“The Turnbull government is at war with the people. This is a government which hates their own constituents. The Liberal Party has lost touch with what it stands for and will be decimated unless it changes tack. Across the next electoral cycle the Liberals will lose power federally and in every state with the exception, perhaps, of Tasmania.”
Those are not the words of the opposition, but of one of the Liberal Party’s leading strategists of the past 20 years.
Geoffrey Greene has worked as Liberal Party state director in both South Australia and Queensland and was one of the architects behind John Howard’s successful election campaigns between 1996 and 2007.
Mr Greene spoke to The New Daily in the hope of shocking his party back from the brink.
Known for his ruthless political savvy, Mr Greene was an old-fashioned, behind-the-scenes political operative. His public declaration of despair follows on from the resignations this month of Liberal federal director Tony Nutt and his deputy John Burston.
“They would not have supported the warfare this government has declared on its citizens,” Mr Greene said.
“The Turnbull government has attacked every core constituency, small business, superannuants, pensioners, families with children, all because they have a budget that is out of control.
“They have not done anything about their own backyard. Public servants still fly at the front of the plane.”
He warns that the crashing political fortunes of his party is being accompanied by administrative collapse at federal, state and branch levels, with membership and donations in freefall.
Mr Greene said a major Liberal Party constituency was small business, yet they had been burdened with excessive regulation.
“This is a government which only listens to big business,” Mr Greene said. “Small business has been annihilated.”
Geoffrey Greene says the Turnbull government “is at war with the people”.
Mr Greene sheets home blame for the Liberal Party debacle to a lack of professionalism.
“Generally speaking, the whole malaise of this government is due to inept advice, ministerial and organisational,” he said. “The Liberal Party once possessed a professional caste of political operatives and campaign staff who helped politicians nuance their messages and understand the voters.
“We knew from our polling how every person voted in every street and why. We understood how to ensure policy platforms met the expectations of the citizenry.”
Mr Greene said Malcolm Turnbull did not represent the traditionally socially conservative Liberal voter.
“The rise of Pauline Hanson is a reflection that the Liberal Party has walked away from their values. It permeates the brand across the country. It is offensive.”
Mr Greene said the party’s drift from its base was compounded by the lack of professional political operatives now working in parliamentary offices.
“I have never seen a set of government ministers more captured by their departments,” he said. “Managers sourced from the department are loyal to their departments, professional advisers are loyal to their parties, and to those who voted for them.
“Turnbull is running the country with a group of 25-year-old political brats. He doesn’t listen.”
From Centrelink robo-calls to the botched implementation of the NBN, government incompetence is at the forefront of public concerns.
“It will be a hard road to win them back,” Mr Greene said.
In recent weeks there have been frantic attempts by Mr Turnbull to seize control of the national narrative, including the “dog-whistling” of citizenship tests and attacks on so-called dole bludgers, many of whom, with the destruction of manufacturing, are simply unable to find a job.
All this activity barely lifted Mr Turnbull’s dismal standing in the polls a single point.
“Turnbull has nothing left,” Mr Greene said. “There are no other constituencies his government can attack.”
A VETERAN Liberal Party strategist has publicly slammed Malcolm Turnbull, saying the government has “walked away from their values” and is at war with the people.
Geoffrey Greene, one of the minds behind John Howard’s campaigns and a former Liberal Party state director for both South Australia and Queensland, says the Turnbull Government has “attacked every core constituency” and has nothing left.
In a scathing interview with The New Daily to shock the party into action, Mr Greene says it will be “a hard road” for the government to win back the public.
Liberal Party veteran Geoffrey Greene, centre, says it will be a hard road for the Turnbull Government to win voters back.Source:News Corp Australia
“The Turnbull government has attacked every core constituency, small business, superannuants, pensioners, families with children, all because they have a budget that is out of control,” Mr Greene said.
“They have not done anything about their own backyard.
“Public servants still fly at the front of the plane.”
Mr Greene said former Liberal federal director Tony Nutt and his deputy John Burston, who resigned this month, would not have supported “the warfare this government has declared on its citizens”.
Geoffrey Greene’s opposition to Malcolm Turnbull’s values dates back two decades when he directed the “No Republic“ campaign.Source:News Limited
He said the rise of Pauline Hanson was a reflection that the Liberal Party had walked away from its values.
One Nation’s influence now permeated the Liberal Party brand across the country.
“Generally speaking, the whole malaise of this government is due to inept advice, ministerial and organisational,” he said.
“The Liberal Party once possessed a professional caste of political operatives and campaign staff who helped politicians nuance their messages and understand the voters.
“We knew from our polling how every person voted in every street and why.
“We understood how to ensure policy platforms met the expectations of the citizenry.”
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull visiting Incitec Pivot factory on Gibson Island in Brisbane. Pictures: Jack TranSource:News Corp Australia
Greene also accused the Turnbull Government of only listening to big business but annihilating small business — a key part of its base — with regulation.
He attributed much of the drift from the party’s base to a lack of old-school party operatives working in Parliamentary offices.
“I have never seen a set of government ministers more captured by their departments,” he said. “Managers sourced from the department are loyal to their departments, professional advisers are loyal to their parties, and to those who voted for them.
“Turnbull is running the country with a group of 25-year-old political brats. He doesn’t listen.”
Greene labelled recent attempts to regain control of political debate, including the recent citizenship test changes “dog-whistling”.
“Turnbull has nothing left,” he said. “There are no other constituencies his government can attack.”
Also run in Murdoch regional press including Toowoomba Chroncile and Rockhampton Bulletin.
Also published in sister paper here: http://indaily.com.au/news/2017/04/28/turnbull-govt-war-people-former-sa-liberal-director/
The experts agree, Turnbull’s NBN is ‘a national tragedy’
Experts agree Malcolm Turnbull's decision to scrap fibre connections has saddled the NBN with slow speeds and the tangles of Telstra's ancient wiring. John Stapleton
SHARETWEETSHAREREDDITPINEMAIL
The disastrous rollout of Australia’s NBN is a national tragedy, according to new research by one of the country’s most respected engineers.
Professor Rodney Tucker, of Melbourne University, argues that Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s fateful decision as Communications Minister to opt for Fibre to the Node (FTTN), has been an extremely costly disaster.
While the rest of the world is opting for Fibre to the Premises (FTTP), Australia is embracing an obsolete technology.
Professor Tucker’s paper, The Tragedy of Australia’s National Broadband Network, just been published in the Australian Journal of Telecommunications and Digital Technology, argues that a worldwide tipping point has been reached.
Globally, the majority of connections are now through FTTP. Australia is one of the very few countries using mass deployment of FTTN, with poor results.
Professor Tucker concludes: “This situation is nothing short of a national tragedy and a classic example of failed infrastructure policy that will have long-term ramifications for Australia’s digital economy.”
The news comes hot on the heels of the latest reports that Australia has slower internet speeds than Kenya or Latvia – and is continuing to sink dramatically down the world rankings.
America now has 250 “gigabit” cities using FTTP, proving a boon for local economies. Australia has none.
Professor Tucker told The New Daily: “The NBN is a great loss of opportunity. We are becoming a broadband backwater. It will have profound effects.”
Associate Professor Mark Gregory, of RMIT University in Melbourne, was equally scathing when he spoke to The New Daily.
“Every Australian expert could see what was happening with technology,” he said. “The economic case used by the Coalition government was nonsense from the outset.
“This is the largest single waste of public funds in Australia’s history. Turnbull must take ownership of this mess. The cost to the taxpayer is currently at $49.5 billion and there is every indication the government will have to tip in another $5-10 billion.”
Paddy Manning, author of the Turnbull biography Born to Rule, told The New Daily that Malcolm Turnbull had been sceptical of the NBN from day one. Manning has written extensively on the NBN, including an essayappearing in the current issue of The Monthly.A tangle of copper wires in a puddle of stagnant water sums up the NBN, experts say.
“In the 1990s Turnbull made a fortune from the internet, more than $40 million. Unfortunately he drew the wrong lessons from his experience. He thought there would not be enough demand for superfast broadband.
“There was also a knee-jerk ideological wariness of government enterprise and an unwillingness to embark on genuine long term nation building infrastructure projects.
“The Coalition has to shoulder the blame for FTTN. It is a mistake. It will prove an even bigger mistake when we have to find an untold amount of money to upgrade it.”
Chief Executive of Internet Australia Annie Hurley told The New Daily the government urgently needed to rethink the failed NBN. She advocated a bipartisan approach, bringing together the finest engineering minds in the country, including Professor Tucker, to plan a way forward.
“We have turned a vision into a quagmire,” she said. “There is sufficient evidence from around the globe that FTTN is an obsolete technology, yet it continues to be rolled out. We are throwing all this money at it, and we are going to have to come around and do it all again. That is the tragedy.”
Andrew Johnson, chief executive of professional association the Australian Computer Society told The New Daily: “We further reiterate that the reach, speed and quality of an NBN is critical to Australia’s future economic prosperity.”
A spokeswoman for the NBN did not respond to Professor Tucker’s criticisms.
Another mention:
http://modernasian.com.au/many-australians-offline-about-nbn-11720.html
The day may not be that far off when all passengers flying out of Australia will be provided with onboard laptops and iPads, while being prevented from using their own devices.
Acting on high-level intelligence reports that Islamic State and al-Qaeda are working to conceal plastic explosives inside laptop battery compartments in order to smuggle them past airport scanners, Donald Trump’s administration has banned travellers flying out of 10 airports in eight Middle East and African countries from taking large electronic devices into the cabin.
The UK has taken similar action for six countries.
Australia has also announced additional security measures for travellers passing through the Middle East, to take effect from Thursday.
Gulf airlines are already working around the bans by providing high-end business travellers with onboard laptops.
The bans come against a backdrop of moves by the Trump administration to block immigration from a number of predominately Islamic nations currently wracked by civil wars, domestic chaos and known as hotbeds of Islamic extremism.
An equally charged dispute between Gulf and American airlines over unfair competition and loss of American jobs has also raised questions of a commercial motivation.
Federal Transport Minister Darren Chester said the affected airlines were Emirates, Etihad, Qatar Airways and Qantas.
“In response to national security advice the federal government has made precautionary changes and instructed airlines to implement new protocols,” he said. “Explosive detection screening will be conducted for randomly selected passengers and their baggage.”Qatar Airways is one of the airlines affected by the US electronics ban. Photo: Getty
The International Air Transport Association has issued an urgent call for governments to resolve the conflict, saying the commercial distortions were severe.
Director General Alexandre de Juniac said: “The current measures are not an acceptable long-term solution. Even in the short term it is difficult to understand their effectiveness. Why don’t the US and the UK have a common list of airports? How can laptops be secure in the cabin on some flights and not others, including flights departing from the same airport?”
Steve Creedy, an editor at Airline Ratings, told The New Daily that in practical terms the bans could lead to longer waits for flights transiting through Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Doha.
Devices with no electrical charge were particularly suspicious, so travellers will need to ensure there is some charge on their laptops, iPads and mobiles. Swabs of laptops may be taken to detect explosive material.
“It is essentially an additional layer of security,” he said. “The Department of Homeland Security have denied it, but there is a lot of commentary that this is another move by President Trump on migration. As well, there is suspicion it relates to the commercial battle between the US airlines and the Gulf airlines.”
Head of Border Security for the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, John Coyne, told The New Daily authorities in the US, the UK and Australia would not be implementing the restrictions without reliable intelligence.
“Terrorists are looking at new ways of blowing up planes,” he said. “It is a natural progression.”
Editor at Aviation Australia Tom Ballantyne told The New Daily for the airlines the bans were a “pain in the neck”.
“The security rules are all over the place, different in the UK, the US, Europe and Asia. The airlines want standardisation.”
He said airlines would have to adjust to providing onboard laptops for passengers transiting via the Middle East to London or the US because they could not access their luggage on stopovers.
“High-end business travellers are paying a lot to travel at the front of the plane. They expect to be able to conduct business while flying. The Gulf airlines are simply handing out laptops to travellers who need them. We could see that introduced into Australia.”
