Rudd Government failings vs. achievements

[Calliope]

LOL.....except that it's no laughing matter when dishonest, dishonourable, or corrupt politicians are retained by their party, and in some cases even allowed to go higher up the ladder.

Maybe I'll start a thread titled 'Political Boofheads' where we can name and shame corrupt and dishonourable politicians.

I think, bunyip. that you should put them into categories. Sure, "Boofheads" would rate high on the list. But there are also, rats, liars, cowards, cheats, grafters, blackmailers and other nasties.

Perhaps you could group them under "scum"; especially those who have gravitated to the top of the cesspool.

P.S. I see you have already started the new thread.

 

[drsmith]

Probably too much to hope for, but for once they did not spare the government in their approach.

I don't know whether they were invited to appear on the programme (you'd imagine so) but they were invited to comment and declined.

If they were approached beforehand to appear on the program (it would be extraodrinary if otherwise), they obviously declined and the ABC took sufficient exception to that to put a mic and camera under their noses anyway.

 

[cornnfedd]

What ETS? What? Who? huh? Oh the working familes of Australia blah blah the ETS? wait, oh yeah ETS, no sorry election, thanks.

(possibly the best post ever on this forum)

 

[trainspotter]

More failure of epic proportions:-

The Federal Government has dumped work on a US-style debates commission to come into effect in time for this year's election campaign.

The decision came after the Press Gallery Committee refused to back a watered down version of the original proposal for the commission to oversee a minimum of three leaders' debates during an election campaign.

The Government says it cannot meet the press gallery's demands.

That means there are two debates between Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott remaining but no guarantee that they will take place during the official election campaign.

The writing was on the wall after the daytime television debate between Mr Rudd and Mr Abbott last month.

The Government counted that debate as one of the three it has promised even though an election has not even be called.

In 2007 Labor's then national secretary Tim Gartrell called for the three debates to be held on Sundays to reach the widest possible audience, with the final debate to be held on the Sunday before polling day.

But now in Government, Labor is demanding something very different.

It wants "up to three debates across the election season", not the campaign, and it will not guarantee a debate on the weekend before polling day.

It also wants only three people to sit on a debates commission instead of the recommended five.

Liberal Party federal director Brian Loughnane says given Mr Rudd's backflips this week, it is not surprising he is trying to avoid scrutiny during the coming campaign.

"We're strongly committed to three debates and we believe that today's decision [on emissions trading] by the Prime Minister makes the need for debates even greater because he's clearly going to try to sneak through the campaign without giving details of his plans for the next three years," he said.

"It's really important that Mr Rudd does face up to the same level of scrutiny in the next campaign that he wanted in the last campaign."

Mr Loughnane says the Liberal Party is committed to three debates during an election campaign should it get back into power.

 

[Calliope]

I think there is now one thing we can all agree on;

Kevin Rudd is the greatest moral challenge of our times.

 

[Julia]

A fairly hard-hitting, realistic assessment of Mr Rudd's backdown on climate change by Paul Kelly in "The Australian" today:

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new...-climate-retreat/story-e6frg6zo-1225859076778

An excerpt:

S retreats go, they come no bigger than Kevin Rudd's delaying of his once cherished emissions trading scheme - one of the most spectacular backdowns by a prime minister in decades.

If you want an equivalent, think of Gough Whitlam delaying Medibank, Paul Keating deferring the float, Bob Hawke folding on the abolition of the tariff or John Howard surrendering on his GST.

There will be many words written about Rudd's retreat but it is simply crystallised: he is a prime minister without the courage to champion the policy that defined him.

Deferring the ETS to 2013 almost certainly means Rudd will ditch his double-dissolution option.

Rudd has decided to acquiesce in the disintegrated consensus for his ETS rather than seek to salvage his climate-change policy. It is a tactical choice to retreat, wait for a better domestic and global setting and seek, down the track, to rebuild political support. But for what? Maybe for his ETS or a different ETS or another policy. Nobody knows. But this choice, justified by prudence, will stamp Rudd's career and cast a permanent shadow over his credibility.

 

[Julia]

The PM in Copenhagen on December 17 last year:

The time has come for a grand bargain between the past and the future. Each and every one of us here will be judged as individuals. For what we say. For what we do. And for what we fail to do.

Words without deeds are a dead letter. There have been millions of words spoken here, but as one of our colleagues said, it is time to stop talking and start working.

The PM on November 6 last year, at the Lowy Institute in Sydney:

When you strip away all the political rhetoric, all the political excuses, there are two stark choices: action or inaction.

We choose action, and we do so because Australia's fundamental economic and environmental interests lie in action. Action now. Not action delayed.

Now the Liberals and Nationals have said wait for Copenhagen and for President Obama's scheme. What absolute political cowardice. What an absolute failure of leadership. What an absolute failure of logic.

What absolutely delicious irony!

 

[trainspotter]

Has really descended into a Pythonesque farce - reminds me of the Dead Parrot Sketch !

Mr. Praline: 'E's not pinin'! 'E's passed on! This parrot is no more! He has ceased to be! 'E's expired and gone to meet 'is maker! 'E's a stiff! Bereft of life, 'e rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed 'im to the perch 'e'd be pushing up the daisies! 'Is metabolic processes are now 'istory! 'E's off the twig! 'E's kicked the bucket, 'e's shuffled off 'is mortal coil, run down the curtain and joined the bleedin' choir invisibile!! THIS IS AN EX-PARROT or ETS in this case.

 

[noco]

The PM in Copenhagen on December 17 last year:


The PM on November 6 last year, at the Lowy Institute in Sydney:


What absolutely delicious irony!

Julia, can't wait for Rudd's next opinion poll rating. If he has not dropped at least 10 points, I will have lost faith in human nature to judge this megalomaniac Prime Minister of ours.

 

[moXJO]

The PM in Copenhagen on December 17 last year:


The PM on November 6 last year, at the Lowy Institute in Sydney:


What absolutely delicious irony!

I like how they blame (what happened to stopping the blame game) the libs for shutting them down in the senate. If they were that passionate about it why not just call a Double D.
Ohhhh because they wanted to serve a full term
Using the excuse of having the senate shut them down is just a convenience for labor not a hindrance; otherwise they would call a DD.

 

[moXJO]

Julia, can't wait for Rudd's next opinion poll rating. If he has not dropped at least 10 points, I will have lost faith in human nature to judge this megalomaniac Prime Minister of ours.

Libs have done nothing to prove any form of capable leadership though. I hope they have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

 

[Mister Mark]

The job of an oposition is to question government and when time is appropriate release alternative policy to present themselves as an alternative government, that time is rapidly approaching i hope. What a shame (not) to see this government the 2nd ever in Australian history to be elected out after one term.

 

[Calliope]

Libs have done nothing to prove any form of capable leadership though. I hope they have been doing a lot of work behind the scenes.

Yes, any future prospects the Libs have for ousting Rudd are now at the tipping point. As the biblical Saul said:

"God has delivered him into my hands"

If Abbott can't grasp this opportunity to highlight Rudd's failures and cowardice and gain the upper hand, he will go down in history with Rudd as a failure too.

Unfortunately I don't think he has the capacity. Imagine what a Howard or a Keating could have done with all these free kicks.

 

[noco]

Yes, any future prospects the Libs have for ousting Rudd are now at the tipping point. As the biblical Saul said:

"God has delivered him into my hands"

If Abbott can't grasp this opportunity to highlight Rudd's failures and cowardice and gain the upper hand, he will go down in history with Rudd as a failure too.

Unfortunately I don't think he has the capacity. Imagine what a Howard or a Keating could have done with all these free kicks.

Calliope, Abbott really does not have to do much at this stage; Rudd is shooting himself in the both feet and with holes in them he won't be able to walk on water; he will just sink to the bottom.

Timing is everything in politics and IMHO Abbott will be more agressive closer to election time. If he goes too early on his policies, electors tend to forget and will only remember the last minute spin and propaganda from Rudd. The unions have gone too early on their Work Choices scare campaign which may be forgotten come election time. If you want to be a devil, you have to think like a devil.

 

[Calliope]

Calliope, Abbott really does not have to do much at this stage; Rudd is shooting himself in the both feet and with holes in them he won't be able to walk on water; he will just sink to the bottom.

Timing is everything in politics and IMHO Abbott will be more agressive closer to election time. If he goes too early on his policies, electors tend to forget and will only remember the last minute spin and propaganda from Rudd. The unions have gone too early on their Work Choices scare campaign which may be forgotten come election time. If you want to be a devil, you have to think like a devil.

Forget policies. Abbott's policy making skills don't mount to much. What we need now is aggression...a pit bull. not a terrier yapping repetitively about big taxes. I can't think of anyone on his front bench who could pull it off. Talk about wasted opportunities.

He may prove me wrong. I hope so.

 

[BrightGreenGlow]

Since when was 'the apology' an achievement anyways? How did it help us? How did it help our natives find jobs or cause less trouble? Not being racist but I don't think saying sorry was an achievement, just a political vote from the natives??

 

[So_Cynical]

I like how they blame (what happened to stopping the blame game) the libs for shutting them down in the senate.

So even though you state the libs shut it down it in the senate, you somehow don't hold them responsible for stopping the ETS :screwy: the media is going on with a similar line..somehow its Labor's fault that the senate didn't pass the ETS
twice.

It mite take me a while but im sure somewhere i can find the 2 voting records that will clearly show all Labor senators voting for it...and pretty much everyone else voting against.

 

[snowking]

I'm sure you or anyone else could pull up voting records from the Senate, however that is a side issue that detracts from the real issue, which is Rudd's position reversal, or at least extreme moderation.


Rudd's words in an interview in the last week
" The implementation of a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in Australia will therefore be extended until after the conclusion of the current Kyoto commitment period, which finishes at the end of 2012. By the end of that period, the Governments around the world will be required to make clear their commitments for the post-2012 period. And that will provide therefore the Australian Government at that time, at the end of 2012, with a better position to assess the level of global action on climate change prior to the implementation of a CPRS in Australia. "
http://www.pm.gov.au/node/6708

Nelson's words in 2008 when Rudd was intent on implementing the policy
"There are risks for Australia if we implement an emissions trading scheme before the rest of the world signs up to a new post-2012 global agreement"
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/opinion/pyrrhic-victory/story-e6frg7ef-1111116880577

After describing it as "the great moral and economic challenge of our time" it is interesting to note his position is now the same as then opposition leader Brendan Nelson, who he and the Labor party so openly chastised for taking that stance.

 

[trainspotter]

Irrespective So_Cynical Ching Fan Kluddy stated thusly - "The rest of the world is being slower to act on appropriate action on climate change. It's very plain that the correct course of action is to extend the implementation date."

So is it the rest of the worlds fault now? YES you are right - The Libs have changed their stance since Howard who was elucidating to a CPRS that never happened. Abbott and Minchin spring to mind as the pallbearers of such wonderful news of a nothing tax that will cripple Australian industry along with the concessions to the coal industry. OOOOOOoooooooooops !

Like you have stated previously ... "Thats politics to change your mind" or words to this effect (because I can't be bothered trolling through the previous boards for the info)

Moral challenge ....... Pfffffffttttttttttt !

 

[Calliope]

It mite take me a while but im sure somewhere i can find the 2 voting records that will clearly show all Labor senators voting for it...and pretty much everyone else voting against.

You are So_Gullible.