to manage her own public relations.
Bracks - Fighting The Dirty Fight To Win The Civil War & Silence Critics
Further hostilities have broken out in Bracks' Civil War within the ALP, with The Australian (factional affiliation as yet unknown) entering the fray with
Labor Tribes At War.
Also, note the way the Bracks' government has thrown it's weight around getting a ConnectEast consultant & a former CEO of Vicroads to silence one of their
most vocal critics.
Decoding The Brackspeak
WELCOME MESSAGE FROM THE PREMIER OF VICTORIA, STEVE BRACKS
Open and accountable Government is part of my government's commitment to the people of Victoria.
We are open all of six days a month during the
Spring Session and are happy to make our predecessor Jeff Kennett or maybe even one of our junior Ministers like Andre Haemayer accountable for our mistakes.
One way we are delivering on this commitment is through the provision of first class online information and services.
We believe the best way forward for Victoria is a Government that consults, listens and works together with all Victorians,
As long as they are one of the 14,000 members of the Victorian ALP AND part of our Labor Right faction. In fact, if you are one of our mates, you can have a
consulting contract!
while providing leadership and decisive action.
In disappearing to Europe while our faction
eliminates it's enemies and then
turns on itself.
My Government has a comprehensive agenda for the next four years to deliver good Government on behalf of all Victorians
As long as they are part of the aforementioned grouping of factionally aligned persons who can do us a favour in return for our delivering "good Government" for them.
Our priorities are education, health and community safety
But only during the 14 day ego trip we like to call the
Commonwealth Games.
It is unreasonable to expect these luxuries like on an ongoing basis, particularly when we are putting our foreign buddies up in
luxury hotels so they can tell us how good we are during the Commonwealth Games. Wastin taxpayer money is a hard enough job as it is, asking us to provide services as well is just outrageous!
and we will deliver better services for all Victorians within our commitment to sound financial management.
By forcing local councils to help fund our
Commonwealth Games and shutting down old people's homes and small businesses with
land tax increases.
The Government is focused on its job. It will continue to invest in communities across Victoria – improving the delivery of government services to all Victorians, and continuing to grow the whole of the State.
We won't mention that under our government Victoria's unemployment rate has gone from one of the lowest in the nation to
the highest.
This website provides you with a forum to give us your views on issues that are important to you and your community.
By letting you to fill in
this webform we hope you will not write a potentially embarassing letter to the
Herald Sun or
The Age.
I encourage you to have your say and contribute to the future of Victoria.
Because I'm definitely not going to contribute to the future of anyone or anything other than Steve Bracks and the Labor Right.
Steve Bracks
PREMIER OF VICTORIA
At least until they realise how little good I have done and boot me out.
- Steve
(Steve's Welcome Message taken from
his website.
Pro-Bracks Primary School Propoganda
You know we are in trouble when primary schools begin getting students to talk up
Steve Bracks with lines straight out of his PR play book and the results end up #3 on the google for
"Steve Bracks".
Here's my favourite part of spin:
He is a fun loving father and a good family member.
So is my father and several other hundred thousand Victorian fathers. It still isn't a recommendation for Premier.
Division, Disgrace and Disfunctionality In the Australian Labor Party Under Bracks - You Can't Trust Either Side
14,000 Victorian ALP members, along with a handful of trade unionists at the bottom of Lygon Street, control the preselection of the entire government which runs our State. While this corrupt state of affairs continues, Victorians can NEVER expect an honest, effective and responsive ALP government in Spring Street.
Andrew Landeryou exposes the corrupt way in which the divisions within the ALP are being fought out across the State, with media organisations like
The Age and the
ABC are taking sides in the battle to control the State.
None of these people give a tinker's cuss about integrity of process as long as their chosen candidates win and as long as they can maintain the rotten boroughs of ALP membership and union affiliation votes that give them power. - Branch Stacking: The Ugly Truth
One of the most important things Andrew points out is that in this fight, you can't trust either side. While The Age is ranting about Labor Right
branch stacking hurting it's beloved Left faction, that same faction are busy using control of the Unions to build campaign slush funds and to tie up the vital "union bloc" votes within the ALP:
A self-styled anti branch stacking campaigner is Brian Daley, frequently favourably quoted in the left wing Age newspaper. The Socialist Left ALP President Brian Daley controls secret slush funds that levy money from staff and from employers that he purports to oppose in his union activities. So one day he is on the phone to an employer demanding money or better conditions for his members. Nothing wrong with that. But the next day he might be calling the same employer hitting them up for a campaign contribution. Or service providers to his union, whether they be lawyers or what have you, what do they do when they get a call from Brian Daley politely requesting a donation? Do you think they say no? Of course not. Using those techniques, Brian Daley built a massive war-chest for his last election campaign, some say as much as half a million dollars . . .
The Socialist Left and their house journal The Age are unwilling to address the systematic corruption of trade union affiliation to the ALP. They are unwilling to seriously examine who funds trade union election campaigns and how. They are unwilling to examine LHMU boss Brian Daley's slush fund accounts and how he funded his massive re-election bid. They are unwilling to examine the scandal of MP's living outside their electorates, sometimes there are important family reasons why this happens but it is a growing trend that reflects horribly on what the ALP has become for some. Instead the Left and their house journal want to focus on the 0.003% of Victorians who've joined the ALP, especially anyone from the other side of the fault line. - Branch Stacking: The Ugly Truth
Public Works Under Bracks: Another Delay
Why are we not surprised?
Victorian Budget Black Hole? Time for some answers
The Victorian State Budget has just been released. Over at
Fight Fire With Fire I have just posted two detailed articles. One explains the
heavy taxing nature of this terrible Labor government. The other exposes a number of potential
black holes in the Budget forward estimates that may expose Victorian taxpayers to some even heavier tax hikes in the futue to pay for the government's wanton spending spree. The questions raised deserve real answers, not just more spin from Bracks and Brumby.
Check the articles out and feel free to comment.
April - It Just Wasn't Bracks' Month
Bomber at
Fight Fire With Fire has given a summary of the recent string of bad news for the Bracks Government:
We can sense the political winds shifting very quickly. There is a clear and palpable feeling in the air that the Bracks Labor government is on the nose. The fast train that is not so fast has been well documented by Andrew Bolt. Branch stacking accusations continue to fly as Labor try to divide the spoils amongst their mates rather than govern for all Victorians. Now some of Bracks' minnions are fleeing the sinking ship. Meanwhile, mounting public outrage over lenient sentencing has been highlighted again this week with this shocking decision. Our continued sympathy goes out to the Donnelly family who simply don't deserve more anguish after the pain they have been through. - Fight Fire With Fire
The People Speak Out Against Steve, Pt. 1
As part of a new regular post on this blog, every now and then I am going to highlight the rants of random Victorian bloggers against Steve. First off is
Thoughts From An Inverted Mind:
When the Government decides to have an inquest into absolutely everything, including an inquest into an inquest (and an inquest into the inquest of the inquest) it is literally possible to hear the tax-payers money being flushed down the toilet. The main politician that loves his inquests is Steve Bracks, premier of Victoria (Australia). I don't understand how such a fool got voted in. Honestly, what they don't want you to know is Steve Bracks is a puppet, just doing whatever he's told by people behind the scenes. If there was no such thing as an inquest, he'd probably curl up in a corner and die, because he's too incompetent to actually make a decision without some report telling him what he should do. - Thoughts From An Inverted Mind
