Worst government in Australia's history secret $100 million dollar deal with the real prime minister - Polidicks

[release][B]THE Federal Government today revealed details of an extraordinary multi-million dollar pact with the Greens that secured Parliamentary support for a new law.[/B]The deal means the Government will defer concessions for foreign banks to get $20 million a year in revenue the Greens want spent on public facilities. Today’s announcement ended 12 hours of secrecy in which the Greens and Labor kept from Parliament and voters details of the deal to get the Mineral Resource Rental Tax (MRRT) through the House of Representatives early this morning. Greens leader Bob Brown said today his party wanted the deal made public last night. The tax on mining super profits will raise about $11 billion over four years. Treasurer Wayne Swan was to have announced the details on the release of the Mid-year Economic and Fiscal Outlook (MYEFO) report expected next week. But it was brought forward to today following a barrage of criticism aimed at the secrecy pact enforced by the Government and Greens Leader Bob Brown. Prime Minister Gillard defended the decision to allow the MRRT debate to proceed in Parliament without MPs being fully informed on related matters. Ms Gillard said the Government wanted to release the details today “in accordance with normal, prudent Government measures and approaches”. “We wanted to alert stakeholders to the fact that we were acting that savings measure and we've been through that process this morning,” she told reporters. The Prime Minister rejected a suggestion the vote should have been delayed until after the banks were told, and MPs could also have been informed. She said the “one year pause” in the tax concession for foreign banks was a modest savings measure which had already been under consideration. Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said Parliament, the Labor Caucus, cross-benchers and the Australian people had been “kept in the dark”. “The only person that the Prime Minister (Julia Gillard) appears to consult with on key issues is Bob Brown,” Mr Abbott said. “It’s not good enough. It’s no way to run a Government and it’s no way to run the country.” The House of Representatives passed the MRRT early this morning after a night of negotiations between the Government and the Greens. The legislation is now expected to pass through the Senate. But the Government, with Senator Brown's agreement, kept the details of the deal secret. “There seems to be a pact between the Labor Party and the Greens that the rest of Australia is not part of,” Opposition resources spokesman Ian Macfarlane said. The Greens demanded fresh negotiations on the tax after the Government this week increased the tax threshold - the point when the levy starts - to win the support of Independent MP Andrew Wilkie. The complaint was that this reduced the revenue and could affect funding of schools and hospitals. Treasurer Wayne Swan has agreed to cover the drop in revenue by deferring for a year a measure from last year’s budget which phased down the rate of interest withholding tax for foreign banks lending to their subsidiaries. It is understood the measure was already being contemplated as a spending cut to be announced with MYEFO. Senator Bob Brown said today there had been a $100 million win for the public which would balance a similar concession to mining companies. He added the Government has agreed to an additional revenue measure at least equivalent to the $20 million a year ($100 million over five years) lost from raising the mining tax threshold to $75 million. However, Treasurer Wayne Swan this morning said the deal amounted to something like $60 million over the forward estimates. That's not a big call on the Budget, Mr Swan told ABC radio. He called it a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Whatever the amount, the Government will have to find further savings at a time when it already has said it will make billions in cuts with the MYEFO statement to ensure Australia gets a Budget surplus in 2012-13. Mr Swan today called the deal with the Greens and expected passage of the bill a win for the public. “But this isn’t so much a win for the Government as it is for the Australian people and for the cause of economic reform amid an ocean of negativity and fear from (Opposition Leader Tony Abbott) and a handful of vested interests,” he said. “Australians are entitled to share in the wealth that our natural resources bring and deserve to have extra superannuation savings to help ensure dignity in old age. “Small business owners who work day in, day out to provide for their families and make our economy strong, also deserve to benefit from the wealth of the boom. “It means tax cuts for 2.7 million small businesses and an increase in the retirement savings for each one of our 8.4 million working Australians. Much of those extra retirement savings will in turn be reinvested into Australian businesses which means more Australian jobs. “The increase in the super guarantee from 9 to 12 per cent means that if you're a 30-year-old worker on average earnings, you'll retire with an extra $108,000 in superannuation savings. “It’s great news for 3.6 million low-income workers, who will be given a total of $800 million in concessions each year on their employer superannuation contributions. These are the Australians who need fairness and this genuinely Labor reform will help deliver it. “Australians know how important the mining industry is, but they also know that we can only dig up Australia's resources once. “The MRRT will help us lock in the benefits of the boom and help those parts of our economy that aren't in the mining boom fast-lane.” Meanwhile Senator Brown admitted he had wanted the bill through immediately and wouldn’t accept a recommendation for a delay in the vote. He said the Greens had an “honourable agreement'' with the Government to keep the deal secret, and he was now glad the “veil of mystery'' had been lifted. “We wanted the arrangement made public last night. We made that clear...'' Senator Brown told reporters. “And we would have been quite happy to have held up debate on the legislation until it was made clear. “The Government wanted it through. The Government didn't want to make it public but has now done so. And that's a strategic decision for the Government. It wasn't one we agreed with.'' The Greens leader had earlier today said the deal would be revealed next week, not today. Senator Brown also confirmed the Prime Minister's view that there was “no doubt'' the Greens would pass the legislation in the Senate, but foreshadowed there might be changes. [/release] Read more: [URL]http://www.news.com.au/business/labors-secret-100-million-deal-with-the-greens/story-e6frfm1i-1226203250906#ixzz1eWPO8fTZ[/URL] Such a disgusting Government lead by the Greens.

This is the reason why everyone hates the greens. Not the bans on Nuclear Power Not the fact that they bend to the will of whichever party pays them the most Not their lack of ability to manage an economy Not the constant hypocrisy they seem to spew No, it's shit like [b]THIS.[/b]

Can someone simplify and tell me what is the problem with this? Edit: Theyre talking about tax cuts for small businesses and more retirement funding(?) for low income workers. Also some income for the government to spend on public improvements, is something wrong between the lines? Edit2: Was it so awful that it was kept in the dark? Sounds more like a surprise present to me.

Tax cuts are only acceptable when they're for large corporations.

A minority government having to make deals to pass through legislation :O

Uh, isn't this kind of normal? I mean labor was offering the independents millions of dollars in funding for helping them form minority government. I remember the Tassie independent MP (forget his name) knocked them back on it. [editline]23rd November 2011[/editline] I mean shit, the lib's budget was out by billions of dollars Both parties are absolute trash [editline]23rd November 2011[/editline] [quote]“It means tax cuts for 2.7 million small businesses and an increase in the retirement savings for each one of our 8.4 million working Australians. [/quote] wow what scumbags

[QUOTE=Contag;33399406]wow what scumbags[/QUOTE] wow communists [quote=comment]The greens are really "The Reds"[/quote]

ugh i fucking hate the greens they're the main driving force behind scaring australians into believing that nuclear power is dangerous, which i think is fucking despicable

Sounds similar to what happens in every other "democratic" nation

[QUOTE=Falchion;33399174]Can someone simplify and tell me what is the problem with this? Edit: Theyre talking about tax cuts for small businesses and more retirement funding(?) for low income workers. Also some income for the government to spend on public improvements, is something wrong between the lines? Edit2: Was it so awful that it was kept in the dark? Sounds more like a surprise present to me.[/QUOTE] They didn't give the opposition an opportunity to complain about it for weeks and make a media circus of it. The only reason Tony Abbot even has an ounce of support is because change is scary and the more of a frenzy he can whip up about the stupidest things and how they're going to bring doom and destruction on everything the more support he has. I mean it's just rude to not give the majority right-leaning media another best selling headline based on misinformation, political bias and general idiocy. Think of how poorly this story will go when everyone realises it's just a barking noise in response to being left out in the cold.

[QUOTE=Devodiere;33399879]Think of how poorly this story will go [B]when everyone realises[/B] it's just a barking noise in response to being left out in the cold.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately I'm not sure how much of an impact those esoteric Australian history scholars of the 25th century will have

[QUOTE=Contag;33399941]Unfortunately I'm not sure how much of an impact those esoteric Australian history scholars of the 25th century will have[/QUOTE] "The Green Goo: The Decadence of the Australian Content at the Hands of the Green Party" Now available on iBrain and Amazon.

[QUOTE=ThisIsTheOne;33399340]A minority government having to make deals to pass through legislation :O[/QUOTE] I don't see why anybody is surprised about this, politics is 99% about making deals with other people.

Why can't politics try to come up with some mutual interest, and start working a government from there.. I mean in reality day-to-day, it's ridiculous how the expensive man-hours are often spent juggling around