ratbags

The ALP is full of ratbags, union ratbags, dodgy ratbags but all ratbags nonetheless. A little law change here, another there, some bribes and rots over there, and their mates score over $1 billion in windfall profits.

Former resources minister Ian Macdonald introduced legislation which overruled the highest court in NSW and resulted in a $1 billion windfall to two mining executives who have been under the scrutiny of the Independent Commission against Corruption.

Travers Duncan and Brian Flannery had owned the Moolarben coalmine near Mudgee for more than 30 years. But it was not until the Labor government intervened that it made a big profit.

The NSW Court of Appeal had ruled they could not mine at Moolarben because the lease encroached on a lease held by mining giant Xstrata.

But after the court decided, in August 2008, they could not mine at Moolarben Mr Macdonald stepped in to champion Mr Duncan and Mr Flannery’s cause.

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Tony Abbott is pledging to crack down on dodgy union officials…he sure has his work cut out for him:

Unveiling his industrial relations policy in Sydney – four months before the next election – the Opposition Leader and his workplace relations spokesman Eric Abetz said the Labor scare campaign that the Coalition would bring back Work Choices needed to end, because it was now absolutely clear that was not the case.  Read more »

Why does Australia seem have more dodgy ratbags than other countries?

Is it because most of their ancestors were chosen by the best judges of England to live in Australia?

The ALP seems to also have more dodgy ratbags than most other parties as well. Take these two examples.

First up is their very own Phillip Field:

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor has admitted his claim the 457 visa scheme had been rorted 10,000 times was simply his own ”estimate” – but insisted there had been ”more than a few” transgressions.

Mr O’Connor floated the number during a television interview on Sunday, yet his office was unable on Sunday or Monday to point to any specific evidence to back up the claim.

Employer groups told Fairfax Media on Monday they suspected Mr O’Connor had plucked the number ”out of thin air” and it was part of the ongoing exaggerated rhetoric surrounding the government’s proposed crackdown on the skilled foreign worker program.

In an interview on ABC’s AM program on Friday, Mr O’Connor conceded the suggestion that the 457 visa scheme had been used illegitimately more than 10,000 times was ”a forecast” he had come up with rather than a firm fact.

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The knock shops will be putting out the welcome mat to have a bit of Craig Thomson’s donated money. You would think with all that disappearing union millions he would have held some back.

A fund has been established to allow supporters to chip in to help pay Craig Thomson’s mounting legal fees.

Earlier this month Fairfax Media reported the independent MP had only $60 in his bank account, with $23,000 owing on credit cards, and a legal bill of hundreds of thousands of dollars looming.

MPs are ineligible to sit in parliament if declared bankrupt.

In a letter headed ‘‘Craig Thomson Legal Defence Fund’’ the embattled former Labor MP has now urged friends to contribute to an account established by two of his supporters.

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This gutless council creep who was running a business badly while on full time pay of a council has bankrupted handicapped people and they have had to sell their buildings.

Nature Green was put into liquidation in July 2012 and creditors are deciding whether they can afford the $150,000 bill to sue Mr Knight and Mr Massey. Mr Petterson said he believed the creditors had a case to sue for reckless trading and trading while insolvent and were owed $1.7 million.

“What I would like to see is the liquidator put forward some hard facts and file for court action. Let’s get this sorted out once and for all instead of leaking selective emails to the media,” Mr Massey said.  Read more »

Craig Thomson is facing more problems with Fair Work Australia wanting a civil case to proceed despite the existing criminal case proceeding.

These union and ALP ratbags are really being held to account. A real pity is our own union ratbags aren’t being held to account here.

Fair Work Australia wants part of the civil case against federal MP Craig Thomson to proceed despite a pending criminal case.

But lawyers for Mr Thomson applied to stay a civil penalty case against him until criminal charges have been heard, the Federal Court was told on Friday.

Fair Work Australia barrister Stephen Donaghue, SC, told the court a comparison of the cases showed matters, including election expenditure, were not included in the criminal charges.

But matters such as the alleged use of a credit card to hire escorts were included in the criminal charges, the court heard.

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The ALP really is full of dodgy union connected ratbags:

The son of ALP powerbroker Eddie Obeid has admitted that the former resources minister Ian Macdonald provided him with a list of mining companies which included the name of a company which went on to win six of 11 licences subsequently put to tender by the government.

And Moses Obeid conceded that his father, who was head of the faction which picked the ALP’s last three state premiers, had been kept informed of negotiations to sell a family farm which sat within one of these licence tenements: “We were not going to hide from him that the family farm was going to be sold … He knew about it.”  Read more »