Here's Jeff's note and some screen grabs of his spreadsheet - I've included the spreadsheet itself at the bottom of this post, along with another spreadsheet showing the contracts the Department of Immigration had afoot during 2012.  

No wonder we cannot live within our means.   The boat arrivals trigger a range of expensive responses in a manner where no expense is spared.   If you want to argue the toss on that point, read the following summary of contracts you the taxpayer have with the following entities.  Not all of the spending in the contractor spreadsheet relates directly to illegal boat arrivals, but clearly a large proportion of the spend does.   No boats, much reduced expense.

Download Immigration contracts 2012_by contractor  

 




Download SIEVs 2013 - and if you missed it at the top of this post, here are the Immigration Department's contracts for last year  

Download Immigration contracts 2012_by contractor 

This media release is dated Friday 17 April, it arrived yesterday 19 April, a huge number of illegal entrants.

MEDIA RELEASE

Friday, 17 April 2013                

 Border Protection Command intercepts vessel  

HMAS   Albany, operating under the coordination of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia), intercepted a suspected irregular entry vessel that sought assistance north of Christmas Island on Wednesday.  

Initial indications suggest there are 150 passengers and three crew on board.

The vessel was initially detected by a Customs and Border Protection Dash-8 aircraft, operating under the coordination of RCC Australia.

Border Protection Command has now transferred all people on board the vessel to Australian Government authorities on Christmas Island, where they will undergo initial security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established.  

People arriving by boat without a visa after 13 August 2012 run the risk of transfer to a regional processing country.

MEDIA RELEASE  

                        Friday, 19 April 2013  

Border Protection Command assists vessel  

HMAS Parramatta operating under the coordination of the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia), rendered assistance to a suspected irregular entry vessel that sought assistance east-north-east of Christmas Island on Wednesday.

Initial indications suggest there are 89 passengers and three crew on board.

Border Protection Command has now transferred all people on board the vessel to Australian Government authorities on Christmas Island, where they will undergo initial security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established.  

People arriving by boat without a visa after 13 August 2012 run the risk of transfer to a regional processing country.

MEDIA RELEASE  

                        Friday, 19 April 2013

Customs and Border Protection and the Australian Federal Police intercept vessel

Customs and Border Protection, with support from the Australian Federal Police, intercepted a suspected irregular entry vessel at Cocos (Keeling) Islands yesterday. 

Initial indications suggest there are 112 people on board. 

The vessel was initially detected by Customs and Border Protection officers on Cocos (Keeling) Island. 

Customs and Border Protection has transferred the passengers to Australian Government authorities on Cocos (Keeling) Islands, where they will have basic health and security checks. The Department of Immigration and Citizenship will then make arrangements for them to be transferred to Christmas Island, where they will undergo further security, health and identity checks and their reasons for travel will be established. 

People arriving by boat without a visa after 13 August 2012 run the risk of transfer to a regional processing country.

In paragraph 23 (i) Mr McArdle says that Mr Thomson will receive $95,275 if he stands for election and is defeated at the next Federal Election.  In the preceding paragraph, he says Mr Thomson will receive no payment if he doesn't contest the election (check the provisions below about disendorsement).

The Electoral Act provides for public funding of electoral expenses (real and imagined apparently) of candidates in Australian Federal Elections.   Each candidate who receives more than 4% of the vote in a House of Representatives seat is entitled to a CPI linked figure for each formal first preference vote.  

The current rate of payment is 247.316 cents per eligible vote.

Mr Thomson received 38,268 votes in the 2010 Federal Election for the Seat of Dobell.   That number of votes multiplied by $2.47316 is near enough to $95,000 and I'd imagine that's what Mr McArdle is talking about.

On another note, I've already had an email from one early riser commenting on the Melbourne law firm - Ralph Blewitt is represented by Galbally Rolfe, Mr Thomson by Galbally O'Bryan.   Close, but no cigar!

UPDATE

Here I was so proud of my calculations of the Electoral funding provisions and that $95,000 - it was such a high-falutin' piece of arithmetic!   I think Keen Observer's explanation though is eminently more plausible!

Resettlement allowance

The resettlement allowance is determined by the Remuneration Tribunal in Determination 2012/04 Clauses 9.6 – 9.8.[44]

Eligible Senators and Members are those:

(a)    first elected before 9 October 2004 and whose retiring allowance under the Parliamentary Contributory Superannuation Act 1948 is subject to deferral under the Act when he or she ceases to be a member of the Parliament,

(b)   first elected on or after 9 October 2004, who declare in writing to the Clerk of the relevant House of Parliament the intention to seek employment after leaving Parliament, and

(c)    who have retired involuntarily through:

(i)     electing not to stand for re-election following loss of party endorsement, for reasons other than misconduct

(ii)    defeat at an election (including defeat at an election where he or she has campaigned to be elected to represent a different electoral division or to the other House of Parliament).

The Resettlement Allowance payable to eligible former parliamentarians is equal to three months of the basic salary on the date Parliament is prorogued before the election.

If a senator or member qualifies for a Resettlement Allowance he or she will be paid an Additional Allowance of a further three months of the base parliamentary salary if he or she is:

(a)    a senator who has served more than three full years in the Parliament, or

(b)   a senator for a territory or a member who has served more than one full term in the Parliament.

The immediacy of radio - the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire with these amazing interviews from eye witnesses peering at the shootout from an apartment 3 floors up, just 15 metres from the shooters in this first interview.

Mike Quigley is the CEO of NBN Company Limited and today he presented this report to the Commonwealth.

Download NBN Co Report to Parliamentary Committee 19 apr 2013  

Here's the front cover of the report

 The report declares that most of the cost and operational projections the NBN included in its 2012-2015 Corporate Plan will be met to the dollar out to 2021.   Here's the capital spending projection:  

 Here's opex:  

But it's this chart that I found most revealing of the NBN Company's wish to cherry pick data to suit its own investments, rather than to invest to suit the market (that is you and me) and our buying behaviours.   

Figures in the Australian Bureau of Statistics' latest Internet Activity report show steady growth in wireless connections and fixed broadband:

• There were 12.2 million internet subscribers in Australia at the end of December
  2012. This represents an increase of 1% since the end of June 2012 and an annual
  growth of 5%.
• At 31 December 2012, there were 6.0 million mobile wireless broadband
  connections in Australia, an increase of 2% since the end of June 2012. Mobile
  wireless broadband was again the most prevalent internet technology in
  Australia, accounting for 49% of all connections.
• The volume of data downloaded by fixed line broadband in the three months ended
  31 December 2012 increased by 35% compared with the three months ended 30 June
  2012. Data downloaded using wireless broadband also continued to grow, recording
  an 11% increase over the same period, to 28,196 Terabytes.

This is NBN Company Limited's only chart that compares mobile broadband with fixed broadband.  

 As an investor in NBN Co Ltd, do you feel that you have been fully briefed by the company's management on your investment?

Here's a photo from a great day out I had with Bob near my home in Camperdown.  The Newtown cemetery is just up the road and Bob was particularly taken with this fin from a ship's propeller that the men in the Morts Dock put together for their Engineer Foreman John Leys on his death in 1883, "Erected by his fellow workers".

I've adopted a 3-fold test that I apply to myself every day in this pursuit of The AWU Scandal.

1.     Will my involvement be a limited period of time, will it have an end?

2.    Will I be wholly successful in having this matter properly investigated by a competent authority and will justice be done?

3.    Will the result be worthwhile, will the whole exercise have been worth my effort and the sacrifice I have asked of my family?

If I could not answer yes to each of those 3 questions every day I would stop and would drop it.

In the interim, I have to get by - and that's why I ask you for your support in helping me pay the bills that constantly accrue.

Michael Smith

National Australia Bank

BSB 084855

A/C 537650476

Thanks,

Michael Smith

PS    I just did the PS cause that's what GetUP does.  Thanks for reading the PS.   And go justice.

http://time100.time.com/2013/04/18/time-100/

Gina in, Julia out.   Prophetic?