Report: Australian Liberal-National Government Report Card “Failure and deceit in all areas”

The Liberal- National Government led by Tony Abbott has been in power for just a few short months and has already failed on many accounts, to the point where the treasury has been walking the corridors of power saying that it is likely that they will be a one term government (there is already moves from the conservative press to have Abbott replaced as Prime Minister).

A quick over view of what has happened in this Government;

They have offended the Indonesians and the Chinese.
They have dared General Motors to leave Australia- which they have.
They have taken away the pay increase that was promised to Early Childhood workers.
They have done a complete back flip on education funding and blamed the voters for mishearing.
They have tried to bully the Senate and the Opposition into passing their bills.

Mungo MacCallum rightly pointed out the treatment government members receive from Tony Abbott and his office “…His ministers are to be treated as children – worse than children, in fact, because while children should be seen but not heard, Abbott’s team cannot even be seen in public without permission from the top.
Before they emerge they must gain a leave pass from his office, where his chief enforcer, Peta Credlin, in her new found role as Nurse Ratched, will vet their applications, check that they have washed their ears and have a clean handkerchief before allowing them out.”

The failure and the deceit of the Liberal – National Government started with the issue of refuges arriving by boat. The Government at the start stated that they would not provide information on the number of boats arriving and would only drip feed limited information to the public.

Not long after this, in October, they announced that the boats had been stopped. This was followed with the report in September that the plan to stop the boats was not “going to plan” as the Indonesians refused to be part of it after the way the Government treated them after the spying scandal with complete contempt and disregard.

This was then followed up with that the boats arriving in Australian waters had dropped by 80%. The reality of this claim is that the numbers dropped dramatically and continued to drop due to Kevin Rudd’s announcement in July with the PNG solution.

Before the election, Christopher Pyne and the Liberals described the Gonski reforms as a ‘Conski.’, the greatest con ever,even though it wasn’t perfect it was better than what was before. When they realised that Australian voters actually wanted better schools for their children and schools (State and Inderpendent), Tony Abbott and Christopher Pyne pledged to sign up to Gonski and match Labor’s plan dollar for dollar for every school.

The Liberal-National government did a u-turn and went back on its first election promise; abandoning Labor’s Better School plan. There was such a backlash that even conservative media commentators who support the right-wing conservative government criticised the government’s decision to cut school funding.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Education Minister Christopher Pyne plan to amend Labor’s legislation so they can give ALL States ‘no strings’ funding deals – walking away from the needs-based loadings the Gonski report said were crucial to us closing the education equity gap, and walking away from funding being linked to improved teacher standards, student outcomes and increased transparency and accountability.

They have also installed a speaker in the House of Representatives who is completely biased in her rulings and managing of the house. One example is of what has happened in the House yesterday with this interchange:

“The SPEAKER: The Treasurer will resume his seat. There is a general warning to all those sitting on my left. This is a serious issue. As I said before, the questions are important and the answers are important.

Mr Albanese: Madam Speaker, I rise on a point of order on the contradiction between a general warning—which, by definition applies to every member of the House—and the fact that you said—

The SPEAKER: I said, ‘On my left.’

Mr Albanese: That is my point of order. It is not possible to have a general warning to just one side of the House, Madam Speaker.”

She snaps at the opposition and restricts what they can say. On Tuesday this week the speaker had to be reminded of her role:

“Mr BURKE: Madam Speaker, critical to the role of Speaker in this House is the one principle that the Speaker will not engage in debate. The comments that you made with respect to me would have been reasonable interjections when you were in this House merely as the member for Mackellar—rules that were reasonable for any member to get up and try to make a half-funny, childish interjection. But you need to recognise, Madam Speaker, that you are meant to be impartial. You need to recognise, Madam Speaker, that the office you hold is greater and more important than your own political rhetoric. You need to recognise, Madam Speaker, that we have not previously—”

After which to defend the person who the Liberal National Party put in as speaker the Education Minster and Leader of the house got up and said :

“Mr PYNE (Sturt—Leader of the House and Minister for Education) (21:30): It is time this farce were brought to an end, and I move: That the member be no longer heard.”

Which was followed with this interchange:

“Mr ALBANESE (Grayndler) (21:40): Yes, Madam Speaker. A high degree of impartiality in the execution of the duties of office is one of the hallmarks of good speakership. That is what House of Representatives Practice—

The SPEAKER: I call the Leader of the House.

Mr Pyne: I move: That the member be no longer heard.
The SPEAKER: The question is that the member be no longer heard.

(A division having been called and the bells being/having been rung—)

Mr Albanese: I am wondering, Madam Speaker, whether there is any precedent for a shutting down of a dissent debate in the Speaker of the House of Representatives since 1901, ever?”

Overall this government has failed on all accounts and will continue to fail as the years go on.