John Howard couldn't have been much clearer.

Turnbull's speech starts just before 40 minutes in.

Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper describes John Howard as by far the most successful conservative politician to have held office, anywhere in the world, in the 21st century.

John Howard was Prime Minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007 Photo: Getty

 

By Charles Moore

 

John Howard is by far the most successful conservative politician to have held office, anywhere in the world, in the 21st century. From 1996, he won four consecutive elections, and was Liberal (ie Tory) Prime Minister of Australia until his defeat in November 2007. Thanks to his prudent management of the public finances and the banks, Australia has been the only important “Western” country well-placed to weather the storm of the credit crunch.

ENDS

He describes himself that way too.

To beat him Rudd even adopted the guise.

 

 

But forget all that.  It turns out John Howard didn't lead a conservative party at all.

 

Overnight Turnbull told the UK:

 

The Liberals are not conservatives: PM Malcolm Turnbull meets British Prime Minister Theresa May for talks at 10 Downing Street in London yesterday. Picture: Kym SmithThe Australian

 

• 12:00AM July 11, 2017
• Simon Benson National Political Editor

  Sydney

  @simonbenson

  

Malcolm Turnbull has made the bold claim that the Liberal Party has never been a conservative party, and that Robert Menzies was a moderate, progressive leader, in a speech strongly defending his own centrist governing style.

Describing the “sensible centre” as the modern political battleground, the Prime Minister suggested a comparison between the Liberal Party under his leadership with that of Menzies, who he said had purposely rejected ­traditional conservative politics.

• ANALYSIS: Part philosophy, part provocation

“The sensible centre was the place to be. It remains the place to be,” Mr Turnbull said in remarks likely to inflame the internal battle for ascendancy within the party between so-called moderates and conservatives.

Delivering the Disraeli lecture to the Policy Exchange think tank in London overnight, after earlier ­visiting the scene of the Borough Market terrorist attacks in which two Australians were killed last month, Mr Turnbull’s speech also delivered a nod to former prime minister Tony Abbott by reprising his warnings to Europe about keeping control of its borders.

But his key message was a ­rebuff to the growing calls within the party to return to its conser­vative base.

ENDS

I think in the battle for who better represents the Liberal Party John Howard trumps Turnbull.

Yet another no-good no-judgement Turnbull utterance - sure to raise hackles - and just as certain to create nothing but drama.

Gillian Triggs will launch @samdastyari's new book 'One Halal of a Story' next month. pic.twitter.com/rJxGkdMLAo

— Bevan Shields (@BevanShields) July 10, 2017

How far up us do you really want to stick it Sam?

How the Halal did we get here? What the Halal was I thinking? How the Halal was this a good idea? #OneHalalOfAStory 31 July pic.twitter.com/ET6CrPh9ol

— Sam Dastyari (@samdastyari) July 3, 2017

We first published this article on 3 December 2015.

Ralph Blewitt and Bruce Wilson will be almost certain to escape conviction on the primary charges recommended by the TURC

Thursday, 03 December 2015

Tick Tick Tick #MalcolmTurnbull #TonyAbbott #ChristopherPyne #Newspoll #Auspol #Libspill #BillShorten #JulieBishop #EverCloser pic.twitter.com/XhCPL2BVMd

— stuart (@stuwd) July 9, 2017

Mal doesn't want to peak too early...😂😂

— Mike OHare (@MikeOHare1552) July 10, 2017

More unnecessary bad press for Beyond Blue because of Gillard.

Dr Oriel's well researched article highlights the gulf between the way professional entities conduct themselves - and Gillard.

The politicisation of psychiatry is a feature of totalitarian states. It has no place in a liberal democratic society.

Former PM and new Beyondblue head Julia Gillard proposed last week that some US commentators had charged Trump mentally ill out of genuine concern for him. It seems improbable, given the news outlets leading the charge have a track record of political bias against the President. Speaking to the ABC, Gillard said that as she hadn’t met him and wasn’t a mental health professional, she couldn’t offer an analysis, but “if President Trump continues with some of the tweeting, etcetera, that we have seen, that this will be in the dialogue”.

There is no reason for mental health to enter media dialogue on the performance of politicians. In the ABC documentary Killing Season, Gillard questioned the mental health of former PM Kevin Rudd. She said: “I was seriously worried about (Rudd’s) psychological state. I thought he wasn’t coping.

............

”The American Psychiatric Association later published a new section of its Principles of Medical Ethics to guide mental health and media professionals: “On occasion psychiatrists are asked for an opinion about an individual who is in the light of public attention … a psychiatrist may share with the public his or her expertise about psychiatric issues in general. However, it is unethical for a psychiatrist to offer a professional opinion unless he or she has conducted an examination and has been granted proper authorisation for such a statement.”

.....

Any use of mental health for political purposes is deleterious to liberal democracy. It also is a feature of totalitarian states. During the 1970s, psychiatrists criticised the politicisation of mental health in communist states. Sidney Bloch wrote of the systematic misuse of psychiatry for political ends in the Soviet Union. Dissidents against communist regimes in Russia and China were often classified as ­insane and sent to psychiatric hospitals. Bloch criticised the inculcation of communist ideology in the physicians during medical education and how it compromised the objectivity required for effective medical diagnosis and treatment.

The politicisation of mental health should be avoided. It diminishes the integrity of democracy by appeal to unelected experts often shielded from public scrutiny about their possible political bias.

It also creates a barrier between mental health professionals and people of politically incorrect persuasion who, like people from across the political spectrum, might one day need their help.

ENDS

More distress for the staff at Beyond Blue.  More discredit.  More Gillard.

Ralph Blewitt has been misquoted in The Australian newspaper in its 7 July 2017 article "I was stooge for AWU: Blewitt".

The misquoting is capable of harming Mr Blewitt's defence and should be corrected.

On Thursday, 6 July 2017 near the Perth Magistrates' Court, Blewitt was interviewed by Paige Taylor of The Australian and both he and Ms Taylor recorded the conversation.  Mr Blewitt has published his record of the interview to youtube and he states it represents the totality of the on the record conversation with the journalist.

The Australian's opening paragraph is: 

Former union official Ralph ­Blewitt says he was a bagman for an Australian Workers Union’s slush fund but he was also a stooge and a fall guy and others should be charged with fraud.

Mr Blewitt on tape:

There was no fraud committed by myself or any other party in this case, this is a case of secret commissions.

The fraud is a frivolous charge, it's totally incorrect.  What actually happened was there was agreement with Thiess contractors and Bruce Wilson.  Bruce Wilson and Thiess Contractors negotiated a deal for secret commisions.

Mr Blewitt was consistent and clear throughout his interview.  His position didn't alter.

He explained that he proposes to plead not guilty because he's been charged with deceiving Thiess when no deception took place.  Mr Blewitt didn't say "others should be charged with fraud", quite the opposite, he says there was no fraud by anyone.

The Australian's published story could harm Mr Blewitt's defence and it must be corrected.

In his video recording, Mr Blewitt tells Ms Taylor of meetings between Bruce Wilson and his brother in law Joe Trio of Thiess which took place in Perth, along with other meetings involving Thiess senior executive Nick Jukes and AWU National President Bill Ludwig in Sydney.

He says that agreement was for the payment of $300,000 over 3 years to be paid into the AWU Workplace Reform Association which he says, "which was established to receive the secret commissions from Thiess Contractors".

"There was no fraud, I was simply the bagman used by Bruce Wilson, Joe Trio and other parties, Bill Ludwig - they negotiated the deal for the secret commissions.  There's two parties to a...if THEY want to call it a fraud, it's secret commissions - the giver and the receiver.  Why am I being charged for fraud, when in actual fact, I had no party to the negotiations with Thiess Contractors for the secret commissions, I was not a party to that at all."

"The police have charged me with 31 counts of causing a detriment to Thiess Contractors.  I never defrauded anybody.  Thiess Contractors agreed.  The Chief Executive, the main man from Thiess Contractors met with Bruce Wilson, Bill Ludwig at a secret dinner in Sydney and agreed to a secret commissions package over the life of the Dawesville Cut Project.  Why aren't they  being charged?"

In the context of what Mr Blewitt actually said in its totality, it's selective and misleading for The Australian to report, "“Why am I the only one being charged with fraud? I was used as a stooge, I was the fall guy".  Mr Blewitt's concern wasn't that he was the only one being charged with fraud - a statement which invites the view that he thinks others should be "charged with fraud' as well.  Blewitt's clear and consistent position throughout the interview was that there's been no fraud, Thiess willingly arranged to make corrupt payments.

Here's Mr Blewitt's recording of the interview.

It's completely consistent with what Mr Blewitt told me in a recorded telephone interview at about the same time.

Why do journalists, publishers and their lawyers go so far out of their way to write Gillard and corporate executives out of trouble yet so freely drop Ralph Blewitt in it?

Emmanuel and Mal are on the way to the new submarine centre, cosy together in Manny's plane.  

Just as well it wasn't Bronnie Bishop who scabbed a lift.  With the mob who just won a few billions in taxpayer funded contracts.

The Chairman likes Manny.  Says he's from the Sensible Centre.

Do you think that's compared to, say, Tony Abbott?

Chairman Mal's "sensible" is different from mine.

Macron's policies includes:

• Similar to Merkel on "refugees" - France to "take its share"
• All 18-year-olds to get a 500 euro "culture pass" for spending on cinema, theater and concert tickets.
• Free accommodation centres for returning Islamic State fighters, in an attempt to rehabilitate some of those willing to re-integrate into society.
• Halve number of early primary school pupils to 12 per class 
• No ban on Muslim veil for university students
• Asylum requests processed within six months

WhileBob and Carol and Ted and Alice Turnbull/Macron sip champers on the Falcon from Germany, Merkel/Macron's policy disaster plays out below for the poor bastards who have to live with the consequences of  "Sensible Centre" politics.