Cover-ups hurting Albo’s vote hopes
ANTHONY Albanese’s attempts to win vital seats in Queensland in the upcoming federal election are being undermined by Annastacia Palaszczuk’s mishandling of the integrity crisis.
The alternative prime minister and his shiny shadow treasurer Jim Chalmers have other problems in Queensland where there is a perception the Premier has betrayed our lowest-paid workers while pocketing generous pay rises.
It won’t help Labor’s campaign that Palaszczuk just had her worst week in politics ever.
As the federal election draws closer, the queen of cover-up gave voters a good reason to cast a protest vote against the ALP.
In parliament she was shrill when dismissing serious allegations that she and her ministers still attempt to hide away. She even attempted to laugh off the scandal in parliament. The joke is on all of us.
The release of former state archivist Mike Summerell’s 2017 report to the Crime and Corruption Commission points to improper influence over the government by Albo’s soulmates in the union movement. We have a government stacked with cronies who don’t know where their ethical or legal responsibilities start and finish.
Mangocube Mark Bailey’s behaviour was “an attack on the accountability of government and its place in a free and democratic society”, Summerell reported.
The late Peter Simpson, the ETU boss, lorded it over Bailey who was the union’s “star recruit”.
It was “alarming” that the ETU had insights into what the cabinet was discussing. In one humiliating email Simmo complained Bailey failed to deliver for the ETU “in spite of the strings (I) pulled and effort to get Mark Bailey into Parliament”.
In my opinion the email trail shows Bailey is a union puppet. He does not deserve a seat in parliament, let alone the cabinet.
Lamentably, the Premier said she had not even read a crucial email to Mangocube Mark Bailey in which a unionist urges him to sack from government boards a list of people presumed to have LNP leanings.
Summerell’s report pointed to multiple breaches of the Public Records Act and he questioned the role of lobbyists. Palaszczuk must be praying for more floods, bushfires, a Covid outbreak, or any natural disaster to distract attention from corruption allegations.
Her cover-ups will hurt Albo’s electoral hopes.
Labor has another problem. Workers will be punished if Albanese wins the election and carries out his threat to shut the Registered Organisation Commission, the federal watchdog that probes union wrongdoing.
The Dyson Heydon Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption in 2014-15 detailed how members’ funds were milked from union “slush” funds and how union bosses misused their union credit cards. And there was evidence of blackmail, extortion and violence. Albanese staunchly opposed the creation of the royal commission.
He and Chalmers now owe it to unionists to say how their funds will be protected if the ROC is abolished and there is no scrutiny.
Chalmers has spoken a lot about Labor’s support for working families. So has Albo. But their pledges will have a hollow ring to Queenslanders.
Palaszczuk’s salary leapt by $30,000 to $427,500 last year and another rise due in September will nudge her salary towards half a million dollars. Frontline nurses, meanwhile, who are exhausted by the extra coronavirus workloads, get an average of $65,000 a year. This is about a third of the pay handed to the stop-go lollipop workers on government projects.
While the cost-of-living soars, I haven’t heard Albanese or Chalmers admonish Palaszczuk for keeping impoverished frontline public servants on low wages.
PALASZCZUK MUST BE PRAYING FOR MORE FLOODS, BUSHFIRES, A COVID OUTBREAK, OR ANY NATURAL DISASTER TO DISTRACT ATTENTION FROM CORRUPTION ALLEGATIONS
1790
The supply ship HMS Sirius runs aground on a reef near Norfolk Island on a king tide. All aboard survive the wreck but the damage is a big setback for early colonists.
1834
Six labourers from Dorset, England, the Tolpuddle Martyrs, are sentenced to seven years’ banishment to Australia for forming a trade union.
1866
Bushranger John Dunn, 19, hangs at Darlinghurst Jail after gunning down Samuel Nelson, police constable of Collector, in front of one of Nelson’s eight children.
1917
Frank Beaumont Smith’s film Our Friends The Hayseeds is released in Sydney. It is Australia’s first substantial film comedy; Smith makes another 18 feature films.
1932
The Sydney Harbour Bridge is opened in a ceremony that is interrupted when New Guard member Francis de Groot cuts the ribbon before premier Jack Lang arrives.
1945
About 800 people are killed as Japanese kamikaze pilots attack US carrier Franklin.
1962
American musician Bob Dylan released his eponymous debut album to mixed reviews.
1976
Buckingham Palace announces Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon’s (pictured) split after 16 years of marriage.
1982
Argentine Marines posing as salvage workers hoist their country’s flag on the Falkland Islands, starting a dispute that leads to war with Britain.
2006
South Sydney District Rugby League Football Club, the Rabbitohs, members agree to a $3m privatisation proposal by Peter Holmes a Court and Russell Crowe.
2011
Bombing of Libya starts: the US fires more than 100 cruise missiles while French fighters target Muammar Gaddafi’s forces.