Why I resigned from Widds' Cabinet.
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by infin
FURTHER UPDATE: I have been found not guilty by the Inspector-General. Freedom lives for another day.
In eAustralia we have some basic ground rules about how we go about running government. One of the fundamental rules which helps maintain a smooth relationship between the Senate and the PM is the monthly budget.
The PM cannot do business without the Senate because the PM needs the Senate to approve monthly money prints and transfers from Treasury. So the PM brings to the Senate a budget of expenditure each month and it is approved (usually) by the Senate and the PM is expected the stick to this budget so Aus doesn't go broke. So it is needless to say very important that the PM sticks closely to the budget in order to maintain TRUST with the senate. Once this TRUST is damaged it can be hard to restore.
Yesterday it came to my attention that approximately 1800g this month has been spent to fund EDEN tanking operations. Now this month's budget provided for 750g in EDEN tanking operations. So in essence the PM has incurred 1000g in expenditure which has not been authorised by the Senate.
This is simply not on. These funds are spent by an agreement between the Senate and PM. This is a long respected tradition which is has been summarily disregarded on a whim by Prime Minister Widds. This was not the PM's decision to make - Widds is permitted to spend funds which have been allocated by the budget. This is an improper use of money which has not been appropriated by a Senate Budget.
I don't have a problem with funding EDEN - they help us, we help them but it is done within the confines of our budgetary procedures. The budget ensures we do not live beyond our means as a country.
Secondly, when I raised this matter in the public section of the senate it was quickly moved to sensitive even though there is no sensitive information at all. I am not happy with the way we as a government have gradually been shifting all discussion to the sensitive forums under the guise of Anti-PTO or ATO or whatever you want to call it.
My career as a politician started off by watching those in power and learning the rules. Many of the PM's during my earlier terms simply had no concept of Rule of Law or accountability - and they snubbed the Senate as an annoyance. But during the period of Xavier Griffith, the Senate and Cabinet reached a very high level of trust and respect to the point where I felt confident that I could serve in the Cabinet and not be conflicted. XG has been the high water mark for Prime Ministers in this country.
This recent action by Prime Minister Widds just takes us back to the bad ol' days where the person with the passwords to the bank just spends the money as they see fit. That is not what politics is about. It is about trust and sharing information, it is about follow processes and not cutting corners. I am sorry if that frustrates you but that's life.
I cannot in good conscience be part of a Cabinet which disregards the rule of law so I have resigned effective immediately. We have a budget law in Australia, stick to it and KEEP YOUR HANDS OUT OF THE TILL.
infin
Senator for Queensland
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impreach him if he cannot do his job
impeach widds.
impeach for nothing and resign for nothing
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this country needs you Infin,
did you resign just for this weekend, right?
XG for PM!!
@isabelseranpi I have resigned from Cabinet but will continue to serve as a Senator.
Dont blame PTO for your incapabilities to manage this country sir..
Shame on you, i ask you to quit from presidency and ask the congress to impeach you sir widds.
If sandygee better than you why you call all eAutralian to reject her?
please accept this and grow up dude
regards
vosakz
hmm..
😉
what a leader... impeach him...
your trying to be a f***** hero stop being a douche taco
this is why you, or anyone else will never be able to run this country. Your view on the world is too narrow minded, and quite frankly selfish. You as well as most people in this country we have pretty much been hanging on EDENs back, they help us prevent PTO from multis and helped in the recapturing of WA...twice. The amount of tax dollars for this country that has lead to far out ways 2000 gold.
God help me if you and sir constant run this country next month, I'd rather be taken over by Indonesians.
whats worse, you then pretend to be righteous by saying you are enforcing the law, by further breaking another one.
I dont condone what widds did, but at least he can learn from it, and what he did was in what he saw was his best interest. In hindsight, he may have done it different, but leaders sometimes have to make decisions.
don't dare speak out against the elites, kids, or you get this 😁
i will gladly make patty my cabinet if i became aussie CP :3
IMPEACH WEEDS!! whoops i mean widds 😛
its now obvious that 'OLD GUARDS' only care about power n their own pocket, but they dnt care about eAustralia n eAustralians
damn... if i was you. i'll surely impeach him man!
Infin I am not elite, you're a lot older and more elite than I am. But you are a complete ass.
first denied
well done infin , indo pto-ers will be happy about our inner disagreements
read the comment above, that should do it....
there must be another way to resolve this
in a tough moments for australia it's not time to collect cheap political points this way, we all agreed to support widds for pm and i'm sure he can explain his actions
UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL
@ Aronel - "United we stand divided we fall" isnt that what they said on the Titanic? - Captain is heading for the iceberg but anyone who says anything - 1000g is hardly a cheap political point seems rather expensive to me. Executive seems to be using indo fear as an excuse to rape the country. Good to see Patti isnt afraid - he wants to join em.
Posting from orgs.....
yeah lol, I'm not even in gov and considered elite
good argument though infin, you really know how to argue points well
o.O
someone talked with widds?
explanation?
Well spoken Infin - why should it be a secret when a PM has totally abused his position and we have difficulty impeaching him because the consequence of that would be even worse.
I don't get involved with politics here because of this stuff and the abuse I've seen heaped on people that care and speak up.
(patti11 you should declare your position as an EDEN lobbyist)
time to open ur eyes 🙂
its amusing that the only supporters of infin and discrate1 and the eIndo PTO'ers.
And the amount of gold we spend on battles is a state secret because publishing it allows our enemies to estimate our resources and commitments.
infin's rant last month was about how we shouldn't have a pre-selected anti take over candidate because it would ruin democracy. I believe his motivation simply was that he wanted to assure that the ANP candidate assumed power. Now the rant is the CP overspent the budget. What a crime.
When XG was CP, he several times went out of bounds and proposed MPP's and even an embargo without it going through the Senate. Where was the outcry then? I didn't complain because I saw the rationality of not tying the CP down to enormous amounts of red tape and 96 hours of debate and voting on the forums. (which reminds me, infin is also the "anti red tape Senator"😉.
This sort of nonsense is what holds back our country and makes us a laughing stock for the eIndos.
Our Senate needs more people who have guts and determination and vision to move us forward. Not accountants watching over every AUD spent by the CP. And really, the only thing gold is good for in eRep to the government is managing the money market (which is not required) and military (tanking, weapons, hospitals, defense sytems and MPP's). Sitting on bucketloads of gold does us no good at all.
infin has enough guts 😃
boo! boo! boo!
Without debate, Wally, no republic can survive.
And as for where were we when XG was doing it, we are here now, where are you?
You have a very selective memory Wally. I campaigned against government interference in the political process. Political parties are free to enter into whatever private agreements they choose. I cannot speak for the ANP but I supported Widds because he had made it known he was backing down for no one. So if SC and the ANP had not backed down then Aus would have been ruined. Who would have been the bad guy then? Widds for being obstinate and not compromising??? Noooooo - ANP would have been obviously, so we did the right thing by Austalia.
As to the MPPs they are a routine expenditure and far less controversial at 100g each in comparison to an 1800g outburst. The reason they may not have all gone to the Senate was because the Senate knew at every step exactly what was happening and they had reached a level of trust in Xavier Griffith to do the right thing.
I am anti-red tape. Red tape is pointless procedure. The budget is not pointless procedure. It is critical procedure. And instead of taking a big dump on it, try following it for a change.
Sitting on bucketloads of gold can be good for say when we want to invade indonesia...
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Thanks for taking the time to explain your side of the story infin. Whatever political disagreements I may have with you personally I don't think anyone this side of the Timor Sea doubts your commitment to Australia and our democratic process. Whatever events are going on, I don't think its a great idea to forget what makes eAustralia a place worth fighting for: a free press, democratic political process, and the ability to deal out the odd serve without fear of censorship.
And to all the PTOers commenting, back in your box please ladies and gentlemen..
i'd claim, this is one of my boxes 🙂
Aaronel reported for racism.
dont u realize that Widds is PTOing eAussie??
Indo with Sandygee..
EDEN with widds..
U have one heck of a country there, neighbour 😁
Long live a free East Timor
Yo Infin, your problem is that I spent gold trying to release the most valuable eRegion in the world, a region that is the heartbeat of EDEN's worst enemy, and therefore by extension our worst enemy.
Wow shoot me down why don't you. Your argument this seriously compromises our ability to invaded Indo is complete BS. We have no hope of invading Indo without EDEN, and EDEN would have been a hell of a lot stronger with Lionking, it didn't work out in the end, but at least now I can talk with EDEN CPs with my head held high knowing that eAustralia has actually CONTRIBUTED for the first time ever outside her own borders.
The main problems with this country are personified by you infin - Isolationist and partisan. We are a member of an alliance and up until that Lionking battle we'd always been a pathetic contributor. The attitude of previous eAussie CPs, in general, has been disgraceful towards EDEN so forgive me for giving back and for being a good ally.
Oh and you resigning is hardly a loss - I can't think of anything you've done all term.
/bangs head on a wall
This is one of the reasons why I left, you guys just fight too much and get worked up over little things (I would know, I did this as well) when this is just a game.. who gives a shit, that goes for both sides of this argument.
"OMG TEH ELITEZ!" In the game they may be elites, but in RL they are far from it, this game is a life sucker and people get too worked up over it. (a bit like me at times)
I play for fun and it's amusing to see someone like infin ranting about elites, it's also fun to attack Lionking and it's also fun to contribute for a change. The contribution may have been over the top but we weren't too far from winning and if we hadn't have got screwed by the server at day change who knows.
I bet if we'd have won Lionking people wouldn't be too fussed...
support infin.
venjaDay 942, 01:34 Long live a free East Timor
RL?
they are worse than before the independence.
better you counter our comment with 2000 golds. :/
Infin, by questioning expenses on LK onslaught you actually play into Indo propaganda hands, can't you see it?
These expenses were necessary. Should we reconquer LK, Phoenix would have suffered a death blow.
Infin - your argument is valid, but the problem is you have lost too many people because of your previous power plays in respect to party politics. Unfortunately, from a public perception, there is a perception that you are ANP first, eAustralia second. So even though you are speaking up to help the country, people just think it's more ANP/AMP garbage and you have lost your audience.
I am saying these things because I think you have the potential to be a great leader, but it will only come to fruition once you realize that you can't go for the political jugular at every opportunity. The problem has now become that you have played politics for too hard for too long. Now, when you have a real concern, it gets lost because people think "Oh, that's Infin again - ANP rocks, everyone else sucks, blah blah blah...". In short, your actions to advance the ANP have been beneficial for the party short term, but bad for Infin long term.
This situation is a perfect example - you have a completely valid concern, but look what it has turned into... a debate between the AMP and ANP about previous campaign stances, best use of funding, etc.
Once you understand that there are times when it is in everyone's best interest to leave party politics out of things, you will be much closer to realizing your potential.
i havw always spoken for what is right and I have never disregarded our laws. For me the rule of law is fundamental. Partisan just comes with the territory, I always expect to be accused of being partisan whe the spotlight falls on lawless behaviour. It's the human nature to deflect. you can be sure I will never wipe my mouth with the laws of our country.
"Long live a free East Timor"
Venja, tinja lo,, a kid who couldn't separate RL and eL
@HBJ, every politico should take your words to heart. btw, though, no one from the AMP has responded to this thread.
@ infin: The way I see it, you're roleplaying way too much. The truth is this - war efforts are not something that can be planned long-term. You might need 2000 gold for tanking at one moment and not a penny for a month to come. Also, what should have Widdows done? Waited for Congress permission when there was a crucial battle going on and speed was essential? Getting proper permission to spend the gold would not have helped if the permission came one day too late.
Another question: what would you have the gold spent on if not on the biggest, most influential battle between EDEN and Phoenix up to date? Like it or not, eRepublik rules enforce a bipolar world and you cannot just isolate yourself and spend the money internally.
@ilintar Lionking has been changing hands for months now and is known to be strategically fundamental. Don't be so cute.
@Wally Wilson Your AMP ties run deep, so that's a very tricky response from you.
damn! It's really happening.
Last month, one of eAus elite sent pm to me to be blocker for ATO, what did he say?
"hey, help us to prevent Indo's PTO, use this blocker avatar to run for congress. If you win the congress, you may resign then and take the gold"
What does it mean? They just want to block PTO, but the congress not for a newbie. eAus just for some elite, that's not good at all..
@ infin: "Lionking has been changing hands for months now and is known to be strategically fundamental. Don't be so cute."
Oh really? My eRep age is 160 days and during that time, Liaoning hasn't changed ownership even once. More importantly, during that time Serbia has gotten a baby boom and has risen to become arguably the biggest power in the entire eRepublik. Much of that power (and almost half of Serbia's population) is due to them holding Liaoning, which is why this region is much more important than it was even 2 months ago.
Besides, you didn't answer my question: what would you prefer be done with the gold instead of helping win the most important (alliance-wise) battle up to date?