The Great Ute Scandal has been bubbling along for weeks but I ignored it, partly because scandals are rarely interesting and partly because I couldn’t get to the starting point of working out what wrongdoing was supposed to have taken place (compare for example the Manildra business, which involved large sums of public money and provoked no serious concern). But in the last day or two the stakes have been raised dramatically, based on the alleged email from the PM’s office urging a prompt response to the concerns of a car dealer who contributed a car to Rudd’s campaign.
Whatever the significance of the putative email may have been, Rudd’s outright denial that any such email was sent means that it will be a major crisis for him if the email turns up, and possibly a terminal one if it turns out that the email was suppressed. On the other hand, if it can be proved that the email published by the Telegraph and referred to by Turnbull was in fact a fake, the consequences will be dire for Turnbull at least (I don’t suppose the Tele could lose much credibility). As my recent spam crisis demonstrates, I’m no tech expert, but I would have thought that the headers on an email would make it pretty easy to check whether it had been sent and that erasing all trace of an email would be just about impossible. And it would be grossly irresponsible to publish an alleged email if you received it with the identifying info removed.
Update
The news that the email was a fake confirms that the outcome will be bad for Turnbull, and could be catastrophic. The worst case, but a plausible one on the evidence to hand, is that the email was the product of a fraud cooked up between Liberal staffers and one or more corrupt Treasury officials. Even the best case, that the email was fabricated for some personal reason, and passed to the Liberals along with other leaks about the car scheme, doesn’t look good. I guess, given the twists and turns so far, it’s also necessary to consider the Machiavellian possible of a (highly successful) agent provocateur, luring Turnbull into a trap, as happened (IIRC) with Ralph Willis in 1996.
Further update
It now appears that the worst-case scenario is pretty close to the truth. Grech has apparently been working as a source of leaks to the Liberal party for a long period*. Apart from the obvious disastrous implications for the Liberals, this point also casts doubt on what remains of the case against Swan. If Grech was working for the Libs all along, he could easily have generated a large volume of emails, reports and so on, without any particular pressure from the government
* The term “mole” is commonly used in such cases, but the original idea of a mole was one of an agent in place who did nothing but burrow nto the target organisation, waiting for the time to act.
John Quiggin 
Ummmm Alice …. the KitchenSlut is actually a boy!
@Chris Warren
“PMLawrence is covering for the Liberals” – no, I’m trying to draw people’s attention to some possibilities that have occurred in other times and places, over other issues, so they can look out for them, whether to rule them out or to find them out.
“If allegations need evidence then clearly – if the evidence is spurious then QED the allegations are spurious”.
That is precisely wrong – and precisely the conclusion such disinformation is aimed at producing, on those occasions when this technique is used. But we can see this from accidental patterns that are now open to us because they weren’t deliberate ploys. For instance, in the 19th century someone came up with a faulty proof of the Four Colour Theorem. That particular proof was wrong – but the theorem happens to be correct, although it wasn’t actually proved until much later. But by that reasoning, since the proof was faulty the theorem is wrong too. Only, it isn’t.
‘What bizarre track is Lawrence trying to follow ? … What scheme was it, by who, that had intended to discredit the forgery ? … When was this intention formed ? … When and what was this Lawrence called “something improper or damaging is about to come out” ? … When was this, what was this ?’
This is just precisely the sort of going off half cocked I was trying to head off, by pointing out that all we know is that we don’t know what is going on. I’m not claiming that this disinformation technique necessarily was used – just that we can’t rule it out so far, and spurious evidence neither discredits the core allegations nor sheets home to those who placed it before the public. It could well have been left lying around as a poisoned chalice for a leaker to find, if a leaker was suspected, precisely in order to destroy credibility. Leaving things for leakers is the very stuff of disinformation, and it took deep subtlety to think up faking true stuff to discredit it – but that was thought up over a century ago. Clearly people still buy into the faulty thinking it uses.
“It appears Grech was Malcolm’s mole in the public service and Malcolm knew when he received official information by this back channel – he was receiving illegal information… Turnbull must now be charged with corruption, pure and simple.”
Even if true, that sort of thing lies on the border of what parliamentarians are there for, and that sort of response chokes off effective enquiry that isn’t officially approved. That’s why parliamentary privilege covers as much as it does, so parliamentarians don’t get neutered like that. Churchill is an example of someone who did this sort of thing, very constructively, back in the ’30s when he was marginalised by the establishment. It’s valuable to keep this sort of thing available.
PM Lawrence
So if spurious evidence for weapons of mass destruction do not exists – this does not mean that weapons of mass do not exist.
This is pure Liberal fakery – writ large.
You must use evidence, have evidence, otherwise you are just peddling propaganda.
Now PM Lawrence tries to spread more smoke to cover-up Turnbull’s retreat. According to PM Lawrence:
This represents an over-active or over-motivated imagination.
After creating a false “poisoned chalice” PM Lawrence then builds an entire sandcastle on it; viz:
Lawrence’s device of “all we know is what we don’t know” is the last refuge for propagandists when they are trying to back away at a millions of miles an hour. We seen it all before. They never claim this when they peddle their original lies. Only when they fail to find weapons, or only after the cops track down a Liberal mole.
All of this is just more and more and more fakery to cover earlier fakery.
Now we hear that another liberal – Hamilton-Smith – has also been lying about emails for political purposes. He too is headed for the dock.
Well I agree in the main with PM Lawrence – and I think Labor are too conservative to vote for, let alone the Libs. I am a little disappointed at the reactionary tone of a lot of the responses here – maybe it is a Lib plot, but maybe not. We probably will never know. Why is everyone so keen to join the current Labor team? What have they ever done that was so great? And as for comments about Australia not having the level of corruption to falsify evidence – that is incredibly naive. Australia is just another country, the people here are just like people elsewhere, the power struggles driven by similar personalities. We might have more propaganda telling us how great we are, but you don’t have to believe it.
While I don’t like this sort of shenanigans outside of a secret-squirrel novel, at least it has made politics interesting again. Much more interesting than which celebrity may-or-may-not have some other celebrities babies…yeah, I read the Kruger story this morning – yawn.
Wait for the next development: these days you don’t hear the “click” of the wiretap and there is no cone of silence anymore.
And you were saying Kslut?
Grech is a mole and has been a lib mole for years. Thats the “poor public servant” we were all supposed to feel sorry for? He should have been doing his job and doing it in an apolitical manner. He deserves no recommendation as a public servant. He is a disgrace. I dont care what party he (and others like him) belong to and I would feel exactly the same if he was peddling garbage like this for Labour. Public servants should keep their political views and peddling of leaks and smears and forgeries out of the public service. Every single one of them?. Is this what they get paid for. No. They are there to independently advise governments not trash governments. Grech should be fired or charged. End of story.
While we are on about public servants and politisation of them, I remind people that Allan Kessing is still fighting the witch hunt from the previous government. The law under which Kessing was criminally convicted needs change, IMHO.
Donald
I remember an earlier case, a Don Witheford, from Department of Foreign Affairs.
However the intention is part of the picture. Was Grech a Liberal sympathiser feeding material to Liberals (in and out of government) or was he a concerned individual whistle-blowing as an act of conscience?
I think the former.
It just gets worse. Big Mal admits he spoke with Grech immediately before the hearing (Chin up Grechie boy? You know what to say – except he was a very bad actor) and big Joe admits he rang Grech at home “to see how he was”.
Spare me the ugly details.
Grech was a little pet weasel. How many more snide little political servants are there in there (and elsewhere in the public sector)? There needs to be something done about it. Its the principle. There should be some penalty for this sort of behaviour on Grech’s part and on liberal ministers who line up as receivers ( I am sure they were lined up).
It now turns out Grech took it on himself to send emails to Swans home fax by hitting reply all button. No one asked him to, yet this is what they are trying to pin Swan for? Special consideration of Grants case?. Grech made it special, thats all and then he reports to Uncle Mal and Uncle Joe. “Mission accomplished.”
Its the dirty little tricks party.
The whole point about this email is that it originated inside a government department, and ordinarily anyone who receives correspondence from a government department is entitled to presume it is genuine.
If I receive a letter from the tax office or some other government department I presume it to be genuine. I don’t immediately think ‘oh, it’s probably some rogue individual playing funny buggers. So I’ll just ignore it and throw it in the bin’.
Unless anyone has evidence that Turnbull or anyone else had knowledge of the hoax, then they are merely throwing mud and hoping it will stick.
The fact that some Opposition MPs may have recieved leaks is hardly unusual or proof of anything. It is not unusual for Oppositions to receive leaks from the public service, and ordinarily Opposition MPs would presume that this sort of thing is merely someone trying to blow the whistle on some matter.
Moroever, if this sort of thing goes on in government departments then it is the government’s responsibility to put things right or at least put in place measures to ensure the department runs smoothly.
Alice says “It just gets worse. Big Mal admits he spoke with Grech immediately before the hearing (Chin up Grechie boy? You know what to say – except he was a very bad actor) and big Joe admits he rang Grech at home “to see how he was”.
Spare me the ugly details.”
So what? This proves nothing. As I say, it is hardly unusual for Opposition MPs to be briefed by public servants who wish to blow the whistle on some such matter.
If any Opposition MPs knew it was a hoax, it is unlikely they would have referred to it when they must have known there was a good chance of it being exposed as a fraud.
A little common sense helps in analysing these things.
Monkey
What evidence do you have for:
There is normal “above board” information sharing and briefing, but this has nothing to do with the Liberal mole’s activities.
The special treatment Grech received from Turnbull and Hockey indicates a nore than normal association and arrangement.
How many other public servants get rung-up merely from attending estimates?
Hi Chris (Warren) – My reference to Alan Kessing #8 is mainly to compare the behaviour of two public servants, and their eventual punishment. Assuming Godwin Grech has done wrong, well obviously his formal punishment has yet to materialise.
The point about Kessing is that he was the author of two reports on Airport Security; after passing these reports to his senior, Kessing went on to other tasks. Two years later someone still unknown leaked the reports to journalists, and their articles resulted in embarrassment for the Howard government. Kessing has never admitted guilt – but has said that he did not leak the material – yet was convicted. The only evidence (which was provided to the media by someone in the government) against him was that he was the author and had a copy of the documents at home. I am not aware of any evidence that he was not allowed to have the documents that he wrote on a computer, at his home, used for his work. Public servants do this regularly, in accordance with whatever protocol is relevant to their office.
Will Godwin Grech receive commensurate treatment?
While in Kessing’s case whoever leaked the docments had acted in the public interest, in what manner is GG’s alleged leaking in the public interest?
Agree Donald – in many ways it has now come to pass that airport security was proved lax (bikie incident) and that was in the public interest and Kessings reports were validated by another agency – yet Grech appears not only to have leaked a lie but actually fabricated and engineered it and this isnt in the public interest – it was in a personal political interest – he used his public role for his own personal interests. Ten times worse. Unbeleivable.
I dont think we should ignore the historical fact that Treasury is often home ground for dries (just as Grech was a dry). Conservative ruthlessness would seek and encourage Treasury appointments from their own ranks. It is the first line of policy whether the liberals are governing or in opposition. Whitlam was so discouraged by the policies emanating from Treasury in his day he hired a team of genuinely indepedent advisors and he later stated of the Treasury response to inflation in the 1970s;
“Without a doubt, the greatest mistake my government made was in uncritically accepting advice for a credit squeeze from Treasury and the Reserve bank in September 1973. The credit squeeze was begun too late; it was too severe; it lasted too long.” Gough Whitlam (Mathews, R and Grewel, B. 1997 The Public Sector in Jeopardy, p.34).
Has anything really changed? A politicised Treasury taking its own direction, nothwithstanding the government of the day, would appear to be not uncommon in Australia.
The Treasury are full of banker-funded, right wing moles. They dig in and blow up when told to. “Fletch” is just one of a long line of blind (literally so it seems), servile, sycophantic bureaucrat-zombies.
Look at him! He doesn’t even look human. He’s a zombie for sure:-)
ABOM – we are getting married for sure! Grech always looked like a zombie (flunkie for someone, the poor lost soul) to me…
The damn bankers and mates always win dont they?..even when not in govt…they are in Treasury. They came out on top in the Great Depression (and in every depression since). We think we have a democracy? No chance. As Abba sang …Its a rich man’s world….
Grech the measly wretch!
I’m on bended knee. You have a beautiful spirit. I think…no…I KNOW you’re the one for me. You’re the only one who really understands me.
Not even my ex understood my “compulsive” need to: (1) buy gold with every spare dime we had (2) scream against the injustice of FRB (3) hoard canned food and water in case the division of labour breaks down and we end up having to eat each other for food.
I had to escape her exasperated cries of: “Shut the Hell up! You’re crazy saying hyperinflation in housing is caused by evil ‘bwankers’. It’s just supply and demand you fool! OK, it’s strange that in a country with the lowest populaton density in the Western world we have the most expensive housing (as a multiple of average earnings) and it’s strange most people can’t afford their mortgages – but there’s a damn good reason, I’m sure of it. The government keeps telling us to spend, so stop buying gold you idiot! Let’s get into debt like everyone else. Let’s have kids and get the baby bonus like everyone else too! Bankers are just providing us with a valuable service, matching savers to lenders! They have NOTHING to do with Ponzi-schemes or Bernie Madoff. You’re CRAZY. Read the STANDARD textbooks – not the ones by that anarcho-crazy Murray Rothbard. Bankers provide a community service for God’s sake.”
“Just like prostitutes?”, I would reply (in vain).
I left the screaming ex a few months ago with only my clothes, my gold and a biography of Mises by Hulsmann (she said she’d use it as a doorstop if I didn’t take it, and I couldn’t bare to leave the tome to that kind of fate).
Before Armageddon comes (inevitably precipitated by the beezlebub-bureaucrat-bwankers), I think we should “get together”. If only because you’re my only true soulmate.
Seriously.
Perfect ABOM – just finish the journey to socialism that Rothbard started. Most Rothbardians seem to finish up there.
A most important question that must be answered is the following:
Did Swanny and Ruddy attempt assist the car dealer in QLD in a manner that was beyond the call of duty ? This is in my opinion is a most important question. More important than fake emails and leaking information.
Clearly Mr Turnbull is trying to muddy the labour parties image and satisfy his leadership aspirations which he justifies particularly after Mr Grech senate comments. The by product of this is of course to keep the bas****s honest. Despite Mr Turnbull delusions of power and success he has at least kept the labor party on its toes. This is a clear benefit for the people they represent.
Secondly, why should any one be convicted for this apparent crime. Surely it is in the best interest of the PEOPLE (not government) that any potential relevant information to do with public money (or other public matters) be discussed or bashed out in parliament. If anyone is convicted for this it will only serve the interest of those in power the government. It will not be in the interest of the people. Those in power must learn to nurture respect amongst there managers/peers not contempt by behaving in the best interest of the public. Silencing those leaking information would only increase the coercive power of the state which either side of politics would abuse. It just happens that Turnbull ambitions this time could have exposed a “mates rates” deal using the peoples money. This is how democracy should work.
Ubiqity @ 21 – sorry it isn’t a most important question at all as to whether the PM and Treasurer assisted the car dealer. It is a completely silly question as it turns out that on this point Malcolm Turmbull moved far too soon to see if there was any advantage or not as no money has been allocated. The trouble is that everytime the Liberals complain about something there is a log in their eye as opposed to the splinter in the eye of Labor. Regional rorts springs to mind immediately.
The Liberals not only had the AFP announce what they were doing but why plus extra salacious details (and untrue details for Haneef). The Libs concern re the announcement of the AFP going to Grech’s house was mild in comparison to Haneef or the Bali nine.
There were huge numbers of Public servants who lost their jobs for far less than leaking to the opposition under the Coalition and if you recall a couple of journalists were also jailed for refusing to name their sources in the public service.
The is the Liberal conundrum. They are in no position to take the moral high ground on anything and the whole mess is of Malcolm’s making. I don’t know why he didn’t look at the turmoil of the Liberals in SA, which he must have known about through Christopher Pyne, and taken a deep breath before pinning his hopes on documents he must have known were dodgy. He has shown that he is unfit to lead the country because of his poor judgement, and his troubles on this matter have barely begun as the police have hardly started this investigation. The average person is not overly interested as the original issue has been overtaken by the Malcolm’s discomfort.
You are right on one thing – this is not in the interests of the people. I am sure that the example of Grech will lead to a new Godwin’s law in public service circles and there will be far less unauthorised information available.
Andie,
It’s not me planning for socialism and wanting to kill creditors and savers and the middle class. It’s not me, my friend.
http://www.marketoracle.org/Article11553.html
“The trouble is that everytime the Liberals complain about something there is a log in their eye as opposed to the splinter in the eye of Labor. Regional rorts springs to mind immediately.”
Jill, you need to realise that there is a big difference between pork barrelling and bribery. Of course governments of all persuasions are more likely to direct resources to areas that benefit them politically. While this is not admirable, so long as there are no specific deals done in exchange for personal gain, there is nothing illegal or criminal about it.
The allegation being levelled against Rudd is that the government was giving special treatment to a particular dealer in exchange for Rudd getting favours in the form of a complimentary vehicle to use in his electorate. I’m not suggesting that there is sufficient evidence that this in fact was happening. All I’m saying is that the issue in question is not merely the equivalent of pork barrelling, so it is spurious to bring up examples like that from the previous government.
ABOM,
Just read this and feel really comfortable with the idea of more regulations.
You already know that I feel most comfortable with gold (you’re indestructible, always believe in…..you are GOLD!….).
Regulations are a pathetic second (perhaps third, perhaps fourth) best option.
If it’s between open brual fiat paper/FRB gang rape by the bwankers through debt-inflation and stupid corrupt regulation from the 1950s, I’ll take regulation, thanks.
You already know that I feel most comfortable with gold (you’re indestructible, always believe in…..you are GOLD!….).
Regulations are a pathetic second (perhaps third, perhaps fourth) best option.
If it’s between open brutal fiat paper/FRB gang rape by the bwankers through debt-inflation and stupid corrupt regulation from the 1950s, I’ll take regulation, thanks.
What the Hell happened here? I clicked submit once, promise! Perhaps my hands are shaking over what may come in September.
I’ve frightened poor Alice away with my madness so all I have left is my gold, my biography of Mises by Hulsmann and my petrified fear of the future….
So it is now looking like a bonafide conspiracy.
Amazing – Grech meets Liberals and shows them a copy of a false email, BEFORE appearance at Senate Estimates committee!
See Grech meets Libs before
The false email is then raised at the Committee.
What a set-up!
So is this how public policy is manufactured in Australia?
ABOM,
We have lost you to the socialists, haven’t we. Enjoy Alice’s company, then. I will look forward to hearing from you on how Keynes’ only mistake was to accept capitalism.
ABOM – you have me so worried Im checking activities at the Perth mint. But I havent been scared off (only Andy scares me here). Ive been looking at gold rings all morning! Lots of them after reading that article of yours and nothing would now surprise me about a second freefall.
This is how public policy is manufactured by bankers and their mates in the media and the liberal party. They just make things up when labour or democrats are in power and when their own are in power they downplay far worse things (like Tampa, like mafia donations to the liberal party, like AWB, like the last of Australia’s wool board surplus being distributed to a few people after they privatised the wool board – they set up a private organisation and its SOLE purpose was to sell the last of Australia’s government purchases of wool and sitribute proceeds to shareholders!!)
I bet Alice couldnt have run down the road to her stockbroker and asked for shares in that company….oh no – that wouldnt have happened. Imagine, a company set up only to sell a pile of wool the government owned and give the money to a select few.
What does the news media ever say about that? Nothing. Nothing bad about the Coalition – nothing bad at all.
This is just the first slander, there will be more to come and all over a rusty ute and here we have lies, forgeries, insider contact with lib pollies and over NOTHING and still they print letters saying “Mal is keeping the country honest like this.”
yeah yeah sure they are….and even JH gets up and announces “I knew Grech – he was a good bloke”. Yep – good little zombie forger, does what hes told.
I can see something really ugly developing here….Grech (whats left of his reputation) is going to be left to the wolves…it will suddenly be discovered he is mentally unbalanced (..but Mal will be saying “well we had relied on his past leaked information to us and we checked it out properly…how were we to know he (Grech) had had a breakdown between then and now? Grech was always reliable in the past. We couldnt be expected to foresee this sort thing happening”.
Mal’s tactic – Drop Grech in nearest private clinic, wipe hands, walk away saying “its very sad really” and find another forger.
The whole saga is now published in Hansard transcript.
Senator Abetz was frantic to get the question about an email answered by his agent Grech.
The Department senior officer gave the correct answer (no email exists), so Abetz again and again and again pestered Treasury so that Grech could re-answer the same question (and therefore give the Liberal-scripted answer).
See Hansard Senate Estimates 19 July . Note how Steve Lewis pops up as having spoken the Grech 4 times prior.
Chris
Your link doesnt work.
Choose whichever ring you want and I’ll have one of my gold bars melted down to fit the design exactly. Never pay retail for gold – buy straight from the Perth Mint.
This Grech/Fletch thing is a joke. Treasury mole gives information to Liberals and ex-Sacks of Gold Man employee. Surprise, surprise….
Highly recommended reading (the second half) from around pg35?
Senate Estimates 19 July .
If the link does not work the path is:
Click to access S12204.pdf
And David Murray arranges the money (his own ? Or CBAs?) for Ozcars finance….? He just happens to be advising Treasury? They are all in there…you are right ABOM. Nothing changes. Bwankers running the show.
John, it seems like the PM’s department was kept up to date for on the 17 April 2009 Godwin sent an email to Dr Charlton ‘strongly advising’ the PM to refrain from making any reassuring undertakings to individual representations.
Alice,
You are right – they are going to continue to “run the show” (although I would not put it that strongly) while the government maintains the power to greatly affect the business – they cannot afford not to be involved.
On one of the few occasions where I would agree with Mark Latham – he was right that as “neoliberalism” “…does not support interventionist industry programs and government hand-outs to the corporate sector, MPs cannot be compromised in their dealings with businesspeople.”
All power tends to corrupt. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
Andrew – I particularly liked (not) from those Hansard readings posted earlier Grech’s take on applying “competition policy.” It appears car finance firms deserted after the global crisis – packed up their bags and exited stage left leaving hardly any dealers able to get finance….yet the idea of competition policy in this country means “oh great – its competitive – we now have three finance suppliers instead of one.” Oligopolies pass as acceptable for competition policy to apply in this country. I dont agree that that constitutes “competition.” In cases like this some good old fashioned government not for profit initiatives or collectives like NRMA used to be…worked better than three quarters if an oligopoly deserting our shores every time there is an upheaval (and allowing the already rich bwankers such as David Murray and co to profit from the misfortunes of smaller businesses, when these flexible international finance companies bail out…
This is Australia, a market of twenty or so million people. Its just big enough to be run by a core of oligopolies inn many industries and thats the extent of competition we get asnd there is no use expecting more competition – it isnt going to happen (and we get ripped off blind because of it). You either have a mixed economy with a decent public sector with some decent public socially good interventions or you get the bankers running the “no real competition competition policy”. Call it what you want. I think I prefer the former to the latter. Thats where we (Australia) used to be without too many hangups about being a mixed economy in earlier decades, and it worked better than now with all this “no real competition policy” in my view. Competition policy in so many cases is nothing more than the emporers new clothes used to mask naked profits going to the already rich.
should read “three quarters of an oligopoly deserting our shores…”
And dear dear ABOM – what happens when they declare a bank holiday and confiscate the holdings in the Perth mint – in exchange for a second rate global currency? Your link says
“On March 5, 1933, in the depths of the banker engineered “Great Depression,” newly elected Franklin Roosevelt declared a “bank holiday” that forced banks closed for four days. Roosevelt then rammed the Emergency Banking Act through the legislature. Passed by Congress on March 9, the act granted FDR near dictatorial control over the dealings of banks. It also allowed the Secretary of the Treasury the power to compel every person and business in the country to relinquish their gold and accept paper currency in exchange.”
So lets assume there is a move to a global currency and everyone is forced to hand over their gold or national currency (for global geegees worth 30% less).
So ABOM – what do I have to do? – buy the gold from the Perth Mint and get them to physically deliver me the gold instead of holding it. You never know..one nice “bank holiday” the Perth Mint could just be forced to hand it over to government under orders from government and I wouldnt have a bar left to stand on (you cant trust anyone with your money lately, it seems..)
Just wondering about that ..
I’ve asked for physical delivery for ALL my gold and silver. There could be a period where gold hoarding and sale/purchase of gold are made illegal (especially in the US) but these laws are normally repealed in a couple of years because banking wouldn’t function well without gold working in the shadows. Don’t put everything into gold. That really would be crazy 🙂
Have as much cash on hand as you need for a week or so, try to GET OUT OF DEBT OF ALL KINDS (scaling down the ladder on housing is the easiest way to do it quickly) and have your net savings kept in a big 4 bank (they will never go under – the govt will guarantee their deposits). Don’t put money in a money market account or non-big 4 bank account – they could go under and the govt may not save them after the guarantee period finishes. Put all your super into cash and get every dollar out of “embezzlers heaven” (a.k.a. the stockmarket) – unless (or until) hyperinflation hits – then get out of cash quickly and into stocks or land or gold.
The whole Aust financial system is UNBELIEVABLY vulnerable if offshore funding dries up. Our domestic savings are pathetic. If it does dry up like Q4 last year, the $A could collapse and/or interest rates could soar. The volatility in the 10 year bond has been amazing this year. This signals a fight between the “real” market and the “fake” market the central banks want to paint over the real market. If the central banks fail to hold on to the fake market, bonds will collapse and gold will (ironically) soar in this Deflationary Hell as China and Japan dump toxic US govt debt.
We rely on the charity of others for our survival. And the Chinese and Japanese are not feeling all that charitable right now…
I only mention this because I care deeply about you and don’t want you begging on the streets, having invested your life savings in the criminal stockmarket. I hope you weren’t burnt last year! If you need anything just get my contact details from the Perth Mint. Just ask for the contact details of the “psycho” guy who keeps screaming in their ears about central bank-corrupt government conspiracies and “more gold, more gold now!” and “canned food, canned food”…
And for a terrific, deep insight into Malcom Turnbull’s alma mater, please read this extraordinary piece in today’s Market Oracle (I read MO every day).
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article11570.html
Alice, I hope all this feeding of valuable information is a clear signal to you that I love you. Please stay clear of the banking zombies. They lust after your precious pure brains. I can sense it from Andie’s comments…
ABOM – I have never put a cent into the stockmarket (seriously…I muts be the only person I know…except what I have to under the law).I have far too nervous a disposition and cant stand the volatility. I briefly ventured in some 10 years plus ago and sold on teh first little rise…and it nearly gave me a stomach ulcer watching it (Im as tight as they come and I really really dont trust anyone in the financial markets with my money…My mum went in, bought a whole lot, the performance for the year was fabulous but she ended up with a spurious capital gains tax bill that reduced the performance to “it sucks”. She asks me “whats gpoing on with this?…I said “Mum – get out – those performance tables – its con!”. I do like bricks though…you can use it for things (like income) and it doesnt get up and run away in some eddie grove type pocket. Guess thats where a lot of my hard work has gone…digging gardens, hauling rocks,planting things and wacking old fence palings back in etc. I love it. At least its real and doesnt disappear.
I wouldnt sink the lot in gold…dont worry about me! I study real estate sites just for entertainment, like other people read the fin rev.
And I notice those same bastards are back looking for their obscene bonus and remuneration payments…and someone please tell me just how did Goldman Sackers and Robbers make such healthy profits this year, when everyone else is reeling? Too big to fail, taxpayers bailed them and there they are …plotting to continue the excesses to their bloated execs. Obama, Rudd and all the noises and nothing changes.
Alice,
They did it through good risk management. It really is that simple. They took the money from the US Treasury only because they were told to and they paid it back as soon as possible. If any bankers deserve their bonuses this year it is the ones at Goldman’s.
Andie, it’s good I don’t know where you live. I feel a sudden, compuslive urge to hit you in the face.
To say Goldman deserve the bonuses shows such unbelievable stupidity I can’t stand it anymore. Do you know the level of corruption and insider dealing in DC. Do you know how much money Paulson made during his time in Treasury? This is legal looting. Nothing more, nothing less.
Have you read the Schoon article? I assume you think it’s absolute rubbish? Or have you just ignored it, focusing instead on trying to infect Alice’s brain with your “Bwankers deserve their profits, no FRB is not counterfeiting!” RUBBISH.
Alice, run, run for your life. He’s trying to legitimise “legal” financial rape and the Australian public is his next victim!
ABOM,
On FRB you have not even attempted to show how it could be done short of a massive exercise in government coercion. Unless and until you can do that (and that does not mean trying to paint a wonderful picture of how great it would be) then advocating it is pointless. You may as well say how wonderful the world would be if we were all like Jesus, Muhammad, Moses or Buddha.
Threatening violence is a good tactic, ABOM. The government uses it all the time.
Read anything from Hulsmann on legal tender laws. I will let the market work if legal tender laws are revoked.
I will still hit you (and every other rapist-FRBer) in the face with regulation UNTIL legal tender laws are revoked and we have a genuine free market in money.
Don’t talk to me about “coercion” until you also call for revocation of legal tender laws. Until then you’re just a socialist-banker stooge, as pathetic as Grech.