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Weekend Punch: Choose your own beverage

The Punch Team

by The Punch Team

30 Jun 05:00am

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Filed under: Open Thread, Weekend Punch

26 comments

This week had some serious undertones. Here at The Punch we’ve been moved by two significant national discussions: the boat people crisis and domestic violence. Penbo tackled the latter by asking whether Grant Hackett really deserved our sympathy in the wake of his Sixty Minutes “tell-all” interview. And an anonymous reader bravely shared her own personal story of domestic abuse.

Coffee, sir? Don't mind if I do. Pic: AP

Our coverage of the boat people crisis started with MP Steve Georganas who implored both sides of politics to break their deadlock on the boats. A plea continued by Mal Farr who told The Greens we simply cannot afford to wait for the perfect time to get a solution.

In lighter news Tory S said we’ve failed in our attempts to make science sexy. Ant gave Bernard Tomic a slap around the ears, Tory M said women should get the same pay to do the same job as men. Lucy complained about our lack of good manners and Dan continued his merry way around the United States of America,  even finding time for a beer with Paul Toohey.

What was the highlight of your week?

Most commented

26 comments

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    • ian 2 says:

      07:03am | 30/06/12

      Ha ha this morning I read of a hotline to dob in carbon price gougers. So next week I’m going to dob in the Gillard government!

      Reply

    • Ginger Mick says:

      09:02am | 30/06/12

      What’s the number, I already have a beef with them too.

    • pa_kelvin says:

      09:55am | 30/06/12

      @GM   13GOVT SUCKS Thats the hotline number,could be busy tho.;-p

    • Bob Stewart, the Elder says:

      03:17pm | 30/06/12

      Well, SAWater who just increased salaries for executive staff by charging an extra $6 million of the carbon tax to the water bills of ALL the customers whether connected to the overpriced desal or not   and the stupidty of the ACCC rattling their wooden sword to threaten fines of $1 million !

      It boggled the mind how otherwise intelligent people get sucked in led by Ross Garnaut and his pathetic uncertainties this morning.

    • Al says:

      10:42am | 01/07/12

      Refrigerant has gone up $100 a Kg due to the carbon tax, think about that next time you buy an airconditioner or have your car’s system regassed.

    • Plain Jane says:

      08:55am | 30/06/12

      Highlight of the week?

      GROCs directives that “all Leftists must be silenced” and that “Ms Rinehart must be installed as PM”

      Every night since, I’ve left warm milk and fairy bread out, for GROC and his suck-up mates when they turn up to silence me.

      But there’s been no dark ‘o the night pounding on the door at Plain Mansions.  Each morning the milk and the fairy bread lie all but untouched, except for the neat pecks of sharp eyed sparrows.

      And Gina? She’ll just have to get her own damned fairy bread.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      10:20pm | 30/06/12

      Gina, squandering money on food ?  Who would have thought ?
      Incidentally, some of us know how Clive got his surname !

    • Ginger Mick says:

      08:59am | 30/06/12

      30th June, end of the financial year.

      What delights await us in the coming year?

      God knows, but you can bet it will be interesting.

      Reply

    • pa_kelvin says:

      10:45am | 30/06/12

      Grand-kids(all 7 I hope) coming over.Mum up from Melb, Great day in Brissie ,Chicken and sweet corn soup anyone?

      Reply

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      11:02am | 30/06/12

      Poor old Clive Palmer! He has been in Queensland far too long! He has accused the Liberal Party Executive or whatever as being Stailinist.
      Clive, dear boy, you are confusing the Liberal with the old Queensland National Party Government under Joh Bjelke Petersen!
      Joh was a despot, a dictator. Cross him in Queensland & you were out. Joh ran Queensland with an iron fist, Joh arranged the electoral boundaries in such a way as to guarantee the Nationals would remain in power for, almost, ever. Eventually the old bastard was thrashed.
      As always happens in stailinist-style one-party states or countries, corruption becomes widespread. Yes, there is what we call corruption in other countries but the difference is that the bribes, the cash handouts in those countries are done openly. It is part of the culture. Here & in Queensland the Con-Job-Scam Capital of Australia in particular our politicians all take on the persona of being totally incorruptable, honest, religious, a pure ..blah, blah. They never lie, cheat, steal. It is all a facade for the corruption is hidden, police are brought into the circle & corrupted as well. If anyone tries to reveal the criminal behaviour they are targeted by corrupt MPs, officials & police.
      That is exactly what went on in Queensland for years.
      As long as they are always above board in their dealing there is no reason why former politicians, party officials, past & present should not become lobbyists. If an ALP government is in place a lobbyist with Liberal or national Party connections would get short shrift & vice versa.

      Reply

    • pa_kelvin says:

      01:09pm | 30/06/12

      Carbon Tax tomorrow .....hold on for the ride of a lifetime,no doom and gloom,just sweet relief to the deserving and nothing to people that work hard to get ahead. No incentive for small business to grow,no nothing,,,,thankyou Labor…...Not

      Reply

    • Mickey T says:

      03:34pm | 30/06/12

      It appears you don’t care or are apathetic about the environment that your grand children (mentioned above) will grow up in, luckily for them, other people do care. For too long we have been abusing our natural resources, everything has a price including carbon, well guess what, the time has arrived for us to start paying our way, for too long we’ve had a free ride.

      You may not thank Labor but your grand children will, some incentives that your grand children will be appreciative of are listed here:-

      Small businesses (with less than $2million annual turnover) will see their instant asset write-off increased to $6,500 and be able to access a $40 million Energy Efficiency Information Grants program.

      The Jobs and Competitiveness Program provides $9.2 billion worth of free permits to trade exposed industries.

      The Clean Technology Program provides $1.2 billion of grants to manufacturing industries to help them improve their energy efficiency and adopt low-pollution technology.

      The Coal Sector Jobs Package provides $1.3 billion of transitional assistance over six years to implement carbon abatement technologies in the most polluting coal mines, rewarding them for reducing their emissions.

      The Steel Transformation Plan provides $300 million worth of transitional assistance over five years to encourage investment and innovation in more efficient and environmentally friendly practices in the steel industry.

      The Energy Security Fund provides $5.5 billion to be used for negotiating the closure of 2000 MW of highly polluting power generators (such as Hazelwood power station which produces 1,600MW), as well as to provide cash assistance and free permits to companies who develop clean energy plans.

    • Tom says:

      06:37pm | 30/06/12

      MickeyT, “will somebody please think of the children” is not a valid piece of logical reasoning. It is a thought stopping cliche.

    • pa_kelvin says:

      07:23pm | 30/06/12

      @MickeyT   Thanks for your view ,but as a small business owner I see no value to either me or my family in taxing CO2 emmisions .All I see is more expediture for lease returns for everyone in the community .I propose a tax on anyone who agrees with the carbon tax,let them pay it.

    • noni_robyn says:

      09:48am | 01/07/12

      Pa Kelvin and I own an environmentally friendly small flooring business. We have our products made in Australia and we are very proud to have won awards for being green. The problem is that we do not get rewarded by the government for being green. Our small business has to wear the costs of all the testing and accreditation and we don’t pass on our additional costs for being green to our customers. Pa Kelvin and I have been very creative over the years to try and save money to keep our prices down. For anyone reading this I tell you from my heart that Pa Kelvin and I have sacrificed our time and money to be green with no government help what-so ever.  Also if anyone knows of any government schemes that reward small Australian owned companies for being green please let us know.

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      04:53pm | 01/07/12

      MikeyT, even Gillard’s own “experts” have said that this Carbon-Tax-Price will not reduce CO2 emissions by any measureable amount.I love the way that her “experts”, including Ross Garnaut always trot out the “per capita” emissions when they discuss Australia. They never, ever make an issue out of how our emissions compare on a Global Basis.
      Any fool can work out that a country with 21.3 million people will on a “Per Capita” basis have a higher numbe   for each person than say, China or India with their multi-billions in population or the USA with its 300 millions!
      These self-same “experts” when they criticise any other country talk in terms of the ” Percentage of Total World Emissions” for which that country is responsible.
      Why is that, do you think?
      Is it because, as we have been told, that Australia’s share of Total Global Emissions is less than 1% whilst China, India & the USA are responsible for a reported, combined, 80+%???
      That is not to say we should not try & reduce ours & many ordinary households are doing just that. The cruncher comes when, having reduced usage, installed energy-saving devices and done everything we possibly can to reduce landgill, recycle everything we possibly can, & simpky done our bit that when the Bills for Water, Gas & Electricity start arriving the providers of those Utilities, rather than Rewarding Households, they up their prices simply because people are using Less - as we are constantly being asked to do! Then we hear that the people who pay no heed to anything other than their own selfish ideas and use ever-increasing amounts of energy are actually being rewarded by the Utility suppliers who charge them much lower rates than small users!
      The whole system is up-side-down. Take even the really big CO2 emitters. Yes, the CO2 tax/price has started but what has the Government done? They are running around giving those big emitters FREE Permits which allow them to continue with their emissions as before & which, we have been told by Gillard’s “Experts”, will result in an Increase of 8% in emissions.
      Is it any wonder people have or are losing interest? They simply don’t know what the actual truth is. Do you?

    • Tator says:

      03:46pm | 30/06/12

      Highlights from my week, catching up with an old uni mate and chewing the fat for hours last night, lowlights, having to put a beloved family pet down and waking up to find that a fellow officer has topped himself at work overnight, overall, a pretty crappy week for this little black duck and his family.

      Reply

    • marley says:

      04:19pm | 30/06/12

      Sorry to hear about your colleague and your pet, Tator.  Hang in there.

    • Ray Rivers says:

      03:46pm | 30/06/12

      Anyone who thinks Socialism is going to change the Climate is just as deluded as the Government.
      I think most people know what it is really about,and climate has very little to do with it.

      Reply

    • Mickey T says:

      04:15pm | 30/06/12

      With respect Ray - When has anyone ever said “Socialism is going to change the Climate” - Or are you a mind reader? Delusions indeed.

      “I think most people know what it is really about” - Why don’t you elaborate further Ray, I’m not as smart as “most people” so I would love to hear “what it is really about”

      I look forward to your response.

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      03:59pm | 30/06/12

      According to The Adelaide Advertiser today we are told that, excluding increases in Public Transport costs, every family in Australia will be affected to the tune of $1171.60 as a direct result of Gillard’s Carbon Tax.
      Gillard grandly announced that a Couple of the Old Age Pension (NO - I’m not part of a couple) will get the princely sum of $380 as Full Compensation - indeed they will be over-compensated to the tune of 20cents per week - for the effects of her Tax.
      Bullshit, Julia, Bullshit. That OAP couple will have to find an extra $791.60 extra this 2012/13 Financial Year &, by your own admission, they will have to find an ever-increasing amount every year after.
      As was to be expected our politicians have insulated themselves against any impact on the cost of living by awarding themselves, through the Politician-Appointed pseudo-Independent Remuneration Tribunal, massive pay rises starting at just $40,000-plus. Some compensation, Julia. Your Tax is going to create $1171.60 in new costs. You have granted yourselves compensation almost 40 times that.
      Our politicians are greedy, hypocritical parasites. Every single one of them has her/his nose buried deep in the money trough.
      One of these politicians had the gall to defend as SA Senator who was caught allegedly stealing $92.92 worth of groceries from a supermarket by saying that it was ridiculous to make such a fuss over such a small amount. This snout-in-the-trough politician has so lost touch with the real world that he does not appreciate that there are 10s of 1000s of families who don’t have $92.92 per week to buy groceries with. Yet it is, in his eyes, acceptable for one of his own to try & steal groceries worth that amount.
      Is it any wonder the people are sick to death of these useless, thoughtless people?

      Reply

    • Mickey T says:

      06:08pm | 30/06/12

      Robert - Where did the Adelaide Advertiser get this figure ($1171.60) from?

      Do you reckon it might be some cadet journalist with little to do, it certainly didn’t come from treasury.

      To be fair to the AA, it did say “family” not individual as in your case, so with the average family being two parents and two children, the figure would be closer to $380 (possibly less) per person than what you / they are purporting.

    • pa_kelvin says:

      06:54pm | 30/06/12

      @RSMc   Your going to get Mickey T going with those words..prepare to be berated.smile

    • pa_kelvin says:

      09:52pm | 30/06/12

      @RSMc   Sorry he got there before me ,but I did try.:p

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      05:19pm | 01/07/12

      Mickey T.
      I did say “every family’ not every individual.
      So far as an OAP Couple are concerned, aren’t they every bit as much still a family even if the kids have left home?
      You may be right as to where the AA got it’s info from - they didn’t tell us! They simply listed all what they told us were the known price increases & included Public Transport which I deliberately left out for no-one knows for sure how many trips a family of 2 or more make every year and, in Adelaide, all Seniors (Federal pensioned or self-funded retirees) can travel Free on all Public Transport between 9.00am & 3.00pm Mon-Fri & at all times at week-ends & Public Holidays
      Cheers

 
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