So yeah, on that subject, aparently Assange is shooting for an Australian political office or something? Anyone been following this story?
Latest news I've seen; he's still planning to run for the Victorian Senate, other party members will shoot for W.A. and N.S.W., and his father is head of the party.
Also, a friend of a friend on FB compiled this; while I stress that it's not a guarenteed list of changes that will be made under the Coalition, there is apparently Coalition support for many of these policies.
He didn't link to his sources, but I believe he got the data from
here, and there is additional discussion on the matter
here. Considering that some of the proposed items include privatising the ABC (aww hell naw), I think it's safe to say things may be worrying in future.
I'm going to post this again - and tag everyone I know that is Australian - because it's important. Here's the Institute for Public Affairs' wishlist for Government policy - to which Tony Abbott has indicated he will pursue many of the items enumerated therein.
A couple of them are good ideas, yes (such as #20, #33, #37, #39, #56, #61, #65, and #66), but these are balanced out by shockers such as #4, #7, #12, #13, #14, #16, #22, #23, #35, #45, #48, #49, #50, #51 and #69.
===== THIS IS WHAT YOU WILL GET IF THE COALITION IS ELECTED!
1 - Repeal the carbon tax, and don't replace it.
2 - Abolish the Department of Climate Change.
3 - Abolish the Clean Energy Fund.
4 - Repeal Section 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act.
5 - Abandon Australia's bid for a seat on the United Nations Security Council.
6 - Repeal the renewable energy target.
7 - Return income taxing powers to the States.
8 - Abolish the Commonwealth Grants Commission.
9 - Abolish the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
10 - Withdraw from the Kyoto Protocol.
11 - Introduce fee competition to Australian universities.
12 - Repeal the National Curriculum.
13 - Introduce competing private secondary school curriculums.
14 - Abolish the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA).
15 - Eliminate laws that require radio and television broadcasters to be 'balanced'.
16 - Abolish television spectrum licensing and devolve spectrum management to the common law.
17 - End local content requirements for Australian television stations.
18 - Eliminate family tax benefits.
19 - Abandon the paid parental leave scheme.
20 - Means-test Medicare.
21 - End all corporate welfare and subsidies by closing the Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education.
22 - Introduce voluntary voting.
23 - End mandatory disclosures on political donations.
24 - End media blackout in final days of election campaigns.
25 - End public funding to political parties.
26 - Remove anti-dumping laws.
27 - Eliminate media ownership restrictions.
28 - Abolish the Foreign Investment Review Board.
29 - Eliminate the National Preventative Health Agency.
30 - Cease subsidising the car industry.
31 - Formalise a one-in, one-out approach to regulatory reduction.
32 - Rule out federal funding for 2018 Commonwealth Games.
33 - Deregulate the parallel importation of books.
34 - End preferences for Industry Super Funds in workplace relations laws.
35 - Legislate a cap on government spending and tax as a percentage of GDP.
36 - Legislate a balanced budget amendment which strictly limits the size of budget deficits and the period the federal government can be in deficit.
37 - Force government agencies to put all of their spending online in a searchable database.
38 - Repeal plain packaging for cigarettes and rule it out for all other products, including alcohol and fast food.
39 - Reintroduce voluntary student unionism at universities.
40 - Introduce a voucher scheme for secondary schools.
41 - Repeal the alcopops tax.
42 - Introduce a special economic zone in the north of Australia including:
a) Lower personal income tax for residents.
b) Significantly expanded 457 Visa programs for workers.
c) Encourage the construction of dams.
43 - Repeal the mining tax.
44 - Devolve environmental approvals for major projects to the States.
45 - Introduce a single rate of income tax with a generous tax-free threshold.
46 - Cut company tax to an internationally competitive rate of 25 per cent.
47 - Cease funding the Australia Network.
48 - Privatise Australia Post.
49 - Privatise Medibank.
50 - Break up the ABC and put out to tender each individual function.
51 - Privatise SBS.
52 - Reduce the size of the public service from current levels of more than 260,000 to at least the 2001 low of 212,784.
53 - Repeal the Fair Work Act.
54 - Allow individuals and employers to negotiate directly terms of employment that suit them.
55 - Encourage independent contracting by overturning new regulations designed to punish contractors.
56 - Abolish the Baby Bonus.
57 - Abolish the First Home Owners' Grant.
58 - Allow the Northern Territory to become a state.
59 - Halve the size of the Coalition front bench from 32 to 16.
60 - Remove all remaining tariff and non-tariff barriers to international trade.
61 - Slash top public servant salaries to much lower international standards, like in the United States.
62 - End all public subsidies to sport and the arts.
63 - Privatise the Australian Institute of Sport.
64 - End all hidden protectionist measures, such as preferences for local manufacturers in government tendering.
65 - Abolish the Office for Film and Literature Classification.
66 - Rule out any government-supported or mandated internet censorship.
67 - Means test tertiary student loans.
68 - Allow people to opt out of superannuation in exchange for promising to forgo any government income support in retirement.
69 - Immediately halt construction of the National Broadband Network and privatise any sections that have already been built.
70 - End all government funded Nanny State advertising.
71 - Reject proposals for compulsory food and alcohol labelling.
72 - Privatise the CSIRO.
73 - Defund Harmony Day.
74 - Close the Office for Youth.
75 - Privatise the Snowy-Hydro Scheme.
I've messaged the original author for his source, and will update when I get it.EDIT:
Here's his source. Caveat to earlier post; this appears to solely be a recommendation/opinion piece from the IPA. So, certainly concerning, but not quite terrifying yet.
That said, any organisation willing to privatise CSIRO should be put down by 2x4. With a rusty nail in it.
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Topic: Reudh's Hilarious Australasian politics thread! (Read 216552 times)