Is Abbott PM material?

[SirRumpole]

There is no argument any more is there ?

He's not.

 

[basilio]

Pointed question Sir Rumpole... On many levels I have always suspected he would never make a good PM. That was regardless of his political allegiance. (I can accept that a politician has excellent capacity, integrity, vision and political skills to be a PM even if I don't agree with everything he/she does)

But Tony ? I see him as so out of touch with basic political commonsense it's not funny.

( I wonder if there are any bookmakers with odds on whether he will be tapped on the shoulder ? I think that is always a frighteningly accurate predictor in these circumstances..)

 

[pixel]

There is no argument any more is there ?

He's not.

Never was.
Must be his Jesuit upbringing: same self-righteousness and hubris as K.Rudd. Possibly worse.

 

[Calliope]

( I wonder if there are any bookmakers with odds on whether he will be tapped on the shoulder ? I think that is always a frighteningly accurate predictor in these circumstances..)

Sportsbet Odds;

Will Abbott face a leadership ballot?
Wednesday 31/12/2014
Applies to Tony Abbott facing a leadership ballot before the next federal election.
21:30 Will Abbott face a leadership ballot? Markets (1)
No 1.65 Yes 2.20

 

[Smurf1976]

Something I've observed on various occasions throughout my life thus far is that arrogance from anyone in a leadership position usually means one of two things.

Either they really are an expert, an actual "guru", and it has gone to their head. That's not ideal but if someone finds a cure for cancer then I can live with them being a bit arrogant about how smart they are. OK, no real harm done there.

Or more commonly, the arrogance is either a result of, or an attempt to hide, incompetence. The sort of incompetence best described by someone being a good "salesman" who is useless at doing the actual job when you really need them to be a manager, engineer or whatever. Those who do know their stuff see through the "sales" bit pretty quickly, but those without any real knowledge tend to fall for it until it's too late to avoid the damage.

As for Abbott, well he ain't no guru that seems fairly obvious and it has reached the point where a lot of people now see through it. Once that stage is reached, the game is up and what comes next is just detail as to how the downfall actually occurs.

I very much doubt that Tony Abbott will be Prime Minister of Australia this time next year. The only question, that is the detail, is whether he is removed from the job by the party, or we end up with a big enough crisis which prompts an early election. Either way we end up with a new PM.

Note that I'm trying to be politically neutral here. The last PM we had who knew how to do the job as such was John Howard.

 

[SirRumpole]

Odds on successful challenger ?

Bishop
Turnbull
Robb
Hunt
Morrison
Joyce

Abbott means that Labor and the coalition are even on the fatal mistake count of selecting someone to win an election from Opposition, not one to govern the country afterwards.

Labor did it with Rudd, and now the Coalition with Abbott. The shortcomings of both should have been, and probably were, obvious to their colleagues, but they fell for the trap anyway.

Now the Coalition like Labor have to find the best way of getting rid of the non-performer.

Rudd wouldn't go voluntarily so he had to be assassinated. I believe Abbott has more sense and is less bloody minded than Rudd, and will accept a gentle easing out now that he has got his superannuation and perks after 12 months as PM.

 

[trainspotter]

What short memories we all have

And that damage is steep indeed: in the 935 days between becoming prime minister on December 3, 2007, and Julia Gillard's coup of June 24, 2010, Rudd left Australians with at least $153 billion in unfunded fiscal burdens while wasting $100bn of the community's resources.

The time has come to count those costs, and to assess their implications for the man who would be king.

By far the most visible component of the costs was the shift from a budget cash surplus, averaging 0.9 per cent of gross domestic product during the Howard years to a cash deficit that exceeded 4 per cent of GDP in 2010. Associated with a succession of economic stimulus measures, that deterioration proved difficult to reverse, with the commonwealth's balance sheet shifting from $44.8bn in net assets when Rudd took office to $161.6bn in net debt this year.

A prudent, conservative government would have pushed back on Treasury's estimates, much as John Howard and Peter Costello resisted alarmist calls for greater fiscal stimulus in 1997 and in 2001. But Rudd was neither prudent nor conservative. Lacking any understanding of economic policy and given to delusions of grandeur, he proclaimed the end of "extreme capitalism" and approvingly quoted Nicolas Sarkozy's "Le laissez-faire, c'est fini".

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...690463570?nk=b2d794c8cace698a9593e0c180d25b67

Is Tony up for the task to clean this mess up? I did not realise I voted for Tony as a one man band, I thought I voted for economic responsibility to bring us out of debt. Did he not take the world stage during the MH 317 fiasco? Was he not the one who was gong to "shirt front" Putin? Have the boats stopped?

Pfffffffffffffffftttttttttt .......... please people keep some perspective and not just :fan

 

[banco]

I don't think it's a coincidence that the Hawke/Keating reforms were put through by a PM (Hawke) who had a great deal of personal charm. If you have a guy who is widely regarded as an asshole before he's even elected it's not surprising that he has trouble putting through reforms that not everyone is going to like.

 

[SirRumpole]

Did he not take the world stage during the MH 317 fiasco? Was he not the one who was gong to "shirt front" Putin? Have the boats stopped?

Pfffffffffffffffftttttttttt .......... please people keep some perspective and not just :fan

So did he shirtfront Putin ? That diplomatic gaffe was whitewashed along with all Tony's other mistakes like PPL, Medicare co-payment and his no ABC cuts lie.

The only thing he has going for him is refugee policy, but as that affects very few people in terms of impacting on sensitive areas like individuals hip pockets, it's hardly an election winner.

And, if it has saved so much money why isn't he touting the success of refugee policy on the budget bottom line ? Or does he still want the facade of a debt and deficit disaster to justify further stringent cuts ?

 

[trainspotter]

Also might like to think about the state of the Federal Government and who actually holds the balance of power. During the years of Hawke/Keating and Howard/Costello years there was a clear majority in the upper house to get their reforms through the senate. What do we have now? A handful of independents and a PUP Party that is self disintegrating in front of our very eyes. Ricky Muir is a joke. A number of people who have worked in Senator Muir's office have told Fairfax Media they believe Mr Littler is actively planning for a time when he will take over the Senate seat won by the Motoring Enthusiast Party. Who is Mr Littler? Why the founder of AMEP of course.

 

[trainspotter]

So did he shirtfront Putin ? That diplomatic gaffe was whitewashed along with all Tony's other mistakes like PPL, Medicare co-payment and his no ABC cuts lie.

The only thing he has going for him is refugee policy, but as that affects very few people in terms of impacting on sensitive areas like individuals hip pockets, it's hardly an election winner.

And, if it has saved so much money why isn't he touting the success of refugee policy on the budget bottom line ? Or does he still want the facade of a debt and deficit disaster to justify further stringent cuts ?

Dear Horace ... please place parachute on before jumping out of plane. Why is PPL a mistake? Labor had one as well? Why is the Medicare co payment a mistake? $7 for a future fund for medical practice did not hurt me one bit. ABC no cuts lie? Ok ... no carbon tax under the government I lead is a clanger as well. The media is forcing the bovine excrement onto the masses who want to chow down on and they are feasting most heartily at the moment.

So you have thrown me a bone on the refugee policy.

Someone has to pay off the debt and as per usual it is the Libs who have the very unfortunate duty of shutting the vault and cutting up the credit card before it is too late.

 

[orr]

for Abbott's political future she's Lady McDeath;

Peta Credlin: 'We will tell you what you can say and what you can't say'


http://www.dailylife.com.au/news-an...rain&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Outbrain_cpc

sooner the better.

 

[SirRumpole]

Why is PPL a mistake?

I think you had better ask just about every Coalition MP except Tony Abbott that question

His version is unaffordable whereas Labor's was affordable.

Abbott's PPL was an election gimmick which has now booted him up the backside.

 

[trainspotter]

I think you had better ask just about every Coalition MP except Tony Abbott that question

His version is unaffordable whereas Labor's was affordable.

Abbott's PPL was an election gimmick which has now booted him up the backside.

Is this an opinion or a fact? My understanding is that the PPL is gong to be tweaked to make it more palatable for the Greens and Labor to ruminate on in the New Year when it gets reintroduced to parliament. Ahhhh yes Rumpy ... but he IS the Prime Minister.

 

[moXJO]

Its a tough call, is it better to be giving him another 6-12 months.
Or is it better to get rid of him now and hope the electorate forgets enough when the next election rolls around.
Changing leaders doesnt seem to give that much of a boost once the dust settles. Labor almost went their first term after changing and lost the second time round.
Even jamming Turnbull as treasurer now would most likely ruin any chance of him becoming pm later
Libs may just be better off accepting their fate and just get things done. Scrambling like labor did last election was not a good look.

 

[SirRumpole]

Ahhhh yes Rumpy ... but he IS the Prime Minister.

And Julia Gillard WAS Prime Minister until the Carbon Tax backdown bit her on the bum.

 

[Calliope]

He is certainly a cut above anything Labor can put up...Shorten, Plibersek, Wong... Gillard backstabbers...

 

[SirRumpole]

He is certainly a cut above anything Labor can put up...Shorten, Plibersek, Wong... Gillard backstabbers...

You don't really care about Gillard being backstabbed do you ?

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

Odds on successful challenger ?

Bishop
Turnbull
Robb
Hunt
Morrison
Joyce

Abbott means that Labor and the coalition are even on the fatal mistake count of selecting someone to win an election from Opposition, not one to govern the country afterwards.

Labor did it with Rudd, and now the Coalition with Abbott. The shortcomings of both should have been, and probably were, obvious to their colleagues, but they fell for the trap anyway.

Now the Coalition like Labor have to find the best way of getting rid of the non-performer.

Rudd wouldn't go voluntarily so he had to be assassinated. I believe Abbott has more sense and is less bloody minded than Rudd, and will accept a gentle easing out now that he has got his superannuation and perks after 12 months as PM.

If there is a challenge Scott Morrison would be an unbackable winner.

The rest are attractive only to the media.

gg

 

[luutzu]

Gov't reducing rebate on GP, practically asking them to raise it on their patients.

I think Abbott's advisers ought to be fired for this one.

I think it might have gone over well if done before, done quietly. To ask someone else to do your dirty work so loudly... doesn't seem like quality of a respectable leader to me.

Not that doing it quietly is any better, but at least you'd admire the guy for good at politics.

---

If this passes, watch how GPs will just jack up $5 and then $10 on just about all their customers, not only on the rich. Most likely they'd do it on the uninformed and then blaming it on the gov't.

It's also not smart to let people make money in your name and get to keep all of it too.


---

As an aside... Last month I went to a GP to pick up a prescription for my daughter. I don't need to see the GP because we've just been and this is just a prescription to repeat the previous one.

So I sign the Medicare to get it... but then the receptionist demand I pay an extra $65 since I wanted two bottles of cream A instead of one bottle of each. So i said since I still have plenty of Bs, how about just give me just two As and no B then. She then said prescription is for both A and B... then I said it also said 2x As and 1x B...

anyway, it goes on a while and finally I said just give me one of each, then for that extra $65 bucks I'd take my daughter and we both waste yours and the GPs time.

She said fine... but if it's been over six months since you saw the GP, we'll charge $65 because it's as though you need to see the GP (even though you didn't need to to get this repeat)...


That's some doctors for you... watch how they will not just charge $5... but will charge extra for needing to buy a cash register, a safe, admin, bank fees etc. etc.


Abbott... just weak and clueless...