Tuesday 31 December 2013

Our New Prime Ministers First 100 Days of Dread...

Tracking Abbott’s wreckage – The full list

Tony Abbott has been in power since 7 September 2013. From that moment, he and his government have broken promises and hurt Australians.

The List 

71. Refuses to support jobs at SPC at the cost of hundreds of jobs – 27 December 2013 

70. Appoints Tim Wilson, a Liberal Party member and Policy Director of a right-wing think tank to the position of Commissioner at the Human Rights Commission even though this think tank argued for the Commission to be abolished – 23 December 2013 

69. Approves private health fund premium increases of an average 6.2% a year – 23 December 2013

68. Fails to provide the promised customs vessel to monitor whaling operations in the Southern Ocean – 23 December 2013 

67. Requests the delisting of World Heritage status for Tasmanian forests – 21 December 2013 

66. Scraps the Home Energy Saver Scheme which helps struggling low income households cut their electricity bills – 17 December 2013

65. Defunds the Public Interest Advocacy Centre whose objectives are to work for a fair, just and democratic society by taking up legal cases public interest issues – 17 December 2013

64. Defunds the Environmental Defenders Office which is a network of community legal centres providing free advice on environmental law – 17 December 2013

63. Axes funding for animal welfare – 17 December 2013

62. Abolishes the AusAID graduate program costing 38 jobs – 17 December 2013

61. Cuts Indigenous legal services by $13.4 million – 17 December 2013

60. Abolishes the position of co-ordinator-general for remote indigenous services – 17 December 2013

59. Changes name of  NDIS “launch sites” to “trial sites” and flags cuts to funding – 17 December 2013 

58. Abolishes the National Office for Live Music along with the live music ambassadors – 17 December 2013

57. Weakened the ministerial code of conduct to let ministers keep shares in companies – 16 December 2013

56. Disbands the independent Immigration Health Advisory Group for asylum seekers – 16 December 2013 

55. Starts dismantling Australia’s world leading marine protection system - 13 December 2013 

54. Scraps the COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water – 13 December 2013 

53. Breaks its NBN election promise of giving all Australians access to 25 megabits per second download speeds by 2016 – 12 December 2013  

52. Overturns the “critically endangered” listing of the Murray Darling Basin – 11 December 2013

51. Dares Holden to leave Australia. Holden announces closure which costs Australian workers 50 000 jobs 11 December 2013 

50. Approves Clive Palmer’s mega coal mine in the Galilee Basin, turning the Great Barrier Reef into a dumping ground for dredge spoil and a shipping super highway - 11 December 2013

49. Demands that the few childcare workers who got pay rises “hand them back” – 10 December 2013 

48. Approves the largest coal port in the world in the Great Barrier Reef World Heritage Area – 10 December 2013  

47. Removes the community’s right to challenge decisions where the government has ignored expert advice on threatened species impacts – 9 December 2013 

46. Downgrades national environment laws by giving approval powers to state premiers – 9 December 2013  

45. Undermines Australia’s democracy by signing a free trade agreement with South Korea allowing corporations to sue the Australian Government – 6 December 2013 

44. Damages our diplomatic relationship with our nearest neighbour East Timor5 December 2013 

43. Repeals the pokie reform legislation achieved in the last parliament to combat problem gambling – 4 December 2013 

42. Suspends the Wage Connect program, despite it being proven to deliver good outcomes for unemployed people – 3 December 2013 

41. Axes funding to the Alcohol and Other Drugs Council of Australia, forcing the 46 year old organisation to close – 27 November 2013  

40. Back-flips twice on Gonski, reversing a commitment to a ‘unity ticket’ and failing to deliver equitable education funding – 25 November 2013  

39. Shifts Australia’s position at the UN on Israeli settlements – 25 November 2013

38. Damages our diplomatic relationship with the Indonesian Government by refusing to apologise for tapping the phones of their President, his wife and senior Government officials – 23 November 2013 

37. Converts crucial Start-Up Scholarships into loans, increasing the debt of 80,000 higher education students by $1.2 billion – 21 November 2013 

36. Gifts two navy patrol boats to the Sri Lankan government to stop asylum seekers fleeing the Sri Lankan government – 17 November 2013

35. Introduces a Bill to impose on workers who are elected to unpaid committees in their union huge financial penalties and jail terms for breeches of new compliance obligations – 14 November 2013 

34. Condones torture by foreign governments by saying “sometimes in difficult circumstances, difficult things happen” – 14 November 2013 

33. Hides information from the Parliament and the people about the government’s treatment of asylum seekers – 13 November 2013

32. Separates a refugee mother from her newborn baby – 10 November 2013 

31. Cuts 600 jobs at the CSIRO - 8 November 2013

30. Abolishes Insurance Reform Advisory Group which provided a forum for industry and consumer bodies to discuss insurance industry reform – 8 November 2013

29. Abolishes the Maritime Workforce Development Forum which was an industry body working to build a sustainable skills base for the maritime industry – 8 November 2013

28. Abolishes the High Speed Rail Advisory Group whose job it was to advise Governments on the next steps on implementing high speed rail for eastern Australia – 8 November 2013

27. Abolishes the Advisory Panel on the Marketing in Australia of Infant Formula which for 21 years monitored compliance of industry to agreements on marketing infant formula – 8 November 2013 

26. Abolishes the Antarctic Animal Ethics Committee who ensured research on animals in the Antarctic complies with Australian standards – 8 November 2013

25. Abolished the National Steering Committee on Corporate Wrongdoing that for 21 years worked to make sure the law was effectively enforced on corporate criminals – 8 November 2013

24. Abolishes the National Inter-country Adoption Advisory Council which provided expert advice on overseas adoption – 8 November 2013 

23. Abolishes International Legal Services Advisory Council which was responsible for working to improve the international performance of Australia’s legal services – 8 November 2013

22. Abolishes the Commonwealth Firearms Advisory Council a group of experts in gun crime and firearms which was set up after the Port Arthur massacre – 8 November 2013

21. Abolishes Australian Animals Welfare Advisory Committee – 8 November 2013

20. Abolishes the National Housing Supply Council which provided data and expert advice on housing demand, supply and affordability – 8 November 2013

19. Abolishes the  Advisory Panel on Positive Ageing, established to help address the challenges the country faces as the number of older Australians grows – 8 November 2013 

18. Refuses to offer support to manufacturing in  Tasmania, despite requests and warnings. Caterpillar announces the move of 200 jobs from Burnie to Thailand, costing around 1000 local jobs – 5 November 2013

17. Provides $2.2 million legal aid for farmers and miners to fight native title claims – 1 November 2013

16. Abolishes the 40 year old AusAID costing hundreds of jobs – 1 November 2013

15. Launches a successful High Court  which strikes down the ACT Marriage Equality laws invalidating the marriages of many people and ensuring discrimination against same-sex couples continues – 23 October 2013 

14. Denies there is a link between climate change and more severe bush fires and accuses a senior UN official was “talking through their hat”  – 23 October 2013 

13. Appoints the head of the Business Council of Australia to a “Commission of Audit” to recommend cuts to public spending – 22 October 2013  

12. Instructs public servants and detention centre staff to call asylum seekers “illegals” – 20 October 2013

11. Appoints Howard era Australian Building & Construction Commission (ABCC) Director to help reinstate the ABCC with all its previous oppressive powers over construction workers – 17 October 2013 

10. Axes the Major Cities Unit a Government agency with 10 staff which provided expert advice on urban issues in our 18 biggest cities – 24 September 2013

9. Fails to “stop the boats”.  Hides the boats instead – 23 September 2013  

8. Scraps the Social Inclusion Board, which had been established to guide policy on the reduction of poverty in Australia - 19 September 2013 

7. Abolishes the Climate Commission – 19 September 2013 

6. Appoints himself Minister for Women – 16 September 2013 

5. Appoints only one woman into his cabinet and blames the women for his decision, saying he appoints “on merit”– 16 September 2013 

4. Abolishes key ministerial positions of climate change and science – 16 September 2013 

3. Breaks his promise to spend his first week with an Aboriginal community – 14 September 2013 

2. Takes away pay rises for childcare workers – 13 September 2013 

1. Takes away pay rises from aged care workers – 13 September 2013 


The Broken Promise Count

1. Breaks his promise to spend his first week with an Aboriginal community – 14 September 2013.  This promise was made in front of indigenous elders and participates at the Garma Festival on 10 August 2013, this is a live recording the promise is made at 21:30

2. Fails to “stop the boats”.  Hides the boats instead – 23 September 2013.   This promise was repeated so many times I can’t count. Here’s Abbott’s 2013 campaign launch speech.

3. Back-flips twice on Gonski, reversing a commitment to a ‘unity ticket’ and failing to deliver equitable education funding – 25 November 2013  See paragraph two from Christopher Pyne on 29 August 2013 

4. Breaks its NBN election promise of giving all Australians access to 25 megabits per second download speeds by 2016 – 12 December 2013   This was the Coalition’s policy they took to the election first announced 9 April 2013.

5. Changes name of  NDIS “launch sites” to “trial sites” and flags cuts to funding – 17 December 2013  The promise to deliver the NDIS in full was made 20 August 2013 and is in the policies they took to the election

6. Fails to provide the promised customs vessel to monitor whaling operations in the Southern Ocean – 23 December 2013 Promise made by Greg Hunt 9 April 2013

Thanks to The Greens whose research in 100 days, 40 failures: A Preview of secretive, cruel and chaotic Government provided the initial material for this project.

I am embarrassed to be an Australian - and I didn't even vote for the fucker.

Sigh
D
xox
 

3 comments:

Unknown said...

As you know Damien....I totally agree with you and now add to that that list their attack on universal healthcare.

I have written to the Governor General asking her to intervene before we are too far down this fascist path that Abbott is taking us.

Damien said...

I signed the petition :)

Unknown said...

so did I ;o)

but felt like I had to do more...not that I really believe she will take notice