Here is Stephen Smith talking to David Speers about a scandal at ADFA.
DAVID SPEERS: You’re not willing to express confidence until you get those answers?
STEPHEN SMITH: I want to take this step by step. This is a deeply disturbing matter. It not only goes to individual conduct which may be the subject of charges, it goes to Defence’s reputation and standing. It also goes more generally to a point I’ve made before – not linked to the circumstances of this case but more generally – that when members of the Defence Force do things in public, and in the modern day we need to proceed on the basis that if you do something online on Skype or Facebook, inevitably there is a risk or a danger it becomes public. If you do something inappropriate in public, you will suffer the consequences.
Here is Julia Gillard talking about one of her colleagues.
I have complete confidence in the member for Dobell. I look forward to him continuing to do that job for a very long, long, long time to come.
Here is Anthony Albanese talking to Chris Uhlmann
CHRIS UHLMANN: Do you have complete confidence in Mr Thomson?
ANTHONY ALBANESE: I do. I’m of the view that people have a right to the presumption of innocence. That’s the basis of our legal system. And just as the only person in the Parliament who’s under charges, the Liberal senator, is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
(HT: Comment at the ABC via CL)
Update: Here is Craig Emerson
Federal Labor frontbencher Craig Emerson said that while he had the “utmost confidence” in the integrity of the commissioner, it was “curious” why Senator Brandis would have contacted the state minister.
“This raises questions about inappropriate behaviour and many people will be wondering if this is a proper thing for a shadow attorney-general to do,” he said.
“In Australia people cherish two notions – one is the presumption of innocence and the other is the separation of powers.”
Ahhhh, yes – the separation of powers. Here is Stephen Smith illustrating exactly how those powers work.
The young woman was asked whether she proposed to plead guilty or plead her innocence. She pleaded guilty. She said she was happy to go forward with the proceedings today. I have asked the Chief of the Defence Force to urgently examine the capacity of the Defence Force to quash this matter. On her own admission she is in a deeply distressed state. It is either in the realm of inappropriate, insensitive or completely stupid to hold such a hearing on a day like today.
As usual you guys completely nail it. A little straightforwardness, just for once, would have been the proper response. I am so sick of all this.
Cath
25 Aug 11 at 11:17 am
I just look forward to the next parliament where we get the Lib’s version of the WorkChoices clean-out. Remember Gillard waving yellow mousepads and fridge magnets to ridicule the Opposition? The payback will be worth buying tickets to watch…
ar
25 Aug 11 at 11:30 am
Graham Richardson sums up Labour’s problem succinctly.
‘Labor has to hang on to Craig Thomson to stay in government, but Craig Thomson is getting desperately hard to cling on to’.
johno
25 Aug 11 at 11:46 am
CL
Please preserve this one in that prodigous database of yours for a future retrieval:
Barry Cassidy:
“In normal circumstances few people inside or outside the Parliament would give a toss about whether a backbencher once abused his privileges while working for a trade union movement.”
A business person or trustee of other peoples finances in any other situaton ‘dips’ into the pool – and the screaming about rampaging immoral capitalists looting pensioners and retirees lifts the roof off nightly on the current affairs beat ups.
An officer of one other type of enterprise is apparently in manifest breach of his fiduciary duties to what is clearly a low income earning group of members – and it is handwaved away by an ABC ‘silverback’ and ex-Labor staffer as merely ‘abuse of privileges’. The difference being – the enterprise was a union, and apparently exempt from the rules of governance applied to the rest of the members of the national economy.
This is breathtaking hypocracy. I wonder if Bazza would be so sanguine about abuse of privileges if it as found an officer of the ABC super fund had been helping themselves to $100k licks from the members funds for jollies ??
The ABC-istas must realise theya re staring into the abyss – to be carrying this much water for Jools and Thommo.
Myrrdin Seren
25 Aug 11 at 11:51 am
In the US the ALP and the Union might get done under the notorious racketeering laws.
John Comnenus
25 Aug 11 at 12:00 pm
Union heavy Paul Howes is calling for the RBA to unfloat the dollar because it’s too high. Who would have thought that the stimulus would increase demand for money and push up its price (interest rates) that would then attract foreign cash and force up the value of the dollar. Howes and the stimulus advocates don’t like the consequence of their own unecessarily profligate policy. Maybe the RBA could peg the dollar to the latest Newspoll ALP primary vote. That’ll make us internationally competitive!
John Comnenus
25 Aug 11 at 12:44 pm
The most surreal thing about this is that many Labor supporters genuinely seem to lack the mental honesty to accept that if the situation was reversed they would be howling like banshees, throwing as much mud as possible and painting the entire Liberal Party and all who vote for it with the same brush. The ABC would have panel after panel of very serious sounding lefties talking about the corrupt culture inside the male dominated corporate world and Liberal Party that encourages men to behave like this, how “right wing” beliefs are to blame etc ad nauseum. The left femi brigade would be protesting at how this powerful man took advantage of the escort, etc.
And they wouldn’t reserve themselves to only discussing the legal issues as it has been so far with Thompson, they’d suddenly become moral puritans driving the immoral, sexist pig, cheating husband angle full steam ahead as well.
Unfortunately this sort of hypocrisy and extraordinary arrogance is all par for the course at the moment.
twostix
25 Aug 11 at 1:12 pm
If you want proof, consider the cash-for-comment scandal. Or rather, “scandal”. Just remember how the Left reacted to Alan Jones receiving money in a commercial arrangement.
ar
25 Aug 11 at 1:20 pm
Indeed. It was excruciating to watch those two women, the ‘Islamic feminist’, and the Wikilieaks author, actually defending this guy on Q&A. They did look pretty uncomfortable doing so, however.
papachango
25 Aug 11 at 2:19 pm
I just cant believe how dumb people like Gillard and Albanese are! Surely you can say that he “deserves the presumption of innocence” without saying you have “total confidence” in him? That just makes you look an idiot when he is charged, as he pretty soon will be.
Even Craig Thompson’s mother wouldnt say she had any confidence in her wee bairn by now.
Bill
25 Aug 11 at 2:21 pm
Yes, and that includes several prominent journalists.
daddy dave
25 Aug 11 at 2:21 pm
It must be like trying to pick up a turd by the clean end.
Paul Williams
25 Aug 11 at 2:23 pm
Why the hell would they do that? Do you think this is the first sex scandal in the history of politics? Have you ever actually met/read a lefty or a feminist? Do you know what the fuck you’re talking about?
THR
25 Aug 11 at 2:25 pm
Yeah like no lefties or feminists were critical of Troy Buswell’s chair sniffing antics, or that Republican guy in NY who got busted using hookers….
papachango
25 Aug 11 at 2:31 pm
Don’t be a dill: who wasn’t critical of Buswell’s stupid behaviour.
steve from brisbane
25 Aug 11 at 2:34 pm
It’s not a sex scandal, THR. Nice try. It’s a theft scandal. Nobody cares who Craig Thomson sleeps with. An MP is alleged to have stolen thousands of dollars from unionists. According to Julia Gillard, he’s doing a “very very good job.”
That’s the modern Labor Party in a nutshell.
They burn down people’s houses, kill workers and steal their money.
C.L.
25 Aug 11 at 2:36 pm
Stay on topic, papagimpo. Twostix’s specific claims are that lefties become ‘moral puritans’ at the idea of somebody sleeping with (‘taking advantage of’) a prostitute, and that lefties and femmos have some obligation to criticise Thompson on specifically leftist and feminist grounds. In other words, he’s talking baseless tripe, and unsurprisingly, you defend it.
THR
25 Aug 11 at 2:37 pm
It’s twostix and the others invoking ‘lefty femmos’ who are painting this as a sex scandal. Ditto papagimpo, who brought up other sex scandals as examples. I agree – the issue here is principally about theft. You should direct your criticisms to the women-haters above.
THR
25 Aug 11 at 2:39 pm
‘papagimpo’? I like it, can I steal it THR?
Buswell had an extramarital fling and used taxpayer moeny to fund it. Wasn’t a hooker, but still pretty tawdry and involving both a sex scandal and misuse of an orgnanisation’s funds. As I recall the lefty feminists went bananas over the chauvinistic right wing culture of the Libs.
The same ones who are silent but looking very uncomfortable now.
papachango
25 Aug 11 at 2:54 pm
Even though it’s not a sex scandal, any Federal politician who has used Adult Services in the last five years is probably not enjoying the attention to the industry.
steve from brisbane
25 Aug 11 at 2:56 pm
It’s also about lying to parliament, (but I guess thats a mere bagatelle compared embezzling over $100K from trade union members).
Bill
25 Aug 11 at 2:56 pm
Yes, you should use it as your handle as a kind of moron disclosure statement.
Now you’re simply lying. The reason the feminists went after Buswell was because an ex-staffer of his accused him – correctly, as it turns out – of multiple instances of sexual harassment. The harassment in question was undertaken by Buswell in the company of his cretinous comrades, and we can therefore draw inferences about the ‘culture’ of the party there. We can also raise suspicions about right-wingers more generally, since there are quite a few persistent misogynists on this site, for instance, who shift into denialist mode any time sexual assault data is raised.
None of this has anything to do with Thomson, who did nothing illegal or discriminatory, as far as the sexual side of things is concerned.
THR
25 Aug 11 at 3:02 pm
No, it’s about you hoping it’s about lying to Parliament, Bill.
As I said yesterday, I don’t know how anyone can think expressing confidence in a member (there’s a pun for IT to work with) can be a matter of lying to Parliament.
steve from brisbane
25 Aug 11 at 3:04 pm
Oh dear THR, I was a soaked to the bone lefty just like you until a few years ago and know exactly what the various angles of attack from the one-eyed, opportunistic leftwing womyn’s factions are towards the lefts political enemies.
Again you embarrass yourself by crossing it up with me.
(You’re really cut with me aren’t you poor baby? Such impotent vitriol from the anti “gutteral grunting” pompous elitist!).
Do try again though.
twostix
25 Aug 11 at 3:04 pm
Ah, you’rre too stupid/ignorant to muster an argument, so you go in for a bit of reverse ‘Hi-Alanism’. Let’s call it Hi-Philipism:
“Hi Phil, it’s twostix here. I’ve been a dyed-in-the-wool lefty for years and I’ve absorbed the key teachings of the feminist movement. I think that all lefties and feminists should drop what they’re doing and take Thommo to task for ‘taking advantage of’ the prostitutes who legally slept with him. They really have no more urgent task”.
THR
25 Aug 11 at 3:08 pm
Not at all. You’re merely one of the gutter-crawlers here who lower the tone with stupidity and dishonesty. Charitable citizen that I am, comrade THR will help educate you, and lift you from your poltroonery. Now, pay attention and answer the questions that have been put to you.
THR
25 Aug 11 at 3:12 pm
I’d have to say no. Usually the title is enough put me off.
ar
25 Aug 11 at 3:14 pm
Stevie – Thompson has lied to parliament – I didnt say Julia has.
Bill
25 Aug 11 at 3:21 pm
Yeah it’s the Liberal Party that has a “culture”.
We won’t even go into NSW Labor’s disgraceful protection of child sex offended Milton Orkopoulos and their harassment and bullying of Gillian Sneddon.
The worst thing is you try and portray yourself as some all-knowing elite intellectual, yet you’re so profoundly ignorant, or worse, the very type of one eyed opportunist I describe above knowing full well how ugly Labor and the left are regarding these matters, yet smearing and throwing as much mud as possible anyway.
twostix
25 Aug 11 at 3:36 pm
I’m wonder if there is a transgression of the separation of powers doctrine here. It certainly looks as if there is two.
I don’t think normally that the Defense minister should be interfering in internal Defense justice proceedings especially of such a paltry character unless there were reason to believe the brass was punishing the cadet for laying charges against the alleged scumbucket.
In terms of a federal senator contacting the NSW government over matters related to charges of an allied Federal MP it depends on the material of the letter. If it’s just a ‘he’s a good bloke’ thing than he has no business writing it. If it’s material to the case than he’s followed a process. Brandis should have declared the whole thing up front however.
There’s been a convergence between the cops and the govt. Howard and the AFP were a bit too buddy buddy. It won’t stop unless there’s a bipartisan stand against either side doing it which won’t happen because 97% of the Oz populace have no idea what separation of powers means unless it relates to something you put in your X-Box.
Adrien
25 Aug 11 at 3:42 pm
I never said that you deranged liar. I said that if Thompson was a liberal the left fem-brigade would be have plenty to say about the matter and would paint the entire Liberal party with the same brush.
Which, in this very thread you yourself then did anyway:
See how you can’t help but dig yourself a hole??
Typical pop-leftist projectionist.
twostix
25 Aug 11 at 3:46 pm
Lol abuse, lie, abuse, smear, abuse, lie.
But you’re “above it all” and oh-so intellectual.
Great! I’m sure I’ll learn nothing that I don’t already know from years of hanging around weirdos like you obsessed with the utterly irrelevant and out-dated ideology of Marxism. So could you teach me about some other equally as irrelevant and outdated ideology, say, Jacobitism or something?
twostix
25 Aug 11 at 3:58 pm
Where’s that lefty puritan ‘Helen’ who dropped by the other day to give us a sanctionious sermon?
Peter Patton
25 Aug 11 at 4:02 pm
‘Buswell had an extramarital fling and used taxpayer moeny to fund it. Wasn’t a hooker, but still pretty tawdry’
It was worse than tawdry. His flinge was with a Greens MP. That’s just disgusting. Has he no shame.
johno
25 Aug 11 at 4:34 pm
Steve. she expressed her confidence in a man who is so full of shit that even she should have been able to see the problem but gutter browsing, extremist associating prime ministers, supported by the luvvies are blind. Or dishonest. Just like the luvvies
Tiny Dancer
25 Aug 11 at 4:56 pm
The little head has no political ideology
What was interesting is the treatment they both got by their own party. Buswell was fired and the Greens rallied round Adele whatername, who celebrated her ‘bravery’ in coming forward and admitting to it, or something like that.
Yeah I know Buswell had previous form for sleazy behaviour, but still the Greens tribalism was a bit over the top.
papachango
25 Aug 11 at 5:07 pm
heh. The Hidebound Reactionary is still using the banal and boring tricks lefturds do so love, and which always they consider fresh and new. It’s as pathetic as their ardent belief in their suicidal and failed ideology.
Intellect of a nematode, that kid’s got! This is his ‘argument’:
…what the fuck…
…talking baseless tripe…
…moron disclosure statement…
…the women-haters above…
…you’re simply lying…
…quite a few persistent misogynists on this site…
…one of the gutter-crawlers here…
…lower the tone with stupidity and dishonesty…
The poor little kid thinks this is sophisticated rhetoric.
Mk50
brisbane
MarkL of Canberra
25 Aug 11 at 5:34 pm
So when does the diversionary cabinet reshuffle start and how many sacrificial personalities will be back benched in a desperate bid to find another 5 minutes of “clean air”.(Always a sign of impending collapse)I reckon Swan is headed for a more challenging portfolio or even some time to focus on his neglected constituents and it’s only a matter of days before Labor recognise Albo must go he’s a total dud who sloughs off votes everytime he appears in public or is even mentioned.
Simon
25 Aug 11 at 7:17 pm
I’ve known lots of lefties and a fair sprinkling of feminists as a consequence of working in a university. I’ve met a smaller number of righties and one or two misogynists. The first thing I notice about the lefties is how they give me the creeps. The second is that they are deranged. Likewise the feminists. These people have lost touch with both reality and their instincts. The righties are just stodgy and boring, but not flagrantly doolally.
I have trouble classifying libertarians. They aren’t loony enough to be lefties nor stodgy enough to be righties. Please help me work out where they are supposed to sit in the french assembly.
DrBeauGan
25 Aug 11 at 8:06 pm
At the bar Dr
Tal
25 Aug 11 at 8:09 pm
Have you ever actually met/read a lefty or a feminist?
Yes, quite a lot.
wreckage
25 Aug 11 at 8:16 pm
‘Buswell had an extramarital fling and used taxpayer moeny to fund it. Wasn’t a hooker, but still pretty tawdry’
Lost his job over it, IIRC.
wreckage
25 Aug 11 at 8:25 pm
So could you teach me about some other equally as irrelevant and outdated ideology, say, Jacobitism or something?
Sure. $150 p/h. All you need to know. Interested?
Adrien
25 Aug 11 at 8:31 pm
I’m shocked.
C.L.
25 Aug 11 at 8:46 pm
Actually, there was a perfectly coherent argument. It was delivered with smatterings of abuse, but that’s only par for the course with scum like you and twocells. Rather than refute the argument – something you are consistently unable to do – you retreat behind limp-wristed, nit-picking metacommentary. That, and Breivikian accusations against race traitors. Those Muslamic Communists must really have done something to your precious bodily fluids.
THR
25 Aug 11 at 9:44 pm
Where have feminists come out against prostitution, or extra-marital affairs for that matter? Or are you so stupid as to think that Buswell’s sexual harassment of staff is much the same as sex between consenting adults?
I never claim to be ‘above it all’. You, however, are obviously feeling inferior.
And which feminists/leftists were defending Orkopoulos? You really could have avoided this mess by simply refraining from wild, idiotic and unsavoury accusations against your political enemies.
THR
25 Aug 11 at 9:48 pm
I disagree. Albo would make an excellent minister for dental health.
Steve of Ferny Hills
25 Aug 11 at 10:31 pm
And it just gets even funnier!
A perfectly coherent argument…the …limp-wristed, nit-picking metacommentary… of Breivikian … race traitor …Muslamic Communists… using …precious bodily fluids… in …extra-marital affairs… with Buswell… and Orkopolis.
Dude… what can anyone say about your coherent arguments after that little gem? Those are some perverted fantasies you are having there!
You are going to make a fortune selling scripts to the German porn industry, THR.
Mk50
Brisbane
MarkL of Canberra
25 Aug 11 at 10:33 pm
Breivikian, eh? Brrr!
wreckage
25 Aug 11 at 11:46 pm
THR. The peadophile NSW minsiter and the shitbag thief are being protected by labour. That includes their good women folk, who got there because of Emily’s list and not because they were any good. Just whores to the cause.
Tiny Dancer
26 Aug 11 at 12:10 am
Tony Danza:
The NSW Minister is not being protected by anybody – he’s in jail, and was sacked promptly after having been charged. Neither lefties nor feminists defended him.
Who? Who in the ALP rose to power because of Emily’s List? Hook up a breathalyser to your PC before dumping this spiteful drivel on the internets..
THR
26 Aug 11 at 12:31 am
Is there anything a Labor politician could do that THR wouldn’t defend to his dying breath?
I’m willing to bet that a Labor pollie could shoot an unarmed child in the face and THR would be in here the next day saying it’s no big deal.
Yobbo
26 Aug 11 at 2:52 am
Thanks Tal, that makes a lot of sense. Mines a double malt.
CL, that’s a cruel thing to do, linking to that image before a bloke’s had his morning smoko.
Has anybody else had the visceral creepy feeling that lefties inspire in me? I have this X-files feeling whenever I see Bob Brown or Lee wossername. I have a theory that they are aliens trying to pass themselves off as human beings but haven’t got it quite right. Julia shows they are getting better at it, but she still doesn’t fool me.
I realise that this all sounds frivolous and just a touch intolerant of diversity, but I incline to feel my instincts are trying to tell me there’s something wrong with these people. It’s not that I reject their arguments and see them as loony. I see lots of loony arguments from righties. Perhaps they really have some sort of sickness. If so, we should not waste time on argument, we should look for a cure.
DrBeauGan
26 Aug 11 at 7:24 am
THR – the NSW ALP choked on their own bile so hard did they pursue that poor women who blew the whistle on the NSW Minister. To deny that the ALP went into overdrive to try and protect him is a lie, fabrication, bullshit and you know it.
I note that you don’t go on to say that the ALP is not trying to protect the thief so I’ll take that as acceptance. You two bit tool
Emily’s list – raising mediocrity to a new level. Look at the brain drains running around labour for years.
The left have shown themselves to be the protector of criminals and scum yet again.
Tiny Dancer
26 Aug 11 at 8:14 am
Clearly theft and sexual misconduct are just symptoms of following the over ill-educated feminist and uneducated union heavy dominated world of patriarchal ALP politics and ideology. Sociology is the science of ideological corruption. It’s a sick culture and we shouldn’t be beholden to these faceless, patriarchal unions, which if were individuals, would be classed as psychotic. How much of the world’s wealth do they control, and how many women do they oppress with systemic abuse by union heavies? It’s just sickening that this powerful man betrayed the feminist movement and used a prostitute, which helps contribute to sexual slavery around the world, but it is inevitable under this ideology. Everyone who vote for Labor supports sex trafficking and the like. Socialism is a sick ideology and we need to talk about it more to let people know the truth. Of course the chauvinist ABC is simply not talking about this. It’s not any surprise any of this happened, given the internal contradictions of patriarchal ALP ideology. The inequality of payscales is obvious when the women are treated as prostitutes or intentionally ill educated in the science of corruption (more of an ideology than a science) when the patriarchs take the wealth of others they control and let the men followers take long hours in environmentally damaging industries. The heads of unions are corrupt patriarchs responsible for sexual slavery, industrial deaths and environmental vandalism. A round-table discussion by stakeholders affected by their psychotic behaviour would clarify some issues that the patriarchal unions and their sick ideology are not being helpful with.
.
26 Aug 11 at 8:51 am
You seem incapable of following a fairly basic argument. Nobody has defended Thomson, and I personally think this affair is a good opportunity for unions to re-think their marriage with the ALP. However, my arguments on this thread has been that the prostitution side of things does not warrant some particular condemnation from leftists and feminists. Comparisons to Buswell and orkopoulos are offensively stupid.
So who are those female ‘whores’ (as you put it) being elevated by Emily’s List? Have you found any yet?
And who in their right mind identifies NSW ALP with ‘leftists and feminists’? It’d be like identifying the Nats with free market liberalism.
THR
26 Aug 11 at 10:40 am
I think the sheer neutron star density of stupid hyperbole in the dot post may make it impervious to attack.
steve from brisbane
26 Aug 11 at 10:56 am
Man, that THR is an ugly personality; so much hate! That’s not healthy, have you considered counselling?
Streetcred
26 Aug 11 at 11:51 am
Does the left ever get it? If you hang around scum and protect them, promote people because of their sex you are going to end up looking, well, not stupid, corrupt and stupid. At one point in time this government probably thought that incompetent was a harsh judgment of them. Now they probably wish that was the only criticism.
Tiny Dancer
26 Aug 11 at 12:54 pm
You congenital fuckwit, what is your IQ? About 65?
It was parody, however humorous or not, you stupid fuck.
Steve from B:
You are one stupid motherfucker.
.
26 Aug 11 at 7:48 pm
The Hidebound Reactionary:
His ‘argument’ in his own words:
A perfectly coherent argument…the …limp-wristed, nit-picking metacommentary… of Breivikian … race traitor …Muslamic Communists… using …precious bodily fluids… in …extra-marital affairs… with Buswell… and Orkopolis.
And yes Mildred, yes, he is a lefturd!
Mk50
brisbane
MarkL of Canberra
26 Aug 11 at 9:11 pm
You’re getting scatological again, Marky. And again, you back away from debate like the poltroon you are. Shrill lefties used to complain about HoWARd, and were mocked by the right – you are their successor, with your bleating about Juliar. Even as a troll, you’re a failure.
THR
26 Aug 11 at 9:13 pm
After the left’s attacks on the World Youth Day pilgrims, the term ‘lefturd’ is merely descriptive of the left’s normal behaviour. Did you know that lefturds from the USA flew in to Madrid specifically to attack the pilgrims?
I am surprised you were not there too. On the other hand, even with a hundred of your ilk around you, I doubt you could summon up the ‘courage’ a lefturd shows when he spits on an 18 year old girl who is kneeling in prayer. Perhaps, with 200 other lefturds around you, you might be brave enough to abuse a nun from an order that works in hospices to bring comfort to the dying.
If she was alone, of course.
Mk50
Brisbane
MarkL of Canberra
27 Aug 11 at 10:07 am