disastrous week for abbott. .

With four months to go before the next Federal Election, the Libs must be thinking just how much more damage can Abbott do to his own party.



http://www.afr.com/p/national/bca_leads_attack_on_coalition_parental_8ziyTYg7nxpMuNuX43tTBL

BCA leads attack on Coalition parental leave


The Business Council of Australia has joined the chorus of corporate condemnation of Tony Abbott’s plan to increase company tax to fund paid parental leave, saying “it defies economic sense’’.
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http://www.afr.com/p/national/power_companies_warn_abbott_on_carbon_wp23qHVQmKdGX9dnFirEhM


Power companies warn Abbott on carbon



Power companies are demanding the federal opposition rethink its “direct action’’ plan for reducing carbon emissions, warning that its company baseline approach could be more difficult to operate than Labor’s trading scheme
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http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/indonesia-raps-abbott-over-towback-policy-20130423-2ibqp.html


Indonesia raps Abbott over tow-back policy



A senior member of the Indonesian government has suggested that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's policy to turn back asylum seekers boats may harm Australia's relationship with Indonesia.

On Monday, Mahfudz Siddiq, the head of Indonesia's parliamentary commission for foreign affairs, said that Mr Abbott's comments demonstrated that the Opposition Leader ''doesn't understand the problem''.
''This kind of opinion disrespects the talks we have already had which have been very productive. With wrong perception, even Indonesia could pull out from these co-operative agreements regarding people smuggling,'' he told AAP.
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http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/nsw-signs-up-to-gonski-reforms-20130423-2ibtl.html


NSW signs up to Gonski reforms



Mr O'Farrell said they were tough decisions but showed the state government was prioritising school education.





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http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/doubt-over-abbotts-claim-on-staffer-pay-cut-20130423-2ibgw.html


doubt over abbott's claim on staffer pay cut



Tony Abbott's claim that bureaucratic red tape could prevent him from cutting the salary of a staff member whose ''booze-fuelled brain snap'' at a cocktail party made national headlines has been thrown into doubt.

Under guidelines that dictate pay rates for parliamentary staff, it is possible for the Opposition Leader to reduce the salary of Mark Roberts, a legal academic told Fairfax Media.
Dr Roberts was removed as Mr Abbott's senior policy adviser on Friday after details emerged of his unsavoury outburst directed at the head of an indigenous education charity.

Advertisement Dr Roberts has admitted threatening Andrew Penfold, chief executive of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, that a Coalition government would cut funding to his organisation.

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http://www.afr.com/p/national/tax_rise_won_hurt_companies_abbott_B28WCS67XVyCWCW45cybuJ



"Tax rise won’t hurt companies: Abbott"




"Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says most companies will dump their own paid parental leave schemes but acknowledges that some will have to pay twice for at least two to three years."



"All but confirming the Coalition would impose a tax increase on the nation’s 3200 largest companies to fund his scheme, Mr Abbott also urged business to consider the broader economic argument.
'

"But, simultaneously, the Coalition has shelved a pledge made at the last election to cut company tax by 1.5 points for all companies."

"The net effect now is that bigger businesses face an overall increase, the size of which is yet to be finalised."
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http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/abbott-sparks-ire-with-talk-of-illegals-20130422-2i9zq.html#ixzz2RBMJ3IsG




abbott sparks ire with talk of 'illegals'






Mr Abbott was interrupted during his address to reporters in Perth by a passerby, who took exception to Mr Abbott's description of asylum seekers arriving in boats as ''illegal''. ''It's not illegal, that's a lie,'' the man interjected. ''You know it's a lie.''

The online reaction was swift, with a petition launched calling on Mr Abbott to apologise for his use of the word, and Twitter users outraged at the use of the term. Refugee advocates accused the opposition of fear-mongering.


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http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/families-will-be-worse-off-under-coalition-federal-government-figures-reveal/story-e6frfkp9-1226625439968#ixzz2RBKL6OzM



new figures,families 'worse off under abbott




At last Thursday's People's Forum in Corangamite, Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said a Coalition government would "do some things that will hurt" to repair the Budget, such as scrapping the SchoolKids Bonus and axing spending linked to the carbon and mining taxes.


The Government released figures to the Herald Sun showing a typical family in Ringwood, in the heart of Deakin, would lose $2224 a year under Mr Abbott.


A Ringwood family earning $103,000 with an eight-year-old and 14-year-old and both parents working, would lose $1230 from the SchoolKids Bonus, $504 in tax cuts from changes to the tax-free threshold, $73 clean energy payments and $417 from reversing a superannuation tax cut for low-income earners.

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http://www.news.com.au/national-news/tony-abbott-staffer-well-cut-your-throat/story-fncynjr2-1226624063491#ixzz2QrsznIGS




Tony Abbott staffer told eminent Australian: 'We'll cut your throat'







A SENIOR Tony Abbott staffer threatened to "cut the throat" of an eminent Australian last night at the gala Qantas party, political commentator Peter Van Onselen has said.

Van Onselen, who witnessed the threat, told news.com.au a male, "very senior member of Abbott’s staff" told the prominent Australian, who works in the not-for-profit sector, he would "cut his throat" when "we" are in Government.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ http://www.afr.com/p/national/abbott_kills_off_surplus_promise_HUvzXUwV8vw8iIJjaUcHnK




Abbott kills off surplus promise




Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has declared “all bets are off” on whether the Coalition will deliver a surplus in what could be its first year in office, prompting warnings from a prominent economist that the budget may not be balanced for years.
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http://www.news.com.au/national-news/one-nation-co-founder-suing-tony-abbott-for-15m/story-fncynjr2-1226622032265#ixzz2QdJwVATM



Mr Ettridge is suing federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott for damages of more than $1.5 million

.

He has accused Mr Abbott of acting unlawfully in 1998 by assisting and encouraging litigation against One Nation in the Queensland courts.

Mr Ettridge alleges the court action was false and malicious and the resulting damage affected him greatly.

He also accuses Mr Abbott of attempting to pervert the course of justice by providing lawyers "to propel those false claims through the courts".

Mr Ettridge's lawyers served legal papers on Mr Abbott for damages on the weekend.

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http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/a-lemon-experts-declare-on-turnbulls-plan-20130409-2hjil.html




"A lemon, experts declare on Turnbull's plan"




Mark Gregory, senior lecturer at RMIT University's school of electrical and computer engineering, said the Coalition's policy would harm Australia's economy and not future-proof the country's internet infrastructure. ''They're going to be putting Australia behind the rest of the world,'' Dr Gregory said of the Coalition plan. ''That's going to harm the next generation of Australians. It's also going to harm Australian business.''

It was for this reason Dr Gregory praised Labor's plan but dubbed the Coalition's policy a ''lemon''.

''The Coalition's policy has got so many things that can go wrong with it,'' he said.

Geoff Huston, chief scientist at the Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre, agreed that ''this is indeed a lemon''.

Steve Dalby, of internet provider iiNet, which uses Labor's NBN, said he preferred Labor's plan. ''Fibre-to-the-premises is where it needs to be,'' he said.

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