Clive Palmer: It’s NOT what he says that’s important it’s what he Does & Did that counts.

I was chatting with one of the wiser Twitter peeps this morning about Clive Palmer and his United Australia Party. It followed a few posts I’d made about Palmer’s blatant lying. She commented that she’d noted a number of posts from people stating they will vote for UAP because Palmer is saying the right things. This where democracy and with the greatest respect voter ignorance fails us.

It’s NOT what people say that is important and particularly so when someone is merely repeating back to you what you want to hear. It’s what they do and what they’ve done that really matters. So on that basis I’d did like to pose these questions:

1. Palmer’s Queensland Nickel went to the wall owing 800 workers and numerous suppliers millions of dollars. Palmer owed his workers alone nearly $70million in salary and entitlements. Prior to the collapse Palmer had been siphoning millions to fund his political party Palmer United. Palmer stated it was his money, he could do what he wanted with it.
So the question is: Did Clive Palmer do the right thing in not paying his workers? Yes or no?

2. Tax payers paid out $64million to QNI workers. When Palmer’s been asked if he will reimburse tax payers he has stated it is not his problem he has done nothing wrong. In fact he blames the liquidators.
So the question is: Is Clive Palmer doing the right thing in not reimbursing tax payers? Yes or no?

3. Palmer’s nephew Clive Mensink skipped the country rather than face the liquidators or the court to answer questions over the collapse of QNI. Palmer has repeatedly claimed he has no knowledge of  Mensink’s whereabouts despite visiting him overseas. Palmer also recently announced Mensink would head-up Palmer’s Titantic program and stated he’d ask Mensink to run for his UAP. So in other words he does know where he is and it’s reasonable to think Palmer is paying Mensink to stay away. Multiple arrest warrants have been issued for Mensink.
So the questions are: Why won’t Palmer let Mensink return and face court? Why is Palmer lying about Mensink. Is Palmer doing the right thing? Yes or no?

4. Palmer has recently been embroiled in legal proceedings and legal threats over breaches of copy-write in using well known artists material for political advertising. Palmer has ignored requests to desist despite knowing he has broken copy-write law in stealing people’s property and using that without their permission. Palmer is still running ads.
The question is: Do people of integrity steal people’s property, ignore their requests to stop and continue to use stolen property for self-promotion? Yes or no?

5. Clive Palmer was elected to the lower house by a handful of preference votes in 2013. He didn’t run in 2016. On Palmer’s website he is still presenting himself as a member of parliament despite the fact he clearly isn’t.
The question is: Is blatantly misleading the public the right thing to do? Yes or no?

6. The Australian Electoral Commission allowed Palmer to register his new party in the same name as the previous United Australia Party (UAP) of the 30’s and 40’s. I consider that to be a grave mistake but that’s just a personal opinion. However what Palmer is now doing is claiming previous UAP history as his history and linking this to previous great Australian Prime Minister’s Joseph Lyons, Billy Hughes and Sir Robert Menzies. Family member’s of both Mr Lyons and Mr Menzies have lodged complaints. Palmer continues to ignore them. Palmer has also published a list as long as your arm detailing his parliamentary achievements; it’s fantasy but serves to mislead.
So the question are: Does a man of honour and integrity mislead the public and ignore requests from family to stop doing that? Is stealing past history and misrepresenting your achievements ethical and can you trust a man who does that? Yes or no?

7. Palmer is a voracious litigant. He is currently embroiled in a battle with the WA Labor State Government and his Chinese business partner. Palmer summarily  moved his business operations to New Zealand and then relocated them to Singapore. He did that because he believes that if the WA State Government introduces legislation that favours his Chinese partners but not him he can then sue the Federal Government (that is us the tax payers) for $45billion dollars.
So the question is: Is Palmer using his foray back into government to make it easier to help pass laws to suit his purposes and would a person of integrity go to the lengths he is to protect his self-interest in suing tax payers over a personal business disagreement?  Yes or no?

8. Palmer owes millions to ex-workers, tax payers and suppliers. He refuses to pay the money he owes. Palmer has recently spent millions on new houses, new aircraft and also his ill fated Titantic. He is also spending millions on relaunching his political career.
The question are: Is it fair and reasonable for anyone who owe millions and who refuses to pay to spend millions on themselves and their vanity projects? Does a man of integrity do that? Yes or no?

Clive Palmer has a history of misleading and ripping people off. Ask the people who purchased units at his Coolam Resort what he did to them. Palmer’s radio and TV ads are grossly misleading and in many instances lying.

Yes Clive Palmer does say what many people want to hear but his actions say something very different. Clive Palmer is trying to get back into parliament for Clive Palmer, he doesn’t give a toss about the people who may vote for him. The last time he ran he conned people into nominating for his party and when they didn’t win he wouldn’t reimburse them the money (their money) they’d used to promote his party. Anyone stupid enough to nominate for him this time would be well served speaking to some of his ex candidates.

Let’s not forget it was Palmer’s preferences  that got Sarah Hanson-Young voted in. Think about that for a minute. The coal man giving preferences to a Green senator. In addition his parliamentary attendance record was appalling.

Back to my wise Twitter friend @GailClifford7 who made a very insightful comment today with reference to Palmer’s saturation messaging and advertising. It's something I hadn't considered before. She wrote.

“This bombardment by Palmer is beginning to have sinister overtones. In North Korea, pro Kim propaganda is played constantly on a never ending loop, into homes,  workplaces and public spaces. It’s called brainwashing, but the slavish devotion to the Dear Leader proves it works!” She makes a very good point.

Palmer has very cleverly lifted his tactics from Trump. There is nothing original about Palmer. So to quote one of Mr Trump’s slogans – Clive Palmer is #FAKENEWS.

Palmer will not win the election and it’s doubtful he’d win any seat. However no one thought he’d win in 2013 and he won one Reps seat and three senate seats so never write anything off. Even if he doesn’t win anything his preferences count, and those preferences could change government and marginal seats. As voters we have to do our homework and not just listen to words. Words are cheap and smart self-serving manipulators like Palmer use them effectively. But, wise people judge on actions not on words and hopefully voters will do that come the election and give #FAKENEWS Palmer a very, very wide berth.

Check the website out yourself.

UAP Website

The left are driving us rapidly toward a socialist utopian disaster

This week, Labor’s Richard Marles stated that the collapse of our coal industry would “be wonderful.” An industry that reaps $25billion a year in export dollars. The Greens Adam Bandt tabled a bill that seeks to prohibit the mining & export of thermal coal after 2030. How any elected representatives can be so reckless astounds me.

On Thursday a piece published in the Australian informed us that, “Labor’s 45 percent emissions reduction target would push electricity prices 50 percent higher, cost workers up to $9000 a year in lower wages and wipe $472 billion from the economy over the next decade.” This was according to the first independent modelling of the energy policies of both the government and opposition.

The Coalition’s commitment to meeting a 26-28 percent reduction under the Paris Agreement would also come at a cost, with $70bn in cumulative economic losses by 2030 and a 2 percent hit to real wage growth.”

The Australian headline read , “Carbon cut apocalypse” wording like that is not helpful. It’s just another example of inflammatory words used to stir people up a typical media tactic. The research data comes from a piece by Brian Fisher and is under peer review in the US. If you’re interested to knowing more about Brian Fisher, I have added a link at the bottom. It’s also worth noting that he served as a chief advisor on climate policy under the Hawke, Keating Labor governments and Howard’s LNP government.

It’s easy to whip ourselves into a lather of sweat over this stuff but we have to take a sensible approach. Whilst many won’t accept this we are in the middle of the next “global revolution” being energy; “harnessing natural energy sources with efficient usage.” There will be a cost attached to that just as there has been to other revolutions like the industrial and technology revolutions. Those costs come in different ways (sure) but change does cost but, not changing can have a greater long term impact.

Those who rail against this are fond of quoting that our contribution to global CO2 is measly. That’s true. They also are fond of quoting China and India are building new coal fired power plants. Also true but both are only part of the story and selective rebuttal isn’t helpful. The discussion is much bigger than that and it needs to be.

We are also part of a global community and that community including China and India are moving down a path of variable energy sources. Yes, India and China are building coal plants but they are doing much more than just that. Given the global energy shift it’s only natural we shift as well. The challenge is to do that with the least disruption, the best price points and to achieve that in the most efficient manner.

In the foreseeable future, the world must GRADUALLY transform from exploiting the natural reserves such as coal and oil because they will deplete to harnessing natural energy. There is also another compelling reason for doing this. The world is politically, and to a lesser degree economically unstable. We are heavily reliant both on imports of oil and exports of coal. We have little control over the exporters of oil. Likewise we have little control over countries who buy and use our coal and their timeframe for making their own energy changes. The technology that provides alternate energy sources like sun, wind and water requires a lot more development (certainly) but sun, wind and water does not rely on someone to export or import it. It’s doesn’t expose us to the levels of external political or economic instability that coal and oil does.

Back to India and China. BP published their 2019 Energy Outlook. It makes for fascinating reading and highlights the complexity of balancing growth markets with mature markets and shifts within energy consumption demands. They also highlight that differences in the fuel mix across regions, and the extent to which that mix changes over the Outlook, have an important bearing on the energy transition.The two countries accounting for the fastest growth in energy demand India and China both start with coal-intensive fuel mixes. In the energy transition scenario, China’s coal share declines over the Outlook falling from 60% in 2017 to around 35% in 2040 offset by increasing shares and increasing use of renewables and natural gas. BP highlights that in China, the growth of non-fossil fuels (renewables plus nuclear and hydro power) more than matches the entire growth in Chinese energy demand over the Outlook.

India sees a smaller decline in coal dependency as alternate energy sources transition. India’s overall consumption over takes China because of India’s growth.

New technology advances will help maximise the efficiency of energy usage. In such a process, a new ‘revolutionised economic model’ must be explored and implemented. This is both complicated and challenging. It will happen regardless so the choice gets down to this. Do you trust Labor with their historical record of inefficient waste i.e. pink batts, solar panels and even the NBN? Do you trust them given their reckless deep dive over the sustainable energy cliff? Do you trust them with people like Marles and his Green partner Bandt cheering on the death of coal before we have viable and reliable alternatives to both energy and our export market wealth? Can you take the risk?

With the complicated and challenging tasks ahead, I believe the choice is clear. The Liberal National Party have proven their reliability in managing the national economy and their approach to managing our global commitments is sensible and considered. Couple that with the LNP’s strongly held belief in harnessing our energy sources not based on what but on best fit for purpose, reliablity and lowest cost and to me the choice is very clear.

We can’t afford the recklessness of the left driving us rapidly toward a socialist utopian disaster. We can’t afford far-right ideology locking us into a 1970’s backwater. We need the sensible centrist thinking and planning of Scott Morrison and his team. A team that understands the necessary change to deliver a viable future for all of us.

Bio: Brian Bishop 

Imputations Credits & now Medivac: Just HOW gullible does Bill Shorten think we are?

The more you read about the Medivac bill the clearer it becomes just how ridiculous it is. Albanese’s interview with Speers yesterday bordered on surreal. O’Connor and Shorten are just as bad. If none of them think people smugglers aren’t gearing up, they’re naïve. Pointing the finger at Morrison and Dutton and accusing them of stirring smugglers up just proves what a bunch of amateurs Labor are. 

I know this is hypothetical however consider this. If boats come and the numbers are high, we may not be in a position based on those sheer numbers to turn all around. Let’s assume one gets through. One board is an asylum seeker who is deemed critically ill or they fall critically ill after arrival. That person will never approved for uplift to the Australia for treatment. That is what Bill Shorten is saying. 

Let’s consider this. We have two people one who has been on Nauru for sometime & one potential new arrival. Both with serious illnesses. They would move one to Australia for treatment. One they would not. That’s admitting one of two things. Treatment on Nauru and Manus is available at the level required or Labor are prepared to let one die. The second would never happen. Bill Shorten actually thinks people smuggling barons are not smart enough to figure that out. 

Given the money at stake for smuggler barons they’d be prepared to test it and our Intelligence operatives know that. Barons have lost a lot of money since the Coalition Government came to power. That has forced barons to turn to the drug trade. The drug trade is substantially more costly and more risky. If there is the slightest glimmer, the lucrative people smuggling operation is a go barons will jump. There are any number of poor fisherman prepared to risk as well. If Shorten thinks they won’t, he is extremely gullible. 

This debacle is the same scenario as franking credits. The haves and have nots with two levels of Govt pensioners. If you are receiving the Government pension before March 28, 2018 you keep the credit if you went onto the pension after March 29 you will lose it. 

This is so typical of Labor. They come up with these hairbrained policies. Then they’re confronted with oops moments so rather than dumping the policy they try and amend them and look what we are left with. A mess of monumental proportions. Labor sold the electorate ‘pups’ with both Medivac and Imputations Tax. If the electorate is gullible enough to buy this rubbish, then they deserve each other. However, the rest of with brains don’t deserve the shambles that will follow.

Medivac: Where Was The Duty of Care To Us?

Those who bellow we owe a duty of care to asylum seekers need to consider that no fair-minded person denies that. I certainly don’t. However, those like Kerryn Phelps completely ignore the duty of care to us. Our Intelligence and Security groups are tasked with and experts in meeting their obligations of a duty of care to all Australians. Their decisions are made balancing medical, risk & opportunity. It can’t be that one of those takes priority over another. 

Politicians swayed by emotive arguments will always put emotion first. In this case medical overrides both risk and opportunity.  This is dangerous when those same politicians are not across the risks associated with weakening our laws. We saw that yesterday with the rushed passing of the Medivac bill. Today we learn about the weaknesses in that very bill which may expose us to exploitation and even worse. 

Asylum seekers are experts on how to play the system to get around our immigration laws. They are well briefed by activist and activist lawyers. Whilst I can forgive Kerryn Phelps her naivety I find it hard to forgive Labor. I feel in their case the game of politics and the game of winning at all costs has overtaken basic commonsense. They sacrificed responsibility to beat the Government. Well Labor are not basking in that historic win today because I sense the realisation of what they’ve done has dawned on them. As they say, ‘Act in haste, repetent ar leasure.’ Labor should be harshly punished for what they did yesterday they betrayed our nation and us. 

We are almost at the starting gate, it’s time to unite

For the last few years Aussie conservatives & Liberals have been hurling verbal rocks at each other. It has been fun at times and at other times it’s been downright nasty. Trust me, I’ve been on the receiving end of the nasty stuff because I refused to join the anti-camps. Worse it’s been destructive, and we have seen that in poll numbers and the corresponding drop off in support. 

I’ve stuck with the Liberal Party through thick & thin. At times that’s been through gritted teeth. However, I did this because come the election it’s was always going to be a choice between a Liberal National Party  with problems (yes) but one that has been delivering on the things that matter. Or a socialist, Marxist group of Labor, Greens, recalcrint Independents banked rolled by Unions and foreign funded GetUp. A group who will wreck the country again and impact on the life and welfare of anyone who dares to stand on their own feet. 

‪To those who think the Liberals need to be taught a lesson by blowing them up in the misguided belief a reformed Conservative party will rise from the ashes I say, please rethink. I understand your anger but now is not the time for moralising. Whilst you might get satisfaction from wrecking I can assure you thousands will not be thanking you for ruining the country and stuffing it up for the rest of us. Act in haste and everyone that isn’t a socialist or a Marxist will repent in leasure. I’m of the belief rightly or wrongly that no true-blue conservative or Liberal would lower themselves to vote for wrecking the country. ‬‬‬

‪What I am saying is, the time has come for us to pull together. Voting for Independents (a misnomer) or break-away parties just means putting Shorten into The Lodge. We have to get behind Scott Morrison and do everything we can to help get him and his party over the line and to keep Shorten and Labor out. ‬‬‬

‪Time to put our differences behind us and recognise that we don’t agree with everything Morrison and the LNP are doing but if we agree with more of their policies than Shorten and his gang of thieves, the decision is an easy one. And please, give Morrison and the Liberals a chance by voting for them in both houses. This practice of voting for micros and Independents in the senate causes many of the frustrations we suffer today. Repeating the same mistakes will not make it any better. In fact it will make it worse. ‬‬‬

‪Let’s unite behind one cause and that is keeping Bill Shorten and Labor out. To do that successfully without risk there’s only one decision to be made vote for your local Liberal or National Candudate and return Scott Morrison and the LNP to Government. 

“United we stand, divided we fall” it’s a cliche yes, but it’s true. Whilst it’s over played we are supposed to be a broadchurch & therefore should be mature enough to embrace & inculcate those varying views into broadbased policy which appeals to the wider community.