Mired in scandal and controversy, people simply don't trust the Government; now is the time for a real push for a proper Federal ICAC, says investigations editor Ross Jones.
I RECKON ANGUS TAYLOR is the real reason most of Australia won’t download the Covid app.
After our “watchdog”, the Australian Federal Police, closed down its investigation – for no obvious reason – into Taylor’s office’s tailored leak to the Daily Telegraph falsely reporting massive travel expenses in City of Sydney Council, Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore responded:
“I am shocked and disappointed the AFP will not further investigate the matter and shed light on a situation that has further eroded the community's faith in the Federal Government.”
Further eroded indeed!
Angus is an active chap, a real go-getter.
Only last year, Taylor contrived to get his name in the paper several times in the same story as Joyce, water, the Cayman Islands and $80 million bucks. Then this year the appropriately titled “Jam Land”, which Taylor part owns, illegally poisoned native grasslands – that’s Australian grasslands, our grasslands – but, of course, received no fines and no criminal findings.
Is Angus Taylor bent? Barnaby Joyce? Christian Porter?
Barnaby Joyce requested updates on $80m sale of water by Eastern Australia Agriculture https://t.co/czOhqwU4WF
— Guardian Australia (@GuardianAus) April 22, 2019
What about Peter Dutton? He seems to have buckets of money. Or, for that matter, what about Pauline Hanson?
Who could say, with certainty?
In my view ‒ and I speak as one who wrote a book on the matter ‒ there were several opportunities for the AFP to intervene in a meaningful way during the course of the Ashbygate matter but, for whatever reason(s), they chose not to.
Is the AFP bent?
Who knows?
And therein lies the rub.
No one, no body, has the power to find out.
Labor, too, has its share of scumbags. Maybe not as many as the Coalition or the ratbag Right, but nevertheless they number greater than one.
But right now, they don’t really count.
They are just the B team, peering wistfully through the restaurant front window as the cold and damp realisation of the Shorten stupidity seeps through their inadequate Vinnie’s sportscoats.
They’re gone. They may be gone for some time. But they will come back eventually and, when they do, look out.
Layer the Covid horror on top of this.
Morrison Government deception over COVIDSafe app puts Australians in peril In midst of a global pandemic the Australian Govt is lying to its people about a protective tool that really offers no protection at all, writes Dr Jennifer Wilson https://t.co/3PEkvfXLIN @IndependentAus
— lynlinking (@lynlinking) May 11, 2020
Every venal turd in a position of power in Australia ‒ and there are a lot of them ‒ will seek to use Rona as a smokescreen to shield their greed and destruction from the Australian voting public.
The pandemic will provide the perfect excuse to further destroy the environment, steal from the public purse and exploit the weak.
That is why Independent Australia is announcing its support for the formation of a new Australian political party — Federal ICAC Now (FIN).
The single-issue party’s sole objective will be the establishment of an adequately funded, staffed and empowered Federal Independent Commission Against Corruption.
This will not be a simple task, but we believe it is important to try.
For years, federal governments of both major parties have, despite a clear public appetite, stymied the formation of a federal anti-corruption body. The push got close last June, when a Greens pushed a bill through the Senate, but the government made sure it did not pass the House.
The new political party will contest Senate seats in all states.
The party will be driven by members via an online platform, which will enable members to present and discuss issues, as well as vet and select candidates.
There will be national steering committee to take care of day to-day issues but, apart from that, all party decisions will be made by FIN members.
Because FIN will be a formal political party, it will be listed above the line on the Senate ballot paper, giving Australians, for the first time, the chance to vote directly for honesty in government regardless of their political leanings
The sports rorts saga shows us a #FederalICAC is long overdue. This week I'll table a petition calling for an integrity commission that meets the #BeechworthPrinciples. To restore trust we must have transparency & accountability. #indivotes #auspolhttps://t.co/5CTziJONNX
— Helen Haines MP (@helenhainesindi) May 11, 2020
For a new political party to be entitled to appear above the line, it must satisfy one of two requirements:
1) An existing member of Parliament joins the party.
This is the reason Clive Palmer seduced then Senator Brian Burston to join UAP. If Brian had not joined the UAP, then Clive’s personal plaything/hand-grenade would have had no chance of being registered. Thanks Brian!
Of course, the chance of any existing parliamentarian joining FIN is Buckley’s.
2) The other path to registration is for the nascent party to sign up 500 members.
These members must be:
a) registered on the electoral roll, and
b) not be a member of any other political party.
While there is a long way to go before the FIN project is viable, we are very keen to hear the opinions of IA readers.
This is all about introducing a formal structure of non-partisan honesty to Australian politics.
We think it is long overdue.
Let us know what you think.
Let us know if you are interested in joining.
Let us know if you may be interested in standing as one of the candidates.
Email contact@federalicacnow.org now and express your ideas and/or interest.
Investigations editor Ross Jones is a licensed private enquiry agent and the author of 'Ashbygate: The Plot to Destroy Australia's Speaker'. You can follow Ross on Twitter @RPZJones.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License
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The awkward moment when a coughing fit forced Treasurer Josh Frydenberg to stop mid-way through a speech on the economic impact of coronavirus. pic.twitter.com/J2AnZzZ4xG
— SBS News (@SBSNews) May 12, 2020
