^^^Yes, Vanstone was on fire... again... And to think back, some of the things she used to say about boat arrivals... anyway...
The rest sounds like spin to me. There may be a push for the government to have followed a more consultative process, like Hawke did with the petroleum resource rent-tax. Or perhaps some resistance is due to the proposed MRRT creating an uneven playing field (proved), with greater benefits (less tax paid) for certain other large companies. Perhaps the involvement of Don Argus in the process is seen as some kind of collusion which has biased the result. Perhaps it is just more Labs incompetence and poor judgement that lead us to where we now are. I don't know.
Do you really think Andrew Forrest (in particular) has done nothing? Might be worth reading this, from wikipedia:
Indigenous Australians During his tenure at Fortescue, Forrest has been recognised for his work on the issue of indigenous disadvantage,[36] using Fortescue Metals Group's Vocational Training and Employment Centre to equip members of the indigenous communities for employment in the mining industry.[37]
After stepping down as Chief Executive Officer of FMG to reflect that he had been spending more than 50% of his time on Indigenous philanthropy,[3] and to hand leadership reins to former head of engineering company Thiess, Nev Power,[38] he became Ambassador of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.[39] Encouraged by the philanthropic work of the Rockefeller Group, Warren Buffet, and Melinda and Bill Gates,[40] Forrest founded the Australian Children's Trust with his wife Nicola in 2001.[41] He also started the GenerationOne project, which was founded as a result of his hero and first mentor[42] outside his father, Scotty Black.[15] Forrest obtained assistance from James Packer and Kerry Stokes, who are each donating $2M, along with the support of their respective media stations, Channel 9 and Channel 7.[43] The organisation works with the Australian Children's Trust to help create sustainable solutions on addressing social disadvantage.[37]
With Kevin Rudd (
you remember this guy, don't you
), Forrest launched the Australian Employment Covenant,[37] which campaigns to have businesses hire indigenous Australians, as they could "add value" to Australian businesses because they were "professional and reliable and wonderful" and that there is no reason for indigenous disparity.[15] He stated that he was dedicating time to the Covenant not because he was a "great guy", but that it was "good business".[44] GenerationOne ran a series of television advertisements privately funded by Forrest, Packer and Stokes.[45] Between 2008 and 2011, he obtained 253 business signatories to his covenant.[44] With then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, Forrest is planning to employ 50,000 Aborigines.[46][47]
Forrest has long opposed welfare dependency for indigenous Australians.[48] As apart of this opposition, he recounted stories of young Aboriginal girls in the Pilbara offering men sex for cigarettes, which caused five indigenous women from the region to collectively lodge a complaint with the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission that the comment was racist and vilified the community.[49] Some indigenous activists have accused Forrest of engaging in questionable methods of land acquisition.[50][51]
Charitable donations Through his children's charity, as of 2007, Forrest has donated $10M, which of September 2007, received an extra $80M injection to a total $90M.[40]
In 2008, Forrest donated the proceeds from the sale of 5,000 tons of iron ore to the Chinese earthquake relief effort.[52]
Forrest and his wife contributed to Hale School's "150th Anniversary, Gateway to the Future Appeal". In 2009, Forrest opened Hale's new library, named the Forrest Library in recognition of the contributions made by the Forrest family to the school.[53]
Forrest participated in the 2010 and 2011 St Vincent de Paul Society CEO sleepouts, joining the CEOs of Burswood Entertainment Complex, Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre, YACWA, Lycopodium Minerals, among others, to raise $3M.[54]
