Today I posted an article which suggested that former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has been traveling the world acting on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party ‘day in, day out’. It also imputed that Mr Rudd is seeking to influence governments both here in Australia and elsewhere as an agent of the Chinese Communist Party. These suggestions are false and I withdraw them immediately and unequivocally. I apologise to Mr Rudd for the harm caused.
David Llewellyn-Smith is Chief Strategist at the MB Fund and MB Super. David is the founding publisher and editor of MacroBusiness and was the founding publisher and global economy editor of The Diplomat, the Asia Pacific’s leading geo-politics and economics portal.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
He is also a former gold trader and economic commentator at The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, the ABC and Business Spectator. He is the co-author of The Great Crash of 2008 with Ross Garnaut and was the editor of the second Garnaut Climate Change Review.
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Impunity only applies for sitting members I presume.
Ouch. Slapped you with the threat of a lawsuit, did he? No need to answer that…
In fairness, if you are making allegations you do need to have a basis for saying so. I haven’t read the article you’re referring to, but clearly the basis was… not strong.
But I also enjoy the colourful commentary you include in your articles. So I’m torn.
Have you learnt nothing from the last week?
“BUT MAH FREEDOM OF SPEECH!”
Facts are so 20th century.
I really dont understand the perspectives of crew like yourself who applaud social censorship .
You’re aware that if Trump is actually guilty of sedition or treason or incitement or attempted coup or whatever other accusations that you’d level , then he should be tried , convicted and sentenced by a court of law and not the kangaroo court of his political enemies and an immoral corporatocracy ?
Because that’s what’s happening. As much as you’d like to think that each and every part of Trump’s socially polite lynch mob is acting independently , the obvious truth is that it’s a collusive attempt to erase his position in normal society even beyond the political sphere.
His existence on the monopolistic social media we all rely on for modern communications- gone.
His economic footprint through the monopolistic commercial banking sector – imperilled.
His ability to function in a society controlled by corporate service industries- jeopardised.
But even that isn’t enough . Now anyone who has ever shown historical support for the President who garnered 75,000,000 votes in a democratic election is now living with the yolk of societal disenfranchisement hanging over their heads.
Spare me the specious allusions to Trump being victimised. There’s no precedent in the modern Western sphere for such extra judicial persecution of an individual on such a grand scale . Innocent until proven guilty is how you , me and everyone else in our society deserves to be treated so put up or shut up. Prove Trump is guilty legally or defend his right to freedom from unjustified persecution.
“ much freedoms “ – Pull your head in bloke cause it’s only ever the balance of power which separates any of us from the chain and lash in the world you’re advocating.
Oh m8
You’re aware that if Trump is actually guilty of sedition or treason or incitement or attempted coup or whatever other accusations that you’d level , then he should be tried , convicted and sentenced by a court of law and not the kangaroo court of his political enemies and an immoral corporatocracy ?
There is no “court of law” for this stuff. Only what’s playing out in the houses of Congress as we type. Let’s see what comes of it. We can debate whether “it truly happened” or whether this is just political expedience now, sure, but to think that a president is going to get dragged before a court for his actions over the last week is far-fetched and unprecedented.
Because that’s what’s happening. As much as you’d like to think that each and every part of Trump’s socially polite lynch mob is acting independently , the obvious truth is that it’s a collusive attempt to erase his position in normal society even beyond the political sphere.
Well then maybe Mr Trump might want to reflect on his actions over the past few weeks, months, years, life, whatever, and realise that if you carry on like a tosspot, people who invite you to use their products might well recant said offer on a moment’s notice.
His existence on the monopolistic social media we all rely on for modern communications- gone.
His economic footprint through the monopolistic commercial banking sector – imperilled.
His ability to function in a society controlled by corporate service industries- jeopardised.
The guy literally has a room set up in the White House where he can, on literally 10 seconds notice, walk downstairs and be beamed into every household in the United States. As for his economic footprint etc etc – I’m sure he won’t struggle to put a roof over his head.
But even that isn’t enough . Now anyone who has ever shown historical support for the President who garnered 75,000,000 votes in a democratic election is now living with the yolk of societal disenfranchisement hanging over their heads.
Nobody cares how many votes he got. His number was smaller than the other guy’s number. It could be 100m and it would still be equally as irrelevant if the other guy got more.
Spare me the specious allusions to Trump being victimised. There’s no precedent in the modern Western sphere for such extra judicial persecution of an individual on such a grand scale . Innocent until proven guilty is how you , me and everyone else in our society deserves to be treated so put up or shut up. Prove Trump is guilty legally or defend his right to freedom from unjustified persecution.
His prosecution so far has amounted to absolutely diddily squat. His Twitter account and Facebook profile shut down? Whoopdy-doo! Maybe he shouldn’t carry on like a pork chop on them. Literally no different to you walking into someone’s house, calling them a C-bomb, and getting all p!ssy when you’re politely asked to leave.
“ much freedoms “ – Pull your head in bloke cause it’s only ever the balance of power which separates any of us from the chain and lash in the world you’re advocating.
Oh bloke, the simple fact in the world is this: if you carry on like a [email protected], people will show you little tolerance when the time comes to move you on. Being nice is the easiest thing in the world to do; costs nothing, rewards often greater than investment. This would barely register a 1 on the personal Richter scale; he’s had no property seized, no restrictions on his speech, no restrictions on his travel; he’s just been booted off a non-government forum, no different to this one or any other. Spare me the wailings of the violins, it could not have happened to a more deserving bloke. Bloke.
Being nice is the easiest thing in the world…..
er not sure about this one the way the world is headed…… That was a bit headuparsium
Yes Fishing72. Keep your eye on the ball.
Fishing72,
“I really dont understand the perspectives of crew like yourself who applaud social censorship .” I do. It’s delusional to deny Trump deliberately motivated his base to behave as they did. He isn’t being social censored because he’s a dick, it’s because be panders in outright lies and untruths for political advantage.
“You’re aware that if Trump is actually guilty of sedition or treason or incitement or attempted coup or whatever other accusations that you’d level , then he should be tried , convicted and sentenced by a court of law and not the kangaroo court of his political enemies and an immoral corporatocracy ?”
Do you understand there’s likely a reason the writers of the constitution left it to politicians to determine the outcome of an impeachment considering the legalistic workings of a court (for a good reason), and not with the Supreme Court! How long would it take for that path to get a resolution. I’d say they chose this methodology for good reason, one is speed of process compared to a court and the other to remove legalistic argument and manoeuvring. It requires 2/3 rd majority in the Senate to get through and normally (I guess) support from both sides.
“His existence on the monopolistic social media we all rely on for modern communications- gone. LOLOLOLOL. Rubbish.
His economic footprint through the monopolistic commercial banking sector – imperilled.( Not for any reason other than his own business stupidity)
His ability to function in a society controlled by corporate service industries- jeopardised.”( Really, what a load of hyper emotional crap, not hard to see you as a true believer.)
Specious is what I’d use to describe your response.
‘I really dont understand the perspectives of crew like yourself who applaud social censorship’
Normie bugmen are cowards who just follow the consensus which is highly influenced by the media.
Macrobusiness could actually earn its much-craved publicity by a high-profile court case or two.
You must first make sure that it will be highly televised and not censored though.
That’d be lovely publicity with an empty bank account and potentially from a residential unit with thick upright barrs on windows and doors.
I love the fiction D, L and S writes on politics and geo polotics it is utterly entertaining but due diligence has to be taken when writing fiction based on true rumours involving “wealthier than thee” characters. Particularly wrt shady ones.
D, L and S for President!
Rudd is unambiguously on the record for a population of 50 million in Australia, so I’m sure he won’t mind if I draw my own conclusions.
Be careful, these guys want to shut you down…
Yikes!
Krudd is the kind of person who dedicates himself to tearing down anyone that slights or overshadows him.
The truth hurts.
What’s with the left and censorship?
This is not censorship. This is free speech with consequences. MB can say whatever they want (free speech) – but if they sprout lies or opinions that have no basis in truth then there are consequences.
The right mostly love free speech because they love being able to say things that are not true. They can say thing like ‘tobacco does not harm’ ‘asbestos is safe’ ‘chlorofluorocarbons are not causing a hole in the ozone layer’ ‘burning fossil fuel is not warming the planet’ and using their influence to repeat those kind of statements to convince people to believe those statements when the scientific evidence (the actual facts) says the opposite.
+ total volume of CFC’s pumped into atmosphere
Has nothing to do with the right and it’s not like the left do not say thing that aren’t true.
Ouch.
Kevin is here?
59 shut-ins.
Also Boss, is it wise to allow comments?
This is the perfect piece for comments. You get to see who actually reads the article. You also get to see who is interested in opinion that starts with fact, or hyperbole that goes with their view of the world.
It’s obviously hyperbole. That’s his schtick. The spirit of the piece is fair enough I reckon
DLS does colour outside the lines more than he used to. And good on him for posting an apology front and centre. If he was a newspaper it’d be tucked in the corner of page 7.
My comment was about those below the line, in the comments section. Quite a few just seem to come to yell at clouds and anyone who suggests that the clouds aren’t Marxist fembots here to spread lies about coronavirus not being the flu.
Totally agree. There has been a distinct rise in right wing rhetoric in the MB comments section. I don’t know if it’s incel’s or MAGA types, but I’ve been losing interest in MB as the quality of the commentary has declined over the last two years and I’ve been here for about eight. This might be my last.
I’m with you bubbley.
Unwise why?
Because the cancel culture is strong, and I’m positive there’s people who come here and comment just to sully the reputation of the place.
I’ve thought similar. Also quite a few of the more level heads have retired to the gallery, or gone.
Very true
That Reusa guy is the only one who keeps the conversation clean, tidy, and in check. A model-macro citizen, if you will.
Never met him, but somehow I know exactly what he is like.
Hope he leaves you alone.
You guys should settle it the old fashion way…..for charity of course.
I would happily kick in some to see that
Sauce bottles at 20 paces!
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2uv92d
I don’t even need to click to know what that is. Does that date me?
From the SCMP today,
““What Pompeo is doing is laying a whole series of landmines for the incoming [Joe] Biden administration … salting the earth in the US-China relationship in general, and laying landmines on Taiwan in particular,” said Rudd, now president of the New York-based Asia Society Policy Institute.’
I wonder if we will see an apology to Mike Pompeo from Kev any time soon…
From Wikipedia
“US Congressman Chris Smith, co-chairperson of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, expressed that “The Asia Society has some explaining to do after two events that featured Joshua Wong prominently were canceled over the past nine months,” said the New Jersey representative”…
“On July 10, 2017, Forbes magazine ran an article revealing Hong Kong real estate magnate and Asia Society Co-chair Ronnie Chan (a US citizen) to be the political force behind the Joshua Wong incident. It alleged that wealthy Asians have been behind US think tanks and NGOs and effectively turning them into foreign policy tools of the People’s Republic of China (Beijing). However, the link to the article went dead a day later. It has been rumored that Asia Society or Ronnie Chan could be taking legal action against Forbes for libel. The original Forbes article is still accessible, at a different site: http://www.intellasia.net/chinese-influence-at-the-asia-society-elitism-and-radicalisation-in-hk-607591 . “
Nice bloke Kev. Believes democratic Taiwan is the property of the Chinese communist party. Affording them protection from a Chinese invasion (Xi Jinping said any attempts to stop a communist invasion of democratic Taiwan “will end in crushed bodies and shattered”) is “laying a landmine”.
Disgusting.
@COVID everywhere by winter, I couldn’t agree more.
Again from Wikipedia “The Asia Society is a non-profit organization that focuses on educating the world about Asia.” How they do this by preventing people like Joshua Wong from speaking or by condoning the communist takeover of a democratic nation is beyond me.
DSL wrote in a previous thread that experts he had spoken to saw a future Australia bristling with US naval bases.
DSL has stepped into the ring of The Great Game.
Has he the chips to play ?
How is reiterating a comment from a presumably qualified source “Having chips in the Great Game”?
Read the piece a few times and can’t see any of what you are apologising for
Is Kev a tad sensitive ?
Sensitive beyond question
But same, was it deleted… ?
Think it’s the same piece ( has the apology attached down the bottom ) don’t think it has been changed
Ok thanks don’t see anything to apologise for then, is this another mid air hair dryer moment for the ego manic perhaps 🤣 what an a ss clown, the ultimate a ss clown
Confuscious say man with scroll over target if whiteman identifying as chinaman enter rage like man deprived of hair-dryer.
A tad sensitive? In my opinion, he’s an insufferable megalomaniacal psychopath.
Yeah but I like him for having the balls to take on Rupert Murdoch and News Corp.
Anyone that will take on the malignant evil that is Murdoch is ok with me. #MurdochRoyalCommission
Anyone? Really?
Yep, exactly. Everyone here knows what Kevin Rudd is like, and he’s just reinforced the perception demanding an apology. For those with real gravitas it would be water off a duck’s back. You can’t buy or bully people into respecting you Rudd.
Kevin is morphing into Malcolm Turnbull and vice versa. You can threaten to sue and get all the apologies in the world but it won’t change peoples opinions of you.
Both are cut from the same cloth, ie they spend too long looking at themselves in the mirror and wobbling their heads.
Farage speaks the truth (https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2021/01/13/nigel-farage-warns-democrats-martyr-donald-trump-follows-could/) – Mr Farage accuses senior Democrats of being “so certain of their moral superiority, so filled with hatred and contempt, not just for Trump, but for the values of tens of millions of Americans, that they’re going down a course where this guy could be martyred or silenced.
“That is the biggest mistake anybody could make at this moment in time. Donald Trump didn’t radicalise tens of millions of Americans. Tens of millions of Americans had already become upset about the mainstream media, increasingly distrustful of social media, had a loathing for Washington and the way that it operates.”
He added that this feeling of alienation was “far stronger than Eurosceptics in this country felt about Brussels. These things have been building for years and years and years”.
He added: “If you take Trump out of the picture then what follows Trump, what follows Trump could be very sinister indeed.
Erm, Yeeesss. Ok. But how does this relate to Rudd?
Rudd is playing the moral superiority game, but not really representing those that actually made up his constituency.
The point being, the US got Trump because people were angry and they wanted to hit out at the establishment. As I have said before, he is probably a good one term President, possibly a bad two-term President. But make no mistake, Biden only won because of the Pandemic. Older white male voters at risk moved to Biden, offsetting Hispanics and Afroamerican’s moving to Trump.
Keven Rudd should be very careful. He cannot sit on the fence, that time has past. Australia or China.
Michael Moore gets it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMm5HfxNXY4
And its coming to Oz
I would like to see a better reference than Farage who was a representative to EU government and has a wife working in the EU. He is a woke rightwinger.
His point is well made. Sadly the ruse is that even well meaning people think the issue starts and ends with Trump. Exactly what long-term firmly entrenched power wants. He’s portrayed as causal rather than a symptom. A lot of people can’t seem to see that there are very fundamental economic, social and cultural issues at play that have created a significant class/type of voter not only in the US but in most Western democracies (I suspect), that are justifiably susceptible to a politician like Trump. I think he’s a terrible option (absent any good ones) but I completely understand why people have made the decision to vote for him.
I think that he and others to come (right or left populists) are a kind of inevitability when so many people see a loss of identity (even worse a vilification of said identity) and so much sovereignty and economic well-being being seeded to unaccountable corporations and globalism. Interesting times ahead.
The situation is very complex and 99% do not understand what Trump’s vision for the US is. I sometimes wonder if Trump himself fully grasps what the implications of his goals are.
Simply put, Trump wanted the US to quit being the sole global superpower and become an ordinary regional power. Withdraw the troops from the other side of the globe and quit being the sole issuer of the world’s reserve currency by revitalizing the industrial base and start running current account surpluses. In short, place ordinary American’s interests ahead of maintaining the world order. This would have meant a truly seismic shift and its implications to the world would have been massive and long-lasting.
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2021/01/american-democracy-rocks/#comment-4058477
https://www.macrobusiness.com.au/2021/01/american-democracy-rocks/#comment-4058498
I doubt that the Trump supporters fully grasped what would have meant to follow Trump’s vision. It would have meant living within their means without any help from the printing press. It would have meant paying higher taxes and/or foregoing government benefits. It would have meant falling living standards, at least for the short-term. Above all, it would have meant NOT making America great again, unless you think a demotion from a sole global superpower to an ordinary regional power is a great thing.
I personally think some reset would be necessary for the US, because the current trajectory is clearly unsustainable in the long run.
Good for the people but very bad for the Pentagon. All those pensions and all those aircraft carrier s gone.
There is a 3 way power struggle Congress, Wall Street and the Pentagon.
Whom are these – people – you are evoking the royal ***WE*** use.
Trumpism is a term for the political ideology, style of governance,[1] political movement and set of mechanisms for acquiring and keeping power that are associated with the 45th United States president, Donald Trump, and his political base.[2][3] It is an American politics version of the right-wing to far-right,[4][5] national-populist sentiment seen in multiple nations worldwide[6] and holds some aspects of illiberal democracy.[7]
Trumpism rests on three pillars, namely nationalism, religion and race.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trumpism
Firstly its not something new and not unique to Trump as he just set himself up as a figure head to cement him and his into the political parking lot. Trump after all is just a pure sales man which only focuses on the number of sales and not the quality of the product being sold.
Anyone that wants to have a opinion about Trump and what he has been selling should at least take the time to investigate and inform themselves about what he is selling before projecting individual or group needs [tm] on him and his. Lest blow back from ignorance paints some in a light they never were expecting due to the aforementioned.
Respect for the retraction DLS, for what ever Rudd is in “real life” he’s not some CCP Marxist bootlicker as say compared to those that blindly worship Trump.
Farage is an excellent communicator and has his finger well and truly on the pulse of the average disenfranchised punter. Hence why he’s been so successful to date. Especially around his Brexit push. In the same way that Steve Bannon understood the political landscape in the US, ignore both at your own peril.
Good at communicating the truth or lies?
Both… half truths mostly though.
Yep, at least you have the guts to call it as you see it.
Rudd must have better lawyers than me! And a bit of a sensitive skin …
The heavy set missus has a fair bit of dough. Plus who knows who lurks in the shadows with oodles of renminbi, I mean dollars.
I think that is probably what burns the most, she has been infinitely more successful and impactful over the journey…..
It is interesting though that companies like https://ingeus.com/what-we-do sold for $160m.
It seems very vague indeed what they actually do, other than getting a lot of taxpayer money to do whatever it is they are actually doing and having a website with the usual stock imagery.
I’m not sure why “getting the unemployed into work” requires all these private companies involvement skimming money off the top or whether they are ever evaluated in terms of how successful they are at doing whatever it is they do.
At minimum between the govt. departments and all these private companies receiving funds there is an excessive amount of duplication going on.
The whole point of quangos is to provide an excuse (and important-looking titles) of keep paying the retired elites.
I was informed by an employee of one that there are 17 such enterprises in Kempsey NSW finding jobs that don’t exist.
The private companies need to be involved because government bad and we had to close the CES and replace it with these leeches whose incentive is ticking boxes to release funding rather than actually getting people jobs.
On the positive side Tony, those 17 enterprises created to find jobs that don’t exist….. have created a lot of jobs
It’s an expensive government oxymoron
Kevin doth protest too much because he basically did exactly the CCP’s bidding during his prime ministership which can be proven over and over. When he wants to apologise for fking over my generation and the entire country in the housing and job market with his FIRB, money printing and mass immigration garbage then he may have some merit.
Never bend the knee DLS, you’ll never be able to stand up again – they now know they can silence you particularly on some of the topics you and Leith have been the tip of the spear on. What you wrote was incredibly minor and it seems to me this is now going to be a more of a thing.
Kevin can fck right off with the other cosmopolitan cowards on this blog saying an apology was needed. The CCP and corporate MSM certainly thank you for your snitching.
Rudd did not do the CCP’s bidding during his reign. He become pro-China after he quit politics and is lobbying to become the next UN Secretary General.
Really?, really? Here is a interview Rudd did when PM, with subtitles for Australians who don’t speak mandarin. Among the quotes I like from him…” australia and China are the same’ or” Deng was a courageous political leader’ ( some abbreviations from me, I am working off an iPad)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bro4mkb_VKc&feature=emb_logo
Something , something Chinese Ratfking us.
Yes, Kevin getting caught saying the Chinese were trying to rat fuck us, was one of the highlights of his prime ministership
Popping monos!
https://youtu.be/wBPJ9g-nOWY
Did you have an accident with those expressive youths?
I knew a bloke from Finance (as in the department) who worked with our Kevin on a regular basis when he was PM. He said Kevin is exactly as you would expect him to be, and that was in no way intended to be a compliment.
This is just more of what you’d expect from such a trivial “man”.
lol harm caused???!! Ha, the ego maniac has done so much harm to himself he’s now a ridiculous historical memory everyone wants to forget
Just reread the post I don’t see much to apologise about there 😴
Milky bar kid spat the dummy then?
Kevin who?
Dave,
I want to thank you for your efforts in providing one of very few counter-balancing perspectives on the China relationship. There are few in the media that are providing a commentary that so clearly articulates the harsh reality of our national predicament.
Whilst I haven’t read your article, what it sounds like you have apparently claimed in said article is something that I believe many people see in Mr Rudds many news appearances focusing on China related matters. Hardly a conclusion that others can’t or haven’t come to on their own if paying attention.
My hope is that this doesn’t muzzle you in future endeavours to cover the topic. Unless I’m mistaken, litigation is what China and friends weaponize so effectively against dissenting voices in Western liberal democracies.
Litigation has been highly weaponised in the West for a very long time.
DSL is being given a lesson .
The Chinese are beating us at our own game.
A bit like India in the cricket.
Plutocracy means who ever has the most money rules.
Race or stated Political system are irrelevant to this reality.
The only way to beat Plutocracy is through Democracy.
Thats the only reason why all these multi million think tanks exist.
Purely to circumvent the Democratic will of the people on behalf their of Plutocractic benefactors.
You state the rules of the Great Game very well.
I still can’t see the asserted imputations after re-reading the original.
Me neither.
Was the apology for something written in the comments section?
wow
Finally it happened. I’m surprised DLS isn’t threatened like this more often. He’s very quick to throw around the “corrupt” title, amongst other things.
Most corrupt folks don’t want to draw attention to the fact they are corrupt by threatening lawsuits against accusers. 99% of people have never heard of Macrobusiness.
Corruption is a basically our national sport now though.
Have to agree. “Corrupt” is thrown around too loosely by Macrobusiness. Don’t attribute to evil/malice what is explainable by stupidity.
In my opinion, it only reinforces the articles point even more.
Wouldnt it be nice if Politicians focused on enhancing the lives of the Australian People instead of focusing on there own personal agendas?
My vote goes to Sustainable Australia Party… and this only makes me hate Labor even more.
Its just occured to me that what might have really drove BigKevs lawyers to extract this apology was the suggestion, in the title, that Kev should be,…Twitter banned!
Oh,…the Outrage!
Good on you, Dave – bring brave to say things, and brave to withdraw them when appropriate.
Buy keep saying things generally, though; I’m sure this will just be a lesson in assessing the strength of your own position, and tailoring language accordingly.
These things happen.
I wouldn’t worry too much.
You clearly got under his skin.
When you google ‘Kevin Rudd Twitter’, the macrobusiness article is pretty much coming up right underneath his twitter link.
https://gyazo.com/8ee9251e4a7b866792f2a264078888f6
Talk about a slap in the face ha ha.
That us because Goggle is bubbling you with ⁰confirmation bias.
Try another search engine like duckduckgo.com or use Brave/Epic
Kevin Rudd is a stark raving hypocrite. Was he not the one who said the Chinese “ratf*%cked” us in climate change negotiations?
Now criticising Scott Morrisons not perfect but perfectly measured approach toward China.
And yet here Kevin is now working for the Asia society, self deluded into thinking he is some sort of sage. That organisation did not even have the guts to let Joshua Wong speak. Tells you everything you need to know about the kinds of jellyfish at these organisations and who they pander to.
If he is reduced to making legal threats to a blog writer merely for some mild criticisms cements how irrelevant he actually is.
He is simply doing what he is paid for. His service naturally changes as he changes his employer – there is nothing surprising about that.
What was he paid for when he was PM? To sell off our houses to foreigners? To lose control of borders? To wreck the Labor party and Australia’s politics?
None have done as much damage to Australia as Rudd has.
Could you remind me who the largest donors / lobbyists to the ALP were at the time?
Anyways, JFK once said “And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man.”
No wonder JFK had to be taken out and Rudd learned the lesson.
How about: “And so, my fellow Strayans: ask not what your country can do for you, but ask what together we can do to rort your country”?
Sorry, it’s my naivety thinking he primarily worked for the voters of Australia.
This is why I have an unhealthy hatred for these people; particularly Rudd.
It’s way passed time Australians understood what these people are. Particularly the pretenders, the Labor party.
You can’t lay all that blame on Labor.
They were only in power for 6 of the last 25 years. Just absorb that number for a little while.
Or alternatively The LNP have run the country for nineteen years since 1996.
“You can’t lay all that blame on Labor.”
Oh yeah you can.
https://tapri.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Big-Australia-finalV6.pdf
“To sell off our houses to foreigners? To lose control of borders?” ……..Rudd literally did both.
A policy which the LNP have not only continued but accelerated over the last 8 years.
8 years that the LNP have been aggressively following the big Australia policy. Look at the desperation to reopen the borders to Uni students, which is nothing more than a residency rort.
Seriously, you’re going to blame Labour when the LNP have had eight years, or 2 1/2 terms and 3 PMs to change the policy?
Really?
Bubbley
Read the tapri link, and then comment. You are not hearing the message. No one should be saying “They were only in power for 6 of the last 25 years” ever again.
Hmm yes defamation laws in Australia are a joke. Ain’t no true free speech here.
Krudd was the worst PM Australia has ever had and screwed the country, his knees must be sore from kneeling in front of Panda CCP man.
*Ahem* Dr Rodent?
Nothing Rodent implemented is as devastating to Australia, without turbo charged immigration that Rudd promoted, Gillard reneged on, and Labor have run with. It’s killing us.
That and allowing the CCP to buy our country
Yep. If anyone wants to start a class action or similar, I’ll donate $1000. There’s obviously all sorts of protections though aren’t there. Actually isn’t that interesting. They’re protected, and aren’t even open to criticism. What a joke it is on us.
That is the fundamental problem here, they are free to act with impunity and line their pockets as and how they want. If I had less morals, no family and a barret 50 cal, there would be a lot more accountability enforced.
Is it just me, or is the MB comments section becoming like Parler?
^ ‘Is it just me, or is the MB comments section becoming like Parler?’
It’s your dissonance and refusal to accept counter evidence to your preexisting views.
Keep up the great work, David.
Now Drew Pavlov and DLS have something in common.
Kevin has declared war on Murdoch and Murdoch is playing dirty. He is going after Murdoch papers that keep printing stuff that is not true. MB has sprouted a lot of ‘pro Murdoch’ views recently like constantly attacking the ABC. I think this is MB being caught in the cross-fire.
IMHO, over the last 12-24 months MB has blown any chance it might have had of support from the broader left (which was already shaky), despite their (superficially?) mostly centre-left political views. Which is a massive shame, given neoliberalism has infected nearly all the alternatives.
The “broader left” have lost their minds, and shouldn’t be pandered to. There is no reasoning with an environmental, workers, fairness movement that has embraced a big Australia. It’s just mind bogglingly ridiculous. Pretty much why we now have a permanent LNP government.
Well done, by taking on immigration, you’ve wrecked everything else you stand for including the Labor party. About as smart as a hammer.
Murdoch should double down on his attack on Rudd. I’d donate to that.
Agree it is a massive shame.
We can hardly be accused of “blowing” it. All we did was sustain the sensible centre. If the left went feral what could we do?
the right went feral.
Sad but true
Lol ok list boy.
It is difficult to discern much of a shift in “the left” (either the actual left or the centrists/”fake left”) over the last few years, so I’m not sure what “going feral” equates to.
Drsmithy – as you are a long-time MB poster and member I would be interested in knowing what your views are on… everything. Immigration, taxation, environment etc. I have seen you comment on many, many occasions but your position has never seemed clear to me (maybe I’ve missed some key posts). You’re of interest because I have gleaned you have a different view to most others MB posters.
It’s a big topic and unlike Gunna I’m not a writer so I can’t really put down an essay at a whim. 🙂 I’m happy to dive into anything in detail if you want, I’m always interested in testing my views. Though I’ll say up front I am by no stretch of the imagination any sort of expert on any of these topics – just a bloke with an opinion.
It’s a while since I did the Political Compass questions, but I’ve fairly consistently ended up in the “Libertarian Left” quadrant when I do, roughly where the Greens tend to sit. I generally find the Greens and SAP to have the largest proportion of policies I agree with (though not all, I must stress – I don’t consider myself aligned to any particular party and I try to vote #1 independent when I can).
I would describe myself as a progressive social democrat, with strong belief in the need for participatory / direct democracy (eg: recall elections, citizen-initiated-referendums/legislation). I lived in Switzerland for a couple of years, and IMHO they get a LOT of things very right.
I have little disagreement with the ideas Gunna has posted for the “No more BS” party. To be honest I generally I have little disagreement with MB’s “official” policy positions on most issues (though I think they’ve gone a bit off the rails recently about China and “identity politics”).
Of the topics you mentioned (throw out a few more if you want):
* Immigration: I agree in principle with MB that it is too high, but more importantly of poor quality (low skill / low wage / low value add). However, while the MB position is basically just a lower cap, in my view the best fix here is to address the quality problem with higher standards, which will not only improve the outcomes of immigration and fix the quantity problem as a side effect, but also squash many of its negatives like foreign labour exploitation and wage suppression. I have little problem with family reunion or refugee immigration as it’s such a small percentage of the whole. I believe that “backpacker” and “student” immigration – when handled properly (ie: not as surrogate labour immigration) – serve a a valuable function as a cultural exchange / export.
* Taxation: I believe in the MMT view that tax policy is primarily for incentivising behaviour and reducing inequality. Consequently taxes need to be higher at the high end, particularly for wealth, and much less forgiving of unproductive “investment” (ie: property). I have an idea in my mind that I would would love to see some analysis on: increasing the tax-free threshold to the median income (ie: half the working population pays zero income tax), and then subsequent tax brackets based on either multiples of the median or income percentile, with pretty low rates until it starts getting up into the top 5%-2% of income earners (and punishing once it’s into the fractions-of-1%). Wealth and estate taxes are essential, but the “tax free” thresholds need to be high enough that even the higher end of the middle classes should rarely hit them. I am opposed to a UBI, I prefer a job guarantee accompanied by a liveable and lightly-means-tested social security system, and comprehensive public services.
* Environment: Our biggest local environmental issues are pollution, land clearing and water, which are utterly dominated in cause by industry and agriculture (and, of course, corruption). While population size presents an environmental problem, it is overemphasised here IMHO and ultimately a cause that cannot be addressed in a useful timeframe; so expending political capital on it (and it chews up a LOT of political capital) is a fool’s errand when that political capital could be used on doing far more productive things (fixing water allocation, massive investment in renewable energy, etc). Similarly for climate change, [global] population is an issue but one where meaningful change simply cannot be enacted in a useful timeframe, so efforts should – must – focus on reducing consumption.
There’s a 100 lol’s in there smith. I’ll have to get back to it later.
‘I’m always interested in testing my views’
Except on feminism. And that men and women were ever equal, that the only difference in the human sexually dimorphic species between men and women is the tackle.
Agree on Switzerland and UBI.
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Lol – a little threat of legal action and DLS folds like a wet cardboard. Grow some cojones man! Fight for what you believe in, unless it is just baseless slander for which you have no defence.
I personally think that we still need them on side (Labor) if we are to reform politics in Australia. FriendlyJordies is maybe too cozy with Labor, but it’s a more constructive relationship. I’ve never been comfortable with Kevin Rudd’s cosiness with China, but that doesn’t mean Kevin has actually done anything wrong.
I would think that to anyone who reads this site it’s clear to that there is a gun being held to his head and you can see who is holding it.
Easy for you to say. How about if you and your family were potentially (even if just 30% chance) of being bankrupted?
This guy doesn’t mind what he says…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIAu8Zr-Qxw
All you have to do is tone down the language. The logic is sound. We are behind you.
So my takeaway is, say wtf you want, just post a shallow apology after that no one cares about.
Your point still came across.
Dear Mr Rudd. Immigration sends their love and have not forgotten who was responsible for launching the boats in 2007 and the billions of dollars then wasted processing refugees who were mostly economic migrants who got PR through the efforts of naïve do-gooders, shonky migration agents and incompetent Ministers. By the way, how is Chris Evans these days, still married to the migration agent?