turnbull's growing credibility gap .....

Adapted/reversed by Gus from Julie Bishop blogs exclusively for BusinessDay/ TheAge

As Shadow Prime Minister Turnbull complains about Rudd's latest overseas adventure, why does he remind me of Don Quixote? The fictional Man of La Mancha famous for his delusional missions to save the world.

Miguel Cervantes used political satire to lampoon the behaviour of members of the Spanish Royal Court in the late 1500s and early 1600s.

Don Quixote's delusions of grandeur led him into serious difficulty because his perceptions of the importance of his role and influence were far removed from reality.

While Don Quixote thought he was a knight-errant on a mission to save damsels in distress, or make then shadow deputy, to quell rebellions and restore order to the world, he found himself in amusing but invariably disastrous situations, way beyond his control or ability to manage.

Over the past one and a half days, Turnbull has claimed that his shadow and his pronouncements were of international importance and global significance. Closer analysis reveals these claims are dubious at best.

On a recent trip to the riviera he was annoyed by Rudd's too good antics:

Establishment of an International Commission on Nuclear Non-proliferation and Disarmament to be co-chaired by former Australian Foreign Minister Gareth Evans, because "It's time for us also as Australians to reconstitute our global disarmament and arms control credentials" and that "Australia has the credibility and the drive to lead initiatives like this".

During a visit to Indonesia Kevin Rudd said that on the issue of deforestation "There is real potential for Australia and Indonesia to lead the world here".

On the eve of a trip to Japan he announced the establishment of a new Asia-Pacific Union to influence the "architecture of our region".

A recent speech in Japan was titled "Building a Better World Together".

Last week Kevin Rudd announced the establishment of "a $100 million Global Institute to speed up the development of carbon capture and storage technology" where other nations will partner with Australia.

On world trade Rudd said "Secondly, simultaneously, there is evidence by the posture we have taken domestically towards bilateral free trade agreements, right back to the American FTA, we have indicated both as an Opposition party and as a party now in Government, that we will prosecute those agendas vigorously as well."

While Rudd managed to place his latest trip to New York in the context of the global financial crisis, the fact is he had actually planned to be at the United Nations for a session of the Millennium Development Goals Forum starring, amongst others, Scarlett Johansson and Missy Higgins. Turnbull is obviously envious and miffed.

These are all most worthwhile aims and initiatives deserving of consideration. Thank you Mr Rudd.

So in most cases Turnbull failed to see personal royalty value about these grand plans for the world, and simply charged at a windmill, in Wentworth...It should come as no surprise that other nations have thus far declined to see where the shrinking shadow PM was standing.

Even in the ultra-polite world of diplomacy there have been more than raised eyebrows from other countries, who have been as startled as the Spanish peasants to suddenly have Don Quixote charge into their midst.

As a middle ranking power Australia has an important role to play in global affairs. Our leaders must make personal contact with other leaders across the globe.

However, it is to be hoped that Turnbull increasing credibility gap is only the result of his over-exuberance in his new shadow big banana job, rather than the delusions of a misguided ego.

Time won't tell.

By Gus Leonisky at 23 Sep 2008 - 8:07pm
Gus Leonisky's blog
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cat-flap

THE deputy Liberal leader, Julie Bishop, has been plunged into a fresh plagiarism controversy and has again been able to say she didn't write what appeared under her name.

Her office confirmed yesterday that significant tracts of a chapter she was purported to have written for a new book were in fact originally written by a New Zealander.

But Ms Bishop had been able to sidestep a direct accusation of plagiarism because it was not her but her adviser, Murray Hansen, who prepared the article under her name for a new book Liberals And Power - The Road Ahead . Last month Ms Bishop was accused of using excerpts from an article in The Wall Street Journal in a speech to Parliament without declaring it.

Ms Bishop's staff played down that gaffe which resulted from an oversight by staff in another office failing to attribute the excerpts in the rush to prepare what was Ms Bishop's first speech to Parliament as shadow treasurer.

----------------------

Once is careless, twice is a sack-able offence...

As one who lives amongst wordsmiths, I know how most of the worth-their-salt scribes and PR people are anally retentive about attribution and the threat of "copyright" laws, and other laws... On this site, we make sure as much as possible that the relevant works are original, or referenced to its original creators and only borrowed as fair use of newsworthyness...

We may sometimes fail but we try hard. Here, in this Julie-Bishop-gate of plagiarism — more a cat-flap really — we've got a case where public speaking or writing HAS TO BE imperatively referenced should it borrow from other sources.

see toon and comment above...

By Gus Leonisky at 27 Oct 2008 - 1:06pm
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his turdbutt majesty's war on fast willies...

The Logie-nominated host skewers the Coalition over its "mongrel" NBN promises, suggesting the earlier completion date was the only thing the inferior infrastructure had going for it over Labor's NBN plan.

"This is worrying because while we were never told we would have the fastest internet under the Coalition, we were promised it would be delivered much earlier than under Labor," Aly said of the delay.

"If we're going to be the innovation nation, we shouldn't go for the cheap and error-prone solution," said former computer centre director, University of Queensland Alan Coulter, interviewed for Aly's 'Something We Should Talk About' segment.

Labor had originally promised they would deliver the NBN with fibre-to-the-premises for $45 billion by 2021 with speeds of 1Gbps. The opposition's modelling suggested Labor's plan would cost upwards of $80 billion.

The Coalition overhauled the project when they came into power, switching to fibre-to-the-node with maximum speeds of 20-25mbs to be completed by 2019.

But the NBN has now blown out as much as $56 billion, with an estimated delivery date of 2020, just one year before Labor's planned completion date.

"The problem here is, despite the latest figures showing the amount of data downloaded by Australians increased by 40 per cent from June 2014 to June 2015, the Abbott-slash-Turnbull government has never demonstrated that they value the need for high-speed internet," Aly said.

"But look, the biggest infrastructure projects in this country's history were built with the future in mind.

"The Snowy Mountains Scheme was built to last hundreds of years, the Sydney Harbour Bridge was built with eight lanes, not two.

"But now, as we enter Malcolm Turnbull's 'age of innovation' and we're told the NBN is the most important infrastructure project of the 21st century, we're expected to rely on a decaying copper network that experts say is already past its use-by date, instead of investing in fibre which the same experts say could service our internet needs for the next 100 years."

Australia's global rankings for internet speed had plummeted from 30th less than three years ago to 60th in the world according to last week's updated rankings.

We have the Coalition to thank for that, Aly said.

"So if you're watching this right now on the internet, and you had to wait for even a second for this video to buffer, you know who to blame," he said.

"Tony Abbott… and the guy who he says invented the internet."

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/malcolm-turnbull-you-didnt-invent-the-internet-waleed-aly-slams-pms-nbn-hypocrisy-20160406-go02xz.html#ixzz454jOFR5c
Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook

For the smartest person in the room, Turdbutt appears quite dumb sometimes. Actually most of the times. His scheme to pass the buck of taxation to the states came straight out of "The Lazy PM Handbook". Most of his ideas, including his "Russian rain concoction innovation" financing in 2007, are stupid. This is why he keeps his cash in the Cayman Islands where he has found some savvy manager of investments who does the work for him. He would be lousy at investing 20 cents or $20 millions. Since booting out Tony the pedalling turd (thank you, Malcolm) it has been a downward slope of indecisive continuum in reverse gear. Not that things were moving well under Abbott. All his ideas stank.
Today, his Majesty Malcolm the First lashes the banks over scandals...

He said he wasn't bank bashing. If not it certainly seemed like a stern reprimand to an industry that talks a lot about putting its customers first.

He reminded the industry that it was the taxpayers (the banks' customers) that supported the industry during the global financial crisis by guaranteeing bank deposits and offshore borrowing.

"The truth is that despite the public support offered at their time of need, our bankers have not always treated their customers as they should," he said.

"Some have taken advantage of our fellow Australians and the savings they have spent a lifetime accumulating, seeking only dignity and independence in their retirement."

But Turnbull stopped short of supporting a push to establish a royal commission into the banking industry.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/headmaster-turnbull-takes-cane-to-banks-leaving-westpac-management-ginger-20160406-gnzws3.html#ixzz454owUHTa
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He used to be an investment banker you see, the head of the Australian Chapter of Goldman Sachs, you see. So he knows that "banks" should not be about profits but about "broader social responsibility"... Wow! hold it there cobber... There is bugger all "broader social responsibility" in keeping your cash in a tax dodge haven.

The kettle is calling the pot black, and the kettle is in charge of lighting the fires. So far as one of his colleague has hinted at Malcolm's governing ability has been "wishy washy"... Not wishy washy, Michelle — plain dried crap or DAG for short.

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