Keeping control of the pollies

[basilio]

Interesting story breaking about English Culture Secretary John Whittingale.

Seems as if he had been seeing a woman for period of time who, unbeknown to him, was a dominatrix. In fact she was a rather well known dominatrix.

Of course when he found this out he naturally ended the relationship. Of course...

Thats the story he is putting out anyway.

Minister John Whittingdale admits relationship with sex worker

1 hour ago
From the section UK Politics

Image copyright Reuters

Culture Secretary John Whittingdale has admitted he had a relationship with a sex worker but said he did not know her real occupation.

Mr Whittingdale said he ended the relationship as soon as he found out, in February 2014.

He insisted it had not compromised his job as culture, media and sport secretary, which he began in May 2015.

"It has never had any influence on the decisions I have made as culture secretary," he said in a statement.

The reality ? Grubby as all. Turns out this situation was well known to the Press which refused to expose it at the time basically because he was avidly supporting their line on Press Freedom.

It's a long read but this analysis is an eyeopener into how the media can control the politicians.

The real Whittingdale scandal: a cover up by the UK press
James Cusick 10 April 2016

I spent five months with another senior journalist at the Independent newspaper investigating why other papers had shut down a story about the culture minister, only to see my editor shut the investigation down too. Here is the anatomy of a press cover-up.


The promotion of the former chair of the House of Commons Department of Culture, Media and Sport select committee to Culture Secretary last year means that John Whittingdale’s lengthy relationship with a professional dominatrix and fetish escort – known to leading national newspaper groups who held back from publishing any detail – left him increasingly open to potential blackmail.

Whittingdale, according to one Whitehall source, became "The culture secretary Rupert Murdoch dreamt of"

Although there is no suggestion that Whittingdale was explicitly coerced by any of Britain’s newspaper bosses, questions inevitably arise as to whether concerns about publication of aspects of his private life influenced his policy decisions inside the Culture department.

https://www.opendemocracy.net/ourbeeb/james-cusick/real-whittingdale-scandal-cover-up-by-press

For a shorter more direct view check this out. One of the juicy bits was

And yet more: “A senior Labour MP confirmed that he had seen Whittingdale with a prostitute at the House of Commons, although was unaware if it was Ms. King. When pressed on how he was aware of this, he told Byline that she was giving out business cards to other MPs”.

http://zelo-street.blogspot.com.au/2016/04/john-whittingdale-and-dominatrix.html

 

[SirRumpole]

Yes, well politicians lead a lonely life don't they ? Hard work , long hours, they need a bit of company now and then.

I'm sure there is voluntary censorship in the media depending on the views of the media people. It's no secret what journos are usually on what pollies side.

 

[sptrawler]

I kind of thought, there have been times when Parties have been led by a dominatrix.

 

[pixel]

This kind of "breaking news" may have been exciting when Profumo met Keeler and Rice-Davies. Because it was the first occasion openly talked about.
Before that, those things were kept quiet, so as not to upset the loyal subjects. But happen they did. Just ask the current Archbishop of Canterbury about his lineage. :1zhelp:

Human nature - especially in the self-anointed "Upper Class" with too much leisure n their hands - remains the same. The difference today is, members of the "Lower Class" have learned to read, to think, and to connect via Social Media. And they relish the chance of stepping on feet of clay when a nobleman is found to act in less than a noble manner. Most of them do have feet of clay, so this kind of news becomes commonplace and ho-hum. Better move on.

 

[basilio]

The sex issue is a distraction in this case. The point of the story was that the Minister knew the woman he was seeing was pro (despite his protestations) and that the commercial media didn't make a fuss because he was kicking the BBC and supporting the commercial medias interests

Consider the situation with the other slant. A Communications Minister wants to open a series of investigations into the role of the media in terms of privacy invasion. Would this affair have been deliberately overlooke for a millisecond ?

 

[SirRumpole]

) and that the commercial media didn't make a fuss because he was kicking the BBC and supporting the commercial medias interests

Well yeah, but it's hardly new. The Murdoch press don't criticise the Coalition as much as they criticise Labor because they think that with the Coalition in government there is a better chance that their main competition the ABC will be strangled.

The media can be criticised a lot more for saying something wrong than for pulling news stories . So they rarely praise their political opponents or cause embarrassment to their political friends.

 

[noco]

HI all , please read and pass on.
Politics is not a bad lurk. They all say that with their skills they could do well in Private Industry or Business. Some of them even complain that they have no security of employment, try to explain that to every working Man or Woman in the Country who doubtless think that most Pollies couldn’t even run a Chook Raffle.



Subject: Update on pension entitlement for all. Read and send on?



Author : Dr. Dale Kerwin
School of Education
MT Gravatt Campus, Griffith University
Ph. 07 3735 5884 | fax. 07 3735 5991 | email: javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','d.kerwin@griffith.edu.au')


As a self funded retiree, I’m frustrated with Canberra’s continuous fiddle with Superannuation contributions and rule changes
Plus the measure to Rebalance the Pension Assets Test to be implemented on 1 January 2017.
So here's fair warning to all politicians of any persuasion, this group of aged voters may be about to make the greatest impact on any Federal election in history, ignoring them may be the start of a changed political environment in this country.


Change the Entitlements
I absolutely agree, if a pension isn't an entitlement, neither is theirs. They keep telling us that paying us an aged pension isn't sustainable.
Paying politicians all the perks they get, is even less sustainable!
The politicians themselves, in Canberra, brought it up, that the Age of Entitlements is over:

The author is asking each addressee to forward this email to a minimum of twenty people on their address list; in turn ask each of those to do likewise. In three days, most people in Australia will have this message. This is one idea that really should be passed around because the rot has to stop somewhere.

Proposals to make politicians shoulder their share of the weight now that the Age of Entitlement is over:

1. Scrap political pensions.
Politicians can purchase their own retirement plan, just as most other working Australians are expected to do.

2. Retired politicians (past, present & future) participate in Centrelink.
A Politician collects a substantial salary while in office but should receive no salary when they're out of office.
Terminated politicians under 70 can go get a job or apply for Centrelink unemployment benefits like ordinary Australians.
Terminated politicians under 70 can negotiate with Centrelink like the rest of the Australian people.

3. Funds already allocated to the Politicians' retirement fund be returned immediately to Consolidated Revenue.
This money is to be used to pay down debt they created which they expect us and our grandchildren to repay for them.

4. Politicians will no longer vote themselves a pay raise. Politicians pay will rise by the lower of, either the CPI or 3%.

5. Politicians lose their privileged health care system and participate in the same health care system as ordinary Australian people.
i.e. Politicians either pay for private cover from their own funds or accept ordinary Medicare.

6. Politicians must equally abide by all laws they impose on the Australian people.

7. All contracts with past and present Politicians men/women are void effective 31/12/15.

The Australian people did not agree to provide perks to Politicians, that burden was thrust upon them.
Politicians devised all these contracts to benefit themselves.
Serving in Parliament is an honour not a career.
The Founding Fathers envisioned citizen legislators, so our politicians should serve their term(s), then go home and back to work.

If each person contacts a minimum of twenty people, then it will only take three or so days for most Australians to receive the message. Don't you think it's time?

THIS IS HOW YOU FIX Parliament and help bring fairness back into this country!

If you agree with the above, pass it on. If not, just delete.

If you wonder why the above individuals are asking for your help look at the figures below.
STATUTORY OFFICES
Date of Effect 1 July 2014
Specified Statutory Office
Base Salary (per annum)
Total Remuneration for office (per annum)
Chief of the Defence Force > $535,100 - $764,420
Commissioner of Taxation > $518,000 - $740,000
Chief Executive Officer, Australian Customs
And Border Protection Service > $483,840 - $691,200
Auditor-General for Australia > $469,150 - $670,210
Australian Statistician > $469,150 - $670,210
“PAY FREEZE, NOT FAIR. SOB, SOB”
Salaries of retired Prime Minister and Politicians
Office Additional salary (%) Salary as of 1 July
Prime Minister 160 $507,338
Deputy Prime Minister 105 $400,016
Treasurer 87.5 $365,868
Leader of the Opposition 85.0 $360,990
House of Reps Speaker 75.0 $341,477
Leader of the House 75.0 $341,477
Minister in Cabinet 72.5 $336,599
Parliamentary secretary 25.0 $243,912
Other ministers 57.5 $307,329
Shadow minister 25.0 $243,912
Source: Remuneration Tribunal.
So if I press all the right buttons, the TOTAL annual wages for the 150 seats in the Parliament are:
Prime Minister $507,338
Deputy Prime Minister $400,016
Treasurer $365,868
Leader of the Opposition $360,990
House of Reps Speaker $341,477
Leader of the House $341,477
Minister in Cabinet $336,599
Parliamentary secretary $243,912
Other ministers* 307,329 x 71 = A$21,820,359
Shadow ministers* $243,912 x 71 = A$17,317,752

The TOTAL ANNUAL SALARIES (for 150 seats) = $41,694,311 - PER YEAR!
And that’s just the Federal Politicians, no one else!
For the ‘lifetime’ payment example (below) I used the scenario that:
1. They are paid ‘lifetime’ salaries the same as their last working year and
2. After retiring, the ’average’ pollie’s life expectancy is an additional 20 years (which is not unreasonable).
It’s worth remembering that this is EXCLUDING all their other perks!
SO, for a 20 years ‘lifetime’ payment (excluding wages paid while a Parliamentarian)
Prime Minister @ $507,338 = A$10,146,760
Deputy Prime Minister @ $400,016 = A$8,000,320
Treasurer @ $365,868 = A$7,317,360
Leader of the Opposition @ $360,990 = A$7,219,800
House of Reps Speaker @ $341,477 = A$6,829,540
Leader of the House @ $341,477 = A$6,829,540
Minister in Cabinet @ $336,599 = A$6,731,980
Parliamentary Secretary @ $243,912 = A$4,782,240
Other ministers** @ $307,329 = A$6,146,580 x 71 = A$436,407,180
Shadow ministers** @ $243,912 = A$4,878,240 x 71 = A$346,355,040
Conclusions:
TOTAL ‘life time’ (20 year) payments, (excluding wages paid while in parliament) = A$833,886,220 – OVER $833 MILLION
Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, John Howard, Paul Keating, Malcolm Fraser, Bob Hawke, et al, add nauseum, are receiving $10 MILLION + EXTRA at taxpayer expense.
Should an elected PM serve 4 years and then decide to retire, each year (of the 4 years) will have cost taxpayers an EXTRA Two and a half million bucks a year! A$2,536,690 to be precise.
A 2 year retirement payment cut-off will SAVE our Oz bottom line A$792,201,909 *** NEARLY $800 MILLION.
There are 150 seats in House, minus the 8 above = 142 seats, divided equally for example = 71 each for both shadow and elected ministers.
This example excludes all wages paid while a parliamentarian AND all perks on top of that - travel, hotels, Secretarial staff, speech writers, restaurants, offices, chauffeured limos, security, etc. etc.
150 seats, 20-year payment of A$833,886,220 less annual salary x 2 years of A$83,388,622. [$41,694,311 x 2]
“Instead of giving a politician the keys to the city, it might be better to change the locks.”
YOU’RE RIGHT, YOU HAVE FOUND WHERE THE CUTS SHOULD BE MADE!
ACTION: Push for a MAX 2 year post retirement payment (give ‘em time to get a real job).
Spread it far and wide folks. People should know.
Dr. Dale Kerwin
School of Education
MT Gravatt Campus
Grifffith University
ph. 07 3735 5884
fax. 07 3735 5991
email: javascript:_e(%7B%7D,'cvml','d.kerwin@griffith.edu.au');

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Martin