Tag Archives: Malcolm Turnbull

So where you been?

Posted on by
Reply

If Malcolm Turnbull’s so fantastic at arguing the toss, where’s he been for the past year? He has not carried his weight in any showdown with either Labor or the Senate that I can see.

The NBN is the most disgusting waste of money amongst all of the various forms of waste the ALP brought with them. Yet I have not heard a word from him about any of it. The billions that are being wasted to produce what will never return revenues above their costs is known to anyone who has even glanced at it, but if Malcolm has said anything about it, I have missed it.

What exactly does he bring to this debate? To any debate? But I do see from today’s paper that he lives in a very nice house.

It’s absolutely and completely true, Tony

Posted on by
Reply

This is special, found at Andrew Bolt. Government spending is always related to some social good which often seems to make it beyond criticism, and certainly there are vast numbers who will not listen. But the NBN is almost unto itself in its vast oceans of waste. Here is the Minister for Communications discussing said NBN with Tony Jones.

MALCOLM TURNBULL: No. Look, this – the NBN is not a commercial project. It is the most – the single most expensive, irrational project of the Labor government. It should never have been undertaken in the way it is. It is completely non-commercial.

TONY JONES: “So let’s keep it going,” says Malcolm Turnbull.

MALCOLM TURNBULL: No, no – well the problem that we’ve got – the problem that we’ve got is is that if we were to pull the pin on it completely, we would lose at least – we’d write off at least $15 billion, probably more and have nothing to show for it. So, Labor has left us with a shocking mess. The best thing we can do is to complete the project as quickly and cost effectively as possible.

TONY JONES: Alright. If you can …

MALCOLM TURNBULL: And that’s the – and that is the – you know, now, can I just say this to you?: the way Labor went about the NBN was unique in the world. No other country did anything as mad as this. And …

TONY JONES: Yes, but we have heard this argument before (inaudible) …

MALCOLM TURNBULL: Yeah, but you don’t care about it because it’s the taxpayers’ money. – that’s the thing.

TONY JONES: That’s not at all true.

Ah, Tony, I’m afraid that it is entirely true and it takes a special ability to be unable to see this expenditure for what it is.

The ABC’s operations could be “modernised”

Posted on by
Reply

Malcolm Turnbull speaking today about the ABC:

COMMUNICATIONS Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused the ABC of ‘last century work practices’ and warned the public broadcaster that he had experience in restructuring television networks.

He told the Coalition party room today that the ABC had committed a ‘shocking error of judgment’ in partnering with The Guardian on the publication of a document leaked by US fugitive Edward Snowden.

In response to a scathing critique of the broadcaster by South Australian Senator Cory Bernardi, Mr Turnbull defended ABC managing director Mark Scott and said the broadcaster was not ‘cannibalising’ private media companies.

However, he suggested the ABC’s operations could be modernised, saying ‘old-fashioned’ and ‘last century work practices’ were a problem for the broadcaster.

‘I’ve actually restructured a television network,’ Mr Turnbull told colleagues, referring to his work as a broadcast lawyer in the 1990s sale of Network Ten.

Mr Turnbull also questioned whether the broadcaster was adhering to its obligations under law.

‘The real question is, is the ABC adhering to its statutory charter and in particular its obligation to give fair treatment to both sides of politics,’ Mr Turnbull said, according to those at the meeting.