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pietillidie
Joined: 07 Jan 2005
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| Post subject: Want more democracy? Then donate more to the Liberal Party. |  |
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Abbott receives policy advice from another modestly-talented social climber who can't believe his luck
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/tony-abbotts-party-pal-paul-marks-hits-back-over-vip-jet-controversy/story-fni0fiyv-1227277271800
Xi Jinping endures a photo with not one, but two kooky backroom Liberal Party types
| The Hun of All Filthy Rags wrote: | The occasion was Mr Marks’s 65th birthday party. As the intimate group of 45 enjoyed crayfish and Wagyu beef, Mr Marks repeatedly put his arm around Mr Abbott’s shoulder, proudly showing off his association with Australia’s most powerful politician.
But why was Mr Abbott attending such a low-profile soiree on a Sunday night?
The PM had spent the Saturday in Brisbane, attending a fundraiser for the foundation established in honour of murdered schoolboy Daniel Morcombe.
On Sunday morning, he took an RAAF jet to Sydney for the official launch of the election campaign of NSW Liberal Premier Mike Baird.
Afterwards he reboarded the “Special Purpose Aircraft” or “VIP”, the cost of which is met by taxpayers.
This time he jetted to Melbourne to make a discreet appearance at Mr Marks’s birthday party.
Had Mr Marks not boasted so loudly about the event in advance, the Herald Sun may never have learned of it, and the public would never have known much about him.
We know that Mr Marks donated more than $1.1 million to the federal Liberal Party last financial year — $250,000 in his own name, $500,000 from his mining company, Nimrod, and another $431,000 from another in his complex web of companies, P. Marks Investments Pty Ltd.
This makes him one of the largest individual donors to the Liberal Party, and a prized catch indeed.
Mr Marks was born Paul Miszkowski in Haifa, Israel, on December 2, 1949.
Unlike his brother, Samuel Miszkowski, a former Labor candidate from Queensland who quit when Kevin Rudd forgot his name, Paul Marks changed his name in the 1970s because people kept misspelling and mispronouncing it.
And yes, his birthday is indeed in December — three months before the celebration last Sunday that raised questions about Mr Abbott’s use of a taxpayer-funded jet to drink chardonnay with a big Liberal donor.
Mr Marks had also told people that Mr Abbott’s wife, Margie, and his controversial chief of staff, Peta Credlin, and her husband, federal Liberal director Brian Loughnane, would attend the function.
The Herald Sun did not see the other three at the party.
Asked if he had invited them, a spokesman replied: “Mr Marks invited many friends and colleagues to his private belated birthday function.’’
How Mr Marks became such a good friend of the Liberal Party is still not clear.
He was brought into the fold by Stuart Robert, the Queensland-based Assistant Defence Minister and the party’s most prolific and aggressive fundraiser.
Both Mr Marks and Mr Robert — in statements that appeared remarkably similar — confirmed to the Herald Sun that Mr Robert had first introduced Mr Marks to Mr Abbott at a “private function”.
The pair both declared they were “close personal friends.’’
This happened several years ago, apparently when the Liberals were in opposition.
...
In the 2013-14 financial year he became a “whale’’, a high-wealth individual donor to the Liberal Party, pouring in vastly more money than most of the big corporate donors.
“You have to understand the scale of those donations — that is massive,’’ one MP told the Herald Sun.
When asked why he had poured so much money into the Liberal Party, Mr Marks said he supported the party’s philosophy.
“I support the Liberal Party because its philosophy, principles and economic policies will ensure the growth of the Australian economy and improve the lives of all Australians,” he said.
“The Liberal Party promised to repeal the carbon tax and mining tax before the 2013 election, which were substantial drags on the economy.
“I would consider supporting any political party that is genuine about trying to build the economy and create jobs,” he said.
Curiously, he is almost unknown in the Victorian Liberal Party.
MPs and party officials at the state level have either never heard of him, or have only a passing recognition of his name.
“He’s totally federal,’’ said one MP of Mr Marks’s status as a party donor.
Mr Marks’s support for the Liberal Party has come at a time when his business interests in a mine in Bourke, in northern New South Wales, have been expanding.
The Melbourne businessman was in Canberra on November 17, when Mr Abbott welcomed the President of China, Xi Jinping, arguably the most powerful man in the world, for the signing of a free trade agreement.
Mr Abbott and President Xi hosted a red carpet ceremony in Parliament’s plush main committee room, where 14 deals were signed between Australian and Chinese businesses and organisations.
The most senior business figures in Australia lined up to sign the papers with their Chinese counterparts, under the watchful gaze — and the implied endorsement — of President Xi and Mr Abbott.
Bank chiefs were there — Mike Smith from ANZ, Gail Kelly from Westpac; the head of Australia Post, Ahmed Fahour; the boss of the stock exchange, Elmer Funke Kupper; the head of Qantas, Alan Joyce; and the mining giants — Sam Walsh, head of Rio Tinto, and billionaire Andrew “Twiggy’’ Forrest.
And then there was the unknown Mr Marks, signing up to a deal with the Chinese government-owned Minmetals to develop a greenfields site in Bourke through his mining company, Nimrod. The mine is not yet commercial, but Mr Marks has high hopes.
“Nimrod Resources Limited has significant potential because of the unique geological structures at the site and the initial chemical and physical geoscience testing,” he said.
“Initial geoscience testing shows the potential for a project in the order of Olympic Dam.
“The potential employment for Bourke may be significant.”
Olympic Dam is a BHP Billiton copper, gold and uranium mine in South Australia with an “inground’’ value of $863 billion.
Mr Marks has been in the headlines a few times before.
...
In the late 1990s another Victorian professional who was planning a move to the United States to chase a career on the professional tour circuit met Mr Marks.
The professional said that Mr Marks approached him at a driving range one afternoon.
“He wanted to get into the golfing circle,” he said.
“He was a really, really strange cat.’’ |
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/victoria/golf-fanatic-and-millionaire-businessman-paul-marks-became-the-liberals-best-friend/story-fni0fit3-1227281972664
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In the end the rain comes down, washes clean the streets of a blue sky town.
Help Nick's: http://www.magpies.net/nick/bb/fundraising.htm |
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David 
I dare you to try
Joined: 27 Jul 2003
Location: Andromeda
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The entire concept of political donations seems like a massive cause for conflict of interest to me, but that's only the beginning of this story. Why is using a taxpayer-funded car for personal errands a scandal that can bring down a politician, but this isn't? And how can this government work for the public interest when they are beholden to mining sponsors?
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All watched over by machines of loving grace |
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swoop42 
Whatcha gonna do when he comes for you?
Joined: 02 Aug 2008
Location: The 18
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I'm still scratching my head as to how Andrew Forrest is at all qualified to be producing a report into Indigenous jobs or welfare reform.
What's his qualification?
Being a billionaire mining magnate?
It's certainly the only reason he's relevant to the Liberal party and why his opinions are listened to and given legitimacy.
Honestly it's laughable how he is rolled as some sort of Yoda by the Libs.
<snip - yeah, haha, no. Thanks, BBMods>
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He's mad. He's bad. He's MaynHARD! |
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Dave The Man 
Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Someville, Victoria, Australia
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Well they Take Bribes from Big Business anyway
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I am Da Man |
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eddiesmith 
Lets get ready to Rumble
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
Location: Lexus Centre
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| Dave The Man wrote: | | Well they Take Bribes from Big Business anyway |
Whilst Labor take them from the Unions so they can bring down businesses
Although not sure where the Unions will get their fees from when their members are out of work... |
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HAL
Please don't shout at me - I can't help it.
Joined: 17 Mar 2003
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| Oh, you are a poet. |
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Dave The Man
Joined: 01 Apr 2005
Location: Someville, Victoria, Australia
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| eddiesmith wrote: | | Dave The Man wrote: | | Well they Take Bribes from Big Business anyway |
Whilst Labor take them from the Unions so they can bring down businesses
Although not sure where the Unions will get their fees from when their members are out of work... |
Well at least with Labor and Uninons.
Everyone is F**ked under the Libs unless you are Mega Rich
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I am Da Man |
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