With Albanese accused of asking for free QANTAS upgrades for his holiday flights, and Dutton being chauffeured around the country in Gina Rinehart's private jet, the list of lurks and perks bestowed on our politicians is a long one. Politicians, both federal and state, and of all political persuasions, enjoy lots of freebie's thanks to big business and billionaires. Can the ordinary people believe their elected representatives are acting only in their best interest when making critical decisions, considering such generosity is being given freely "with no strings attached". Me thinks not!

The rorts bureaucrats of which neither the PM nor Premiers were never aware of are what's ruining the economy & social cohesion of a Nation.

"Can the ordinary people believe their elected representatives are acting only in their best interest "

No. Haven't been able to believe that for some time.

Anyone who thinks their representative, be it federal, state or local, is interested in anything other than the next election and what they can get out of the system between now and then, deserves to be disappointed.

The days when people went into politics to do what they thought was good for the nation are long gone. Politics is now a vocation rather than a calling.

Solutions?

1. Term limits. Senators can't sit for more than 2 terms or 12 years. Reps also limited to 4 terms or 12 years.

2. Get rid of all the under the table benefits pollies get - enhanced super, massive pensions. Eliminate those and put it all in their pay package for all to see.

3. Enhanced rules around declared benefits. Don't just require that they declare things like free flights but that they also then be barred from any vote concerning the industry or person they got the benefit from.

To the detriment of this Nation, Australians have proven to be neigh impossible to be governed ! They demand but generally are rather slow on commitment !

The catch word is strings i thought this was about Elbo now a host of others are volunteering to clear the air about freebies. Those that through mud never looked sideways did they.
Mutton put his intelligence on display for all to calculate his mental ability.
Nukes is a disaster of gross proportions and will not happen. Mutton has put his judgment on the line for persons to vote on, what then happens to him is he will be shown the door. No one will ever mention nukes again.

Dear Paul,

Many of us are cynical as to why people enter politics.
Government is rarely portrayed as a force for good. And
yet we expect a great deal from our government and our
public service.

If we want to talk about "entitlements" lets also talk
about our entitlements and what we expect from our
governments. We expect governments to help after
bushfires and floods -not only with emergency services
at the time but with re-building and providing financial
support.

We expect, as we've seen recently in the Middle East
conflict - of people travelling to war zones in war
torn countries and unstable conditions - we expect
government to rescue them and get them home.

We expect accessible healthcare, hospital services,
good local schools, childcare, good roads, public transport,
to be protected against crime and violence, to protect
children and families when their families won't, and the
list goes on.

Yet despite the expectations of our own entitlements - we
still complain, criticize, about a "nanny state". The list
goes on of our grievances.

Yes, our political system can be improved. It's not perfect.
And it is clear that we don't on the whole value our politicians.
Yet if we stop to think about it they often have risen to
the challenges laid down for them. Perhaps we need to at times
cut them some slack?

Dear Paul,

There is a danger that Members or Parliament or
Senators who want to attend a private event can create
business where they want to go so that the cost of
the trips are justifiable under the existing rules.

Personal pleasure trips should be ruled out but they
are often justified. Sussan Ley justified her Gold
Coast trip where she and her partner own property.
She said it was within the rules. Julie Bishop also
said the same of attending her polo matches.
That's because the rules do allow for grey areas
under the term "parliamentary business".

Perhaps the rules need to be overhauled?

Prime Minister has denied ever asking for an upgrade with
Qantas.

He says his trips are on record, there is full
transparency, and he has been fully accountable
and responsible.

Remember when Albo told us that he gave his word when he said the stage three tax cuts wouldn't be changed. When he went back on that 'promise' we all saw how good his word is.

Now he's giving us his word that he never asked for an upgrade. Hands up all those who have fallen for that.

All the pollies are saying that what they've done is within the rules - rules they themselves make up. What could go wrong?

Talking about making up rules, and what could go wrong?

Sometimes the only response is:
(to an ardent Trumpster supporter):

REALLY?

Talking about making up rules and what could go wrong?

You could get elected US President!

Foxy,

I'm sure you think the last two comments make sense...they don't.

BTW I can't help but notice that you don't dispute that Albo broke his word on the stage 3 cuts.

Or that him just asserting things about the flight upgrades is far from convincing.

Or that pollies making rules about how they can get more stuff is sub-optimal.

No? Having learned at the feet of SR, the policy is to just change the subject.

Truth-telling independent media - not owned by
rich men is one remaining bulwark against the
unrestrained exercise of power. The guard rails protecting
democracy in the US may have buckled, but they are not
broken. Autocratic forces have risen in America but truth lies
in investigative reporting and scrutiny continued to be done.

Trump rails against the press as the "enemy of the people",
he hates scrutiny that comes from fearless investigative
reporting. All liars do.

mhaze,

We get the fact that none of this makes sense to you

Foxy quotes a MotherJones funding raising appeal without attribution (plagiarism is now the norm for Foxy) in an attempt to sound erudite and informed, while hilariously showing the exact opposite.

As I've previously explained (although it obviously went over many heads) the results of this election show that the main-stream media no longer have any sway on the minds of USian voters. MotherJones is in that same category even though they try to dupe (successfully so as regards Foxy) their readers into thinking they are transgressive and independent even though they dutifully toe the progressive line.

If people like Foxy truly wanted to get out from under the dead-weight of the corporate media they'd stop falling for everything places like the Washington Post feeds them and start following places like 'The Free Press' with Bari Weiss.

I don't know how influential the Trump sit down with Joe Rogan was but I'm damn sure that Kamala running and hiding from such podcasters was a factor.

for good or ill, podcasts and independent, small scale web-based news sites are the future. Since the election I've seen more than a few journalists from the mainstream lamenting the end of their influence....although they still hold massive sway on the ill-informed reads like Foxy.

Podcast opinion sites haven't quite taken off in Australia like they have in the US, but its only a matter of time.

BTW I can't help but notice that Foxy doesn't dispute that Albo broke his word on the stage 3 cuts.

When something has been said well and it's short -
I shall take the
bits that appeal, but I re-arrange them and make them my
own, adding my own bits as well.
All of our best thoughts usually come from the
influences of others. Also when you take from many - it's
called research.

As for discussing our Prime Minister and what promises he's
kept? This discussion is about politicians and their
sense of entitlements. I have no wish to divert this topic
elsewhere.

" I have no wish to divert this topic elsewhere."

Oh, so that's why you introduced the topic of Trump? Dill.

BTW, stealing the words of others and using them as your own is plagiarism, now matter how you try to dress them up. Its a silent admission that proper analysis is beyond your scope.

As to Albo lying, that's completely pertinent to the issue at hand and whether he's lying about the freebies he got...as much as you'd like to pretend otherwise.

mhaze,

I'm not arguing with you.

I'm simply explaining why I'm right.

"I'm simply explaining why I'm right."

Well there's gotta be a first time for everything, but, alas, this isn't it.

We can all see that not even you think you're right when you run from simple facts.

talking about running away from "simple facts?"

Nah. More like walking away from strong opinions.

The fewer the facts, the stronger the opinion.

I'm simply explaining why I'm right.
Foxy,
How is that when you perpetually prove that you're not !

Those upgrades are for airline staff and their families.