John Howard lies
Sep. 16th, 2004 01:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
miriam_ehttp://www.johnhowardlies.com
The Top 10 Lies
"There's no way that a GST will ever be part of our policy. Never ever. It's dead. It was killed by the voters in the last election.
Any suggestion that I left the door open is absolute nonsense. I didn't. I never will. The last election killed the GST. It's not part of our policy and it won't be part of our policy at any time in the future."
John Howard, May 1995
The Howard Government introduced the GST just three years later.
"We absolutely guarantee the retention of Medicare. We guarantee the retention of bulk billing."
John Howard, 1995
The rate of bulk billing by GPs has declined by more than 12% since the election of the Howard Government. In April 2003, a confidential Government directive was issued which instructed public servants in the Department of Health that Government documents should, in future, no longer contain any reference to the words "bulk billing".
The directive, marked "IN CONFIDENCE" and distributed by email among senior officers of the Department of Health, stated:
"We have moved away from discussion of bulk billing."
"Words not to be included in the lexicon include... bulk billing."
"We had clear intelligence assessments that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction capability."
John Howard, October 2003
The Iraq Survey Group (comprising of 1200 weapons inspectors) spent four months trying to confirm the claim that, as of March 2003, Saddam Hussein possessed stockpiles of completed chemical and biological weapons. The head of the Survey Group, Mr David Kay, informed the US Congress in October that no evidence of stockpiles of completed chemical and biological weapons has been found.
"If we can't get something quite big on agriculture then we won't have a free trade agreement, we won't."
John Howard, November 2003
Under the proposed Free Trade Agreement with the United States of America, sugar has been totally excluded from the deal and quotas for Australian beef exports to the US will remain for the next 18 years, until 2022 before free trade is instituted. Australian dairy exports will be allowed to increase to only two percent of US imports.
"There will be no $100,000 degrees under this Government."
John Howard, October 1999
The Australian newspaper reported on 1 July, 2004 that:
"Melbourne University plans to charge upfront fees of $35,000 a year for full-fee degrees in dentistry, medicine and veterinary science from next year - or $120,000 to become a qualified doctor .... a five-year dentistry degree would cost $175,000 under the proposed fee increases."
"Well, it did happen. The fact is children were thrown into the water."
Peter Reith October 2001
Brigadier Silverstone told Peter Reith on 9 October that the videos did not show children being thrown in the water.
On 11 October Peter Reith and several of his senior advisers had been told that the photographs released did not depict children in the water having been thrown overboard on 7 October.
Acting Chief of the Defence Forces Angus Houston told Peter Reith in a phone conversation only three days before the 2001 Federal election, on 7 November, that:
"There was nothing to suggest that women and children had been thrown into the water."
"... my purpose today is to explain to the House ... why Iraq's ... possession of chemical and biological weapons and its pursuit of a nuclear capability poses a real and unacceptable threat to the stability and security of our world ..."
John Howard, February 2003
A Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD found: "... there appears to be a gap on the matter of immediacy of threat. Assessments by Australian agencies about possible degradation of agents and restricted delivery capability cast doubt on the suggestion that the Iraqi 'arsenal' represented a 'grave and immediate' and a 'real and unacceptable' threat."
"We won't just automatically click our heels and follow the Americans."
John Howard, September 2002
But one year earlier John Howard offered George Bush a blank cheque just two days after September 11, 2001 when he said: "I've indicated Australia will provide all support that might be requested of us by the United States in relation to any action that might be taken."
When asked if he had been lobbied by the ethanol industry for subsidies, John Howard told Parliament in September 2002: "Speaking for myself, I did not personally have any discussions, from recollection, with any of them."
John Howard was later forced to admit that he met with Dick Honan of the Manildra Group in August 2002 just six weeks before Government assistance was announced for the ethanol industry.
Tony Abbott was asked on Four Corners about his involvement in funding the legal action against Pauline Hanson: So there was never any question of any party or other funds from any other source being offered to Terry Sharples? Abbott replied: "Absolutely not."
But a handwritten agreement by Tony Abbott promised "my personal guarantee that you will not be further outof- pocket as a result of this action". It was witnessed and dated July 11, 1998.
He later conceded: "I had secured the agreement of a donor to provide up to $10,000, if necessary, to cover any costs award made against Sharples."
The Top 10 Lies
"There's no way that a GST will ever be part of our policy. Never ever. It's dead. It was killed by the voters in the last election.
Any suggestion that I left the door open is absolute nonsense. I didn't. I never will. The last election killed the GST. It's not part of our policy and it won't be part of our policy at any time in the future."
John Howard, May 1995
The Howard Government introduced the GST just three years later.
"We absolutely guarantee the retention of Medicare. We guarantee the retention of bulk billing."
John Howard, 1995
The rate of bulk billing by GPs has declined by more than 12% since the election of the Howard Government. In April 2003, a confidential Government directive was issued which instructed public servants in the Department of Health that Government documents should, in future, no longer contain any reference to the words "bulk billing".
The directive, marked "IN CONFIDENCE" and distributed by email among senior officers of the Department of Health, stated:
"We have moved away from discussion of bulk billing."
"Words not to be included in the lexicon include... bulk billing."
"We had clear intelligence assessments that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction capability."
John Howard, October 2003
The Iraq Survey Group (comprising of 1200 weapons inspectors) spent four months trying to confirm the claim that, as of March 2003, Saddam Hussein possessed stockpiles of completed chemical and biological weapons. The head of the Survey Group, Mr David Kay, informed the US Congress in October that no evidence of stockpiles of completed chemical and biological weapons has been found.
"If we can't get something quite big on agriculture then we won't have a free trade agreement, we won't."
John Howard, November 2003
Under the proposed Free Trade Agreement with the United States of America, sugar has been totally excluded from the deal and quotas for Australian beef exports to the US will remain for the next 18 years, until 2022 before free trade is instituted. Australian dairy exports will be allowed to increase to only two percent of US imports.
"There will be no $100,000 degrees under this Government."
John Howard, October 1999
The Australian newspaper reported on 1 July, 2004 that:
"Melbourne University plans to charge upfront fees of $35,000 a year for full-fee degrees in dentistry, medicine and veterinary science from next year - or $120,000 to become a qualified doctor .... a five-year dentistry degree would cost $175,000 under the proposed fee increases."
"Well, it did happen. The fact is children were thrown into the water."
Peter Reith October 2001
Brigadier Silverstone told Peter Reith on 9 October that the videos did not show children being thrown in the water.
On 11 October Peter Reith and several of his senior advisers had been told that the photographs released did not depict children in the water having been thrown overboard on 7 October.
Acting Chief of the Defence Forces Angus Houston told Peter Reith in a phone conversation only three days before the 2001 Federal election, on 7 November, that:
"There was nothing to suggest that women and children had been thrown into the water."
"... my purpose today is to explain to the House ... why Iraq's ... possession of chemical and biological weapons and its pursuit of a nuclear capability poses a real and unacceptable threat to the stability and security of our world ..."
John Howard, February 2003
A Parliamentary Joint Committee on ASIO, ASIS and DSD found: "... there appears to be a gap on the matter of immediacy of threat. Assessments by Australian agencies about possible degradation of agents and restricted delivery capability cast doubt on the suggestion that the Iraqi 'arsenal' represented a 'grave and immediate' and a 'real and unacceptable' threat."
"We won't just automatically click our heels and follow the Americans."
John Howard, September 2002
But one year earlier John Howard offered George Bush a blank cheque just two days after September 11, 2001 when he said: "I've indicated Australia will provide all support that might be requested of us by the United States in relation to any action that might be taken."
When asked if he had been lobbied by the ethanol industry for subsidies, John Howard told Parliament in September 2002: "Speaking for myself, I did not personally have any discussions, from recollection, with any of them."
John Howard was later forced to admit that he met with Dick Honan of the Manildra Group in August 2002 just six weeks before Government assistance was announced for the ethanol industry.
Tony Abbott was asked on Four Corners about his involvement in funding the legal action against Pauline Hanson: So there was never any question of any party or other funds from any other source being offered to Terry Sharples? Abbott replied: "Absolutely not."
But a handwritten agreement by Tony Abbott promised "my personal guarantee that you will not be further outof- pocket as a result of this action". It was witnessed and dated July 11, 1998.
He later conceded: "I had secured the agreement of a donor to provide up to $10,000, if necessary, to cover any costs award made against Sharples."