http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/michael-ronaldson/ Senator Michael Ronaldson is the Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs and a Liberal Senator for Victoria.  Senator Ronaldson was the Federal Member for Ballarat between 1990 and 2001, before being elected to the Senate at the 2004 election.  Senator Ronaldson was re-elected at the August election.  He was the Parliamentary Secretary for Transport and Regional Development from 1996-1998, Chief Government Whip 1998 – 2001 and Shadow Special Minister of State from December 2007 to September2010.  Senator Ronaldson also served as co-chair of the national Prisoner of War Memorial in Ballarat. Michael currently holds the office of Shadow Special Minister of State, a role that seeks to keep the Government in check on electoral matters, Members’ entitlements and administration of the Commonwealth. He also holds the post of Shadow Cabinet Secretary. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:46 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 23:00:46 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/close-the-border-and-stop-this-shonky-malaysia-deal/ Yesterday, it was revealed in The Australian that since the government announced its Malaysian solution six boats have arrived in Australia carrying 274 asylum seekers. With the Malaysian’s reluctance to backdate the agreement, each and everyone one of those 274 asylum seekers are likely to be processed in Australia. How extraordinary, considering that if Gillard ever gets this shonky deal with Malaysia signed, only 800 asylum seekers who come to Australia illegally are going to be deported to Malaysia! The quid pro quo in the bargain is that Australia will resettle 4000 of Malaysia’s refugees over four years and will pay the Malaysian government an as-yet-undisclosed amount of money. Last year 6879 asylum seekers tried to come to Australia illegally by boat. That’s almost 19 people every day. If that rate were to continue and the next 800 illegal arrivals were deported to Malaysia then in 43 days’ time Australia will have used up the Prime Minister’s quota and all other illegal arrivals after that would still have to be processed in Australia. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/close-the-border-and-stop-this-shonky-malaysia-deal/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/close-the-border-and-stop-this-shonky-malaysia-deal/#item6038 Wed, 08 Jun 2011 18:50:17 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/no-green-pastures-ahead-in-post-bob-brown-era/ The jostling and lobbying amongst the Greens over who is to replace Brown has quietly continued on in earnest. Tasmanian Christine Milne is Brown’s first choice. Seen as less of a firebrand than her younger colleagues, Brown hopes that Milne will maintain the camouflage of the Greens radical socialist agenda. A camouflage that has been the secret to the Greens’ electoral success to date. Milne, however will be more aggressive than Brown in pursuing policies that put Australian jobs at risk. Milne would close down mines, make manufacturing unsustainable, and force farmers off their land. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/no-green-pastures-ahead-in-post-bob-brown-era/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/no-green-pastures-ahead-in-post-bob-brown-era/#item5747 Wed, 04 May 2011 18:35:51 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-puppet-prime-minister-must-call-an-election/ The hung parliament experiment has failed. Prime Minister Julia Gillard must call an election immediately. Ms Gillard famously told us before the election that “there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead”.  The Prime Minister has been accused of lying. In my view we have never seen Gillard actually lead this government. Today all of the Prime Minister’s policies are owned and operated by the cross benchers while those who actually voted for Gillard have been forgotten. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-puppet-prime-minister-must-call-an-election/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/this-puppet-prime-minister-must-call-an-election/#item5615 Sat, 16 Apr 2011 18:55:48 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/failed-policies-cost-the-taxpayer-twice/ As Julia Gillard puts the finishing touches on a multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded ad campaign to sell her unpopular carbon tax, the Labor backbench has sent the Prime Minister a blunt warning. Kevin Rudd once described government advertising as a “sick cancer within our system”.  Before the 2007 election he said: “I can guarantee that we will have a process in place, run by the Auditor General ... you have my absolute 100 per cent guarantee that that will occur - 100 per cent guarantee. And each one of you here can hold me accountable for that.” feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/failed-policies-cost-the-taxpayer-twice/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/failed-policies-cost-the-taxpayer-twice/#item5409 Sun, 20 Mar 2011 18:55:49 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lest-we-forget-to-look-after-the-australian-war-memorial/ Why is the Australian War Memorial important?  Because it is more than a building to store old military bits and bobs.  It is more than a place where names are written on a wall. The Australian War Memorial is our nation’s most solemn place of tribute, reflection and commemoration to 102,000 of our fellow Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of our nation.  It is a place for all Australians to show their respect for those who served and did not come home from the battlefield. The Australian War Memorial contains the remains of the Unknown Soldier, symbolising the thousands of Australians killed in northern France with no known final resting place.  The Memorial is home to the nation’s pre-eminent collection of military history, including the famous ‘G for George’ Lancaster bomber responsible for bombing raids in Europe during World War 2. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lest-we-forget-to-look-after-the-australian-war-memorial/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lest-we-forget-to-look-after-the-australian-war-memorial/#item4772 Mon, 27 Dec 2010 18:50:36 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-nasty-habit-of-polling-booth-rorts-must-end/ It’s said that all’s fair in love and war. But when it comes to elections in a democracy like Australia, you’re supposed to play by the rules. Australian electoral law is intended to guarantee a level playing field; an open and transparent political system that will accurately reflect the will of the voting public. Yet in last week’s state election in South Australia we saw Labor conducting a centrally orchestrated con job that assailed the very foundations of our democracy. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-nasty-habit-of-polling-booth-rorts-must-end/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labors-nasty-habit-of-polling-booth-rorts-must-end/#item2735 Tue, 30 Mar 2010 18:55:55 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/concerns-about-who-pays-for-politics-on-the-back-burner/ Under media questioning, the Rudd Government has now admitted that its much-ballyhooed campaign finance reforms have been shunted to the legislative back burner. Not only was this a backflip worthy of an Olympic-calibre political gymnast, but it reflects one of the biggest “tail-wags-dog” stories in recent Australian history. Labor’s point man on electoral issues, Senator John Faulkner, vowed during the early days of the Rudd Government that house cleaning was high on the agenda. “Electoral reforms will definitely be in place before the next election,” he proclaimed in September 2008 when decrying the out of control “arms race” in political fund raising. What a difference a year makes. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/concerns-about-who-pays-for-politics-on-the-back-burner/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/concerns-about-who-pays-for-politics-on-the-back-burner/#item2182 Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:40:13 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-brother-alive-and-well-in-canberra/ Since the inception of modern democracy, the separation of powers has functioned as a guarantor of individual liberty and honesty in government. In 1901, the Commonwealth implemented this principle through the creation of autonomous and competing branches and agencies, each serving to keep the others in their proper place. “Our system of government is one of checks and balances,” wrote former Treasurer Peter Costello. “Checks and balances prevent us from the excesses that misguided ideas might otherwise lead to.” But over the past two years, those checks and balances have been seriously eroded by Kevin Rudd’s obsession with centralised power and micromanaged administration. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-brother-alive-and-well-in-canberra/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/big-brother-alive-and-well-in-canberra/#item1790 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 18:30:17 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mandatory-minimums-the-answer-to-drunken-thuggery/ It was recently revealed that the Victorian Labor Government employs “a small army” of media minders and spin-meisters. But Brumby’s battalions of PR hacks cannot deny the undeniable fact that crime rages out of control. The evidence is right there in front of us. Our TV screens and newspapers are filled with stories of the street violence that is seemingly an everyday occurrence in Victoria. It has gotten so bad that even the police are intimidated by the marauding thugs who have come to rule our streets. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Michael Ronaldson) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mandatory-minimums-the-answer-to-drunken-thuggery/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mandatory-minimums-the-answer-to-drunken-thuggery/#item1125 Sun, 06 Sep 2009 18:50:54 +0000 Michael Ronaldson | Author bios | The Punch