please read: 

the double cross of australian politics...

an inconvenient truth... or an open letter to mr al gore...

flying high...

trickster, con-artist, liar, switcharoola-man theatrics...

the planet is toast...

where else but las vegas, an entertainer from bogan land can joke about his deliberate ignorance and incomprehension...

demanding answers and getting the wrong ones...

a big fat belgian cigar hell bent on removing your protection against losing your pants...

well, here is the reason why his budget stinks...

...

But Mr Palmer has pulled the rug from the government on another incendiary issue - the Future of Financial Advice laws.

The PUP leader said his party was not negotiating with the government to reach a compromise on the laws and would simply not be approving the regulations as tabled.

A government attempt to circumvent an unco-operative Senate by watering down tough consumer protections for investors now appears doomed.

The issue has divided the financial and political communities with banks leaning on the government to weaken Labor's laws which were seen as too restrictive on banks.

Labor has argued its FoFA reforms were aimed at stopping the kind of fraud which ruined the retirement plans of thousands of ordinary Australian investors who sought the advice of the Commonwealth Bank's financial services arm and lost their life savings.

The Palmer United Party has left open the possibility of backing out of a deal it has struck with the Government over consumer protections in the finance sector.

The warning comes as Labor accuses the Government of losing control and of acting like Clive Palmer's "puppets".

Late yesterday the PUP leader Clive Palmer revealed his party had negotiated with the Coalition over its new rules governing financial advice - granting the Government its crucial votes in the Senate in return for some changes.

Labor had launched an effort to disallow the rules and retain laws it brought in when in Government.

The Labor laws sought to protect consumers from financial planning fraud, like that seen at some Commonwealth Bank subsidiaries which cost thousands of investors a large part of their life savings.

This morning WA PUP Senator Dio Wang said the debate about the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) laws was "still open".

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-16/palmers-support-for-fofa-laws-not-guaranteed/5600904

I may be wrong but I would not be surprised if WA PUP Senator Dio Wang had no idea about what the Future of Financial Advice (FoFA) was...

Legislation to scrap the carbon tax has passed the Federal Parliament in a major win for the Abbott Government.

After a lengthy debate, the Senate voted to get rid of the price on carbon, with 39 senators voting for and 32 voting against.

This was the Government's third attempt to scrap the tax since the election - the first two were rejected by the Senate.

The legislation passed with the support of all of the micro-party crossbench, dominated by the Palmer United Party.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-07-17/live-blog-coalition-in-bid-to-push-through-carbon-tax-repeal/5603830

THE IDOTS ARE IN CHARGE!

The Senate has unwound the Coalition’s changes to financial planning regulations after key crossbenchers walked away from their previous positions in order to “protect the weak”.

The U-turn by the Palmer United party (PUP) rebel Jacqui Lambie and the Australian Motoring Enthusiast party senator Ricky Muir prompted the Coalition to warn the move would cause significant uncertainty in the financial planning industry and drive up costs for consumers.

On Wednesday night, the Senate motion to strike down the government’s changes passed 32 votes to 30. It was the third attempt to disallow the changes in the past four months, but the fracturing of the PUP ensured the government lost the vote this time.

The Senate had spent hours considering procedural motions as the Coalition sought to prevent Labor, the Greens and a majority of crossbenchers from bringing on an urgent debate. Senior government figures pleaded with crossbenchers not to proceed with a “reckless” quick vote.

The former Labor government introduced Future of Finance Advice (Fofa) reforms with the aim of increasing protections for consumers obtaining advice from financial planners.

The Coalition’s finance minister, Mathias Cormann, described some of the measures as “red tape” and used his regulatory powers to make changes in late June.

Major groups such as Choice, National Seniors and the Council on the Ageing argued the Coalition’s changes weakened safeguards, including the requirement that financial planners acted in the best interest of consumers.

Cormann insisted consumer protections remained in place, as did the ban on conflicted remuneration – although Labor said the regulation contained loopholes that could be exploited by unscrupulous operators.

read more: http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2014/nov/19/jacqui-lambie-and-ricky-muirs-u-turn-downs-financial-advice-planning-change

See picture at top.

Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie says she will resign from the Federal Parliament over dual citizenship concerns.

• Senator asked UK Home Office yesterday to check her status and received confirmation early this morning she obtained British citizenship through her Scottish father
• Ruled out running in the upcoming Tasmanian election, but left open option for another tilt at federal politics
• She will inform her Senate colleagues in the chamber later today

Her father was born in Scotland, which means she is entitled to British citizenship by descent.

Senator Lambie had previously released a statement saying she was satisfied her parents were both Australian citizens.

But she told Grant Broadcasters radio this morning that she realised she may have had a problem while going back over her father's history following the resignation of Stephen Parry from the Senate.

"I will be resigning from the Senate, it's been made quite clear that because of my father I am also Scottish," she said.

Senator Lambie was audibly upset during the interview, telling host Brian Carlton she was in shock when she realised she had a problem.

"My whole gut just dropped and I thought 'I'm in trouble here', so I'm on the phone to Dad going 'please, what's going on', and it obviously unravelled within about two or three days," she said.

"By Thursday last week I rang him and I said 'Dad, I'm gone, aren't I?' and he said 'you know what sweetheart? I think we're gone'.

"I don't know who feels worse — me or my dad. I think we're both gutted this morning so we're not sharing love for the bagpipes this morning I can tell you."

Read more:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-14/jacqui-lambie-to-resign-over-citiz...