Looks like the former prime minister is putting his elegant pen to paper once more, and if the way Abbott has been talking is any guide, this could be his most eye-catching literary effort yet.<\/p>\n
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\u201cCrazy things are happening everywhere\u201d: Former prime minister Tony Abbott.<\/span>Credit: <\/span>James Brickwood<\/cite><\/p>\n During a recent appearance on the Triggernometry<\/em> podcast, hosted by right-wing Russian-British commentator and comedian Konstantin Kisin<\/strong>, Abbott revealed that he had begun working on his next book \u2013 working title Peak Insanity<\/em>.<\/p>\n But if you\u2019re expecting a behind-the-scenes look at Abbott\u2019s mad-cap two years in The Lodge \u2013 and there is so much about that crazy ride we\u2019d like to know more about \u2013 you\u2019re going to be disappointed.<\/p>\n No, we\u2019re afraid that it sounds like Tony wants to traverse terrain that won\u2019t be unfamiliar to anyone who\u2019s been paying attention to our man these past few years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe climate cult, the gender fluidity push, magic pudding economics, the cultural self-loathing that appears to afflict the best countries in the world,\u201d Abbott told Kisin.<\/p>\n \u201cCrazy things are happening everywhere. In fact one of the books that I would like to write, and have tentatively begun, I have given the working title to Peak Insanity<\/em>, because I think that is something we\u2019re on the verge of.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019ll wait for the movie version.<\/p>\n We weren\u2019t expecting a barrel of laughs when the Institute of Public Accountants got together for its annual national congress at Sydney\u2019s Four Seasons on Thursday.<\/p>\n However, with the Tax Practitioners Board (TPB) \u2013 the outfit that sprung consulting giant PwC in its nefarious confidential tax information activities \u2013 as well as PwC political pursuer-in-chief Labor senator Deborah O\u2019Neill <\/b>both due to speak, there was some anticipation around.<\/p>\n Senator Deborah O\u2019Neill <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Alex Ellinghausen<\/cite><\/p>\n We couldn\u2019t begrudge the board\u2019s chairman, Peter de Cure<\/b>, his restrained pat on the back for himself and his colleagues in the PwC affair.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the TPB has performed very well,\u201d he said, with admirable understatement. But we were intrigued to note that he wouldn\u2019t say much else about the matter because the board is not done with the consulting giant; \u201cfurther investigations\u201d are under way.<\/p>\n We also got a fascinating glimpse into the mysterious ways the organisation goes about performing its wonders, with de Cure divulging the board is increasingly turning to tech. \u201cAutomated tools\u201d are being deployed to detect dodgy accountants and pick up on \u201ckey indicators\u201d.<\/p>\n Seems obvious when you think about it, but it turns out that a big red flag is a tax practitioner\u2019s non-compliance when dealing with the Tax Office over their own affairs, according to de Cure.<\/p>\n Good. To. Know.<\/p>\n As for O\u2019Neill, well, a bit of a fizzer, we\u2019re sad to report.<\/p>\n The NSW senator beamed in from Canberra\u2019s Parliament House but didn\u2019t have time to deliver any of her trademark PwC fireworks, in between voting on Labor\u2019s key water bill and another, unspecified, piece of legislation.<\/p>\n The state Labor government finally moved this week to try to clear the logjam of cases before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Appeals Tribunal, with the hiring of 20 new tribunal members.<\/p>\n One of the names on the list rang a bell: Louise Bygrave<\/strong>, about whom the Australian Labor Party appears to have changed its tune.<\/p>\n Bygrave used to be on VCAT\u2019s federal counterpart, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal, and Labor in opposition whinged that she was one among many political appointments to the federal tribunal by the then Coalition government.<\/p>\n The Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison operation did put plenty of mates into AAT jobs, it\u2019s true. But Labor\u2019s case against the Bygrave hiring \u2013 that she had once worked at the Human Rights Commission with \u201cfreedom commissioner\u201d turned Liberal MP Tim Wilson<\/b> \u2013 was a little skinny.<\/p>\n Credit: <\/span>Pat Scala<\/cite><\/p>\n Then, a couple of years ago, Bygrave was among four Liberal-appointed AAT members whose pay claims Labor senator Murray Watt described under parliamentary privilege as \u201cfishy\u201d. Watt\u2019s colleague, then-shadow attorney-general Mark Dreyfus<\/b>, wrote a lengthy submission to the National Audit Office demanding an investigation.<\/p>\n It went nowhere in the end and CBD is certainly not suggesting any wrongdoing by Bygrave, but we did wonder when Labor decided that Bygrave was all right by them after all. We asked Victoria\u2019s Attorney-General, Jaclyn Symes<\/strong>, who announced the new VCAT appointments on Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cAll 20 new VCAT appointees were identified through an open and competitive recruitment process, and each has satisfied strict probity requirements to ensure that they are appropriate to be appointed,\u201d she told us.<\/p>\n As for Watt, well, the office of the now agriculture minister said he didn\u2019t have capacity to comment at the moment.<\/p>\n CHRISTMAS PARLY<\/strong><\/p>\n The festive season is a busy time for the inmates of federal parliament, who are treated to many a free piss-up during the final sitting weeks of the year. But the major parties have been doing their best recently to dial down the boozy culture up on the hill.<\/p>\n Thursday night was supposed to be a busy one for the press gallery \u2013 until Anthony Albanese<\/strong>\u2019s office postponed the prime minister\u2019s drinks at The Lodge until next Wednesday, owing to the inclement weather lashing the capital this week. You\u2019d think the prime minister\u2019s abode could deal with rain, but this is Australia after all.<\/p>\nACCOUNT ON ME<\/h3>\n
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TRIBUNAL TRIBULATIONS<\/h3>\n
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