Abbott/Liberal Govt Watch

[Jimmy_041]

Bob Day has just resigned from the Senate after his company went bust.

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/ ... s3xjg.html

Who gets his seat? Do FF just nominate someone?

http://www.familyfirst.org.au/files/Mem ... %20Form(SA).pdf

Junket anyone?

[Gozu]

I think the article said Bob Day's chief of staff is most likely to replace him.

[Grahaml]

Yeah, the senate seat belongs to the party, as opposed to the lower house where the seat belongs to the candidate. My first instinct was that it should go to the "next" but upon thinking it through, this is the fairest method.

Shame to hear of another busines going under. Not sure whether he's done anything wrong personally but sounds like he's paying a hefty price regardless. Fingers crossed those who were building with him don't end up losing everything.

[RB]

Not sure whether he's done anything wrong personally

Been a shonk for years. Sounds like the chooks are coming home to roost.

[Jim05]

Not sure whether he's done anything wrong personally

Been a shonk for years. Sounds like the chooks are coming home to roost.

Yep, absolute crook

[Dogwatcher]

Interesting situation brewing with this.
Rikki Lambert would consider himself the incumbent, but my understanding is that he and Brokenshire share some animosity.
Both are running.

Lambert was Brokenshire's staffer, before moving on to become Day's. He also was second on the card for FF at the last election, but pulled out.
Further, it was Lambert who released all of the ABC's wages to the public one or two years ago.

[Jimmy_041]

Interesting situation developing here
In fact, a joint sitting of the SA Parliament selects his replacement
Convention says he/she should come from the same party, but Joh broke that one year and Qld replaced a non Nat with a Nat

[Dogwatcher]

Interesting situation developing here
In fact, a joint sitting of the SA Parliament selects his replacement
Convention says he/she should come from the same party, but Joh broke that one year and Qld replaced a non Nat with a Nat

That's amazing that SA Parliament selects the replacement. How does that even work?

[Jimmy_041]

Interesting situation developing here
In fact, a joint sitting of the SA Parliament selects his replacement
Convention says he/she should come from the same party, but Joh broke that one year and Qld replaced a non Nat with a Nat

That's amazing that SA Parliament selects the replacement. How does that even work?

Must be a Constitution thing
They actually represent the state

[RB]

Interesting situation developing here
In fact, a joint sitting of the SA Parliament selects his replacement
Convention says he/she should come from the same party, but Joh broke that one year and Qld replaced a non Nat with a Nat

That's amazing that SA Parliament selects the replacement. How does that even work?

The two houses of (SA's) Parliament sit together to select the replacement:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/ ... 0/s15.html

Note that they now have to pick a nominee from the same party as the person who has vacated their seat (this amendment was brought in soon after Joh pulled a swifty).

[Gozu]

The Saturday Paper on Bob Day's resignation and backstory:

Day’s Monday statement said he left the parliament “devastated”, but he went as a hero to many on the political right. Tony Abbott, for one, paid lavish tribute to a “principled and courageous senator”.

Others were not so kind. Contractors had been stiffed for many millions of dollars. A couple of hundred home buyers were left with defective or unfinished homes. Numbers of them lined up to complain about their dealings with Day’s group of companies.

According to a preliminary estimate by the liquidators, McGrathNicol, Day’s companies owed unsecured creditors – that is, unpaid subcontractors and tradies, not banks – some $12.5 million. That number is expected to rise. So much for mutual trust and mateship.

McGrathNicol’s statement said all work had stopped on homes under construction by five wholly owned subsidiary companies of Day’s Home Australia Pty Ltd across five states: Ashford Homes in Victoria, where there were 57 houses; Huxley Homes in New South Wales, 56; Homestead Homes, South Australia, 48; Collier Homes, Western Australia, 29; and Newstart Homes, Queensland, 17.

In total, 207 families were left in the lurch. That number is expected to grow.

Politics was the obvious next step. Day joined the Liberal Party in 1987 and filled various organisational roles – as well as being a significant donor – before winning preselection for the South Australian seat of Makin in 2007. He lost the election but the next year he contested the preselection of Mayo, the seat vacated by Alexander Downer. The party chose another right-winger, Jamie Briggs, over him.

This wounded Day. He acrimoniously quit the Liberals and set out to find another vehicle to take him into parliament. It was a lot like Clive Palmer’s flameout, except that where Palmer started his own party from scratch, Day took over an existing one.

Within a few months of joining in 2008, Day became the party’s chairman. The new Family First HQ was in a Day-owned building that also housed a number of other right-wing groups, including Cory Bernardi’s Conservative Leadership Foundation.

A couple of years ago I totted up Day’s donations to Family First, as detailed in Australian Electoral Commission returns. Between 2009-10, the year after his takeover of the party and 2011-12, he kicked in more than $2.6 million, including a loan of $1.089 million, which appears never to have been repaid.

Since then, the money has continued to flow. In 2012-13 there was another $381,775, and the next year $484,000. In the most recent year for which figures are available, 2014-15, it was $73,200.

It should be noted that this money all came from his private company, B&B Day Pty Ltd, but one might reasonably wonder at one of his companies handing over millions – most of it applied to the purpose of getting him elected – while his other companies were struggling with massive debts.

It’s all very perplexing. In 2012-13, for example, ASIC records show Home Australia recorded a loss of more than $420,000, yet paid a fully franked dividend of $2.67 million to its owners, including B&B Day. Which then gave $380,000 to Family First.

It may well be the case that the greatest political contribution by the radical deregulationist Bob Day is in providing proof of the need for greater regulation. What a delicious irony.

https://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/new ... 0548003880

[mighty_tiger_79]

Turnbull is slipping further down the quagmire of polls

[Gozu]

This crook should leave the Senate immediately.

Crossbench senator Bob Day has now indicated he plans to stay on and keep voting in parliament until the end of the year, just over a week since announcing his resignation.

The South Australian politician announced his resignation on October 17 after his company Home Australia went into liquidation.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-26/b ... ar/7965698

[shoe boy]

[quote="Gozu"]This crook should leave the Senate immediately.

Where was the lord in his time of need?

[stan]

This crook should leave the Senate immediately.

Crossbench senator Bob Day has now indicated he plans to stay on and keep voting in parliament until the end of the year, just over a week since announcing his resignation.

The South Australian politician announced his resignation on October 17 after his company Home Australia went into liquidation.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-26/b ... ar/7965698

Needs and income, has debts to pay.

[Jimmy_041]

This crook should leave the Senate immediately.

Crossbench senator Bob Day has now indicated he plans to stay on and keep voting in parliament until the end of the year, just over a week since announcing his resignation.

The South Australian politician announced his resignation on October 17 after his company Home Australia went into liquidation.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-10-26/b ... ar/7965698

Needs and income, has debts to pay.

I thought it was a fantastic offer from Jay to recall Parliament (even though he wouldn't have been here)
Um, where was the same interest, urgency and offer when his "good mate" Finnegan sat on his fat ar$e for two years at our expenses
Obviously losing money is more important than child porn

F***ing hypocrites

[Gozu]

Things getting interesting for Bob Day.

The Federal Government will ask the Senate to consider challenging Bob Day's election to the Senate in the High Court.

The President of the Senate, Stephen Parry, has written to all senators raising concerns about Mr Day and the validity of his election to the 45th Parliament.

Late this afternoon, Senator Parry emailed the other 75 Upper House members stating he had received Mr Day's resignation, but that there were concerns about whether appointing his replacement could follow the usual procedures.

The ABC understands there are concerns about Mr Day's electorate office, and to whom he was paying rent for the space.

If there is a problem with that arrangement, it could mean that Bob Day's election was invalid.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-11-01/v ... on/7985866

[Magellan]

Interesting situation developing here
In fact, a joint sitting of the SA Parliament selects his replacement
Convention says he/she should come from the same party, but Joh broke that one year and Qld replaced a non Nat with a Nat

That's amazing that SA Parliament selects the replacement. How does that even work?

The two houses of (SA's) Parliament sit together to select the replacement:

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/ ... 0/s15.html

Note that they now have to pick a nominee from the same party as the person who has vacated their seat (this amendment was brought in soon after Joh pulled a swifty).

The appointment of Albert Patrick Field played a decisive role in bringing down the Whitlam government in 1975, hence the need for the amendment. However, he was a Labor senator at the time of his appointment, but an avowed critic of Whitlam and ultimately expelled upon taking his place in the federal senate.

[Psyber]

The appointment of Albert Patrick Field played a decisive role in bringing down the Whitlam government in 1975, hence the need for the amendment. However, he was a Labor senator at the time of his appointment, but an avowed critic of Whitlam and ultimately expelled upon taking his place in the federal senate.

What was the basis of his expulsion? I don't recall that bit,
I had been a Whitlam supporter initially and only changed my position and took politics more seriously after the borrowings issue arose.

[Magellan]

The appointment of Albert Patrick Field played a decisive role in bringing down the Whitlam government in 1975, hence the need for the amendment. However, he was a Labor senator at the time of his appointment, but an avowed critic of Whitlam and ultimately expelled upon taking his place in the federal senate.

What was the basis of his expulsion? I don't recall that bit,
I had been a Whitlam supporter initially and only changed my position and took politics more seriously after the borrowings issue arose.

I think Field offered himself up as a candidate to Bjelke-Petersen along with the Labor party's nomination of Mal Colston, and because Bjelke-Petersen liked Field's political bent he became the nominee. I presume Labor saw it as a breaking of the ranks and contributing to the breaking of the convention, and from their point of view probably smelled a bit funny.