2013 Federal Election: 7 September 2013

[Calliope]

Just a case of much ado about nothing. You seem very bitter. The Hitler comparison is not very nice. You'll just have to move on. Take heart from Rudd's "victory" speech.

 

[bunyip]

LOL at ^ the delusional, expecting a budget surplus during the worst economic crisis since the depression, boat people crisis that wasn't actually a crisis, spiralling debt that wasn't and isn't spiralling, no mention of AAA+ ratings, low unemployment, high currency, low debt to GDP, the disability scheme, tax reform, the lift in super, taking responsibility for GHG emissions (and actually achieving a reduction) Education spending increases, record low interest rates..

Still beating the drum for the dead horse, eh Cynno! That’s the spirit, lad – keep up the good work! LOL

I’m delighted to be among the 'delusional' who tossed the Labor government on to the scrap heap where they belong.
Long live the LNP!

 

[bunyip]

The biggest surprise for me was the re-election of Wayne Swan , don't the people of Lilley in Brisbane have any memory or were living under a rock the last 6 years ? This clown was one of Labor's worst offenders .

That surprised me too. I can only suggest that irrespective of Swan’s incompetence as treasurer, the people of Lilley must consider that he’s done a reasonable job of achieving things for their electorate.

Secondly Chris Bowen , 40,000 illegals under his watch , same bloody thing for his electorate !! What no TV's and radios out there or something ?? X2 :1zhelp:

Bowen’s stamping ground in western Sydney contains a substantial migrant population by all accounts. Perhaps these people, being migrants themselves, are heavily in favour of migration and are therefore unfazed by the 40 thousand or so illegals who came in under Bowen’s watch.

 

[Whiskers]

Whiskers I'm sure the Labor party might benefit from your repertoire of slogans and anecdotes, but as far as the coalition is concerned, they have a mandate to fulfil... and their supporters deserve to enjoy a bit of gloating, having been the victims of the same.

That said, over the decades the coalition side has revealed itself far more gracious than those opposite. It's the Fabians that need your help.

Wayne, a bit of light hearted gloating is fine, however as a swinging voter (the only type that really count) my hope is for better public administration, not for dominance of the political scene by any politician or political party. One doesn't have to look far to see the consequence of politicians abusing large swings in real, assumed or manipulated popularity, and self assumed authority, eg Rudd, Gillard, Howard.... and at the very extreme the aforementioned Hitler... a classic example of a hater, gloater and delusional selfrightness imposed on others.

If the LNP won control of the Senate one could claim an unequivocal mandate... authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative... BUT, they did not.

However, even if they do in the future, I'm advocating (for predictable and progressive public service) to avoid the fate of Howards selfrightness who went berserk with control of both houses, Rudd with his own importance and Gillard with her she 'knows what is best for us', her form of selfrightness.

What I'm advocating is the LNP don't underestimate the opposition and particularly the voting public, if you want to avoid the same fate as Labor and LNP under Howard.

Gloat if you wish, but an eye for an eye is hardly good sense if your focus is better government as opposed to winning for the sake of winning or your own (un-mandated) agenda... my original point! Probably not registering with the party faithful!

 

[Smurf1976]

However, even if they do in the future, I'm advocating (for predictable and progressive public service) to avoid the fate of Howards selfrightness who went berserk with control of both houses, Rudd with his own importance and Gillard with her she 'knows what is best for us', her form of selfrightness.

Something that has been shown time and time again throughout history, is that anything which goes too far to one extreme ends up going in the exact opposite direction.

Recent examples in national politics include the high popularity of Rudd and Labor just 6 years ago. Climate change is another one - it was everywhere in the news 5 or so years ago, basically saturation coverage, and so public interest went the other way and people have just elected a government with a key policy of not doing much about that particular issue.

The same goes for practically anything. Unions are a classic example - arguably a good thing up to a point, but go too far and everyone loses including their own members. Same with just about everything.

It's worth noting that the Coalition didn't win so much as Labor lost this election. It's not as though the Coalition received a huge jump in their share of the vote, there was swing in that direction but it wasn't of monumental scale. They were elected largely because their primary opponents fell in a heap. That's a bit like winning a sporting match (any sport) because your opponent plays badly - it doesn't necessarily mean that you are actually a great player as such, just that you weren't as bad as your opponent on the day.

Keep things reasonable and Abbott may well be PM 3, 6, 9 or however many years from now. Take things to an extreme however and we could well end up with a hung parliament at the next election and a Labor government at the one after that.

As for what the Coalition could foreseeably do to an extreme, industrial relations comes immediately to mind. Taken too far, voters will go back to Labor. No matter how badly organised Labor may seem today they will inevitably present a professional, well organised alternative at some point in the future just as the Coalition has after previous defeats.

 

[Whiskers]

That surprised me too. I can only suggest that irrespective of Swan’s incompetence as treasurer, the people of Lilley must consider that he’s done a reasonable job of achieving things for their electorate.

Bowen’s stamping ground in western Sydney contains a substantial migrant population by all accounts. Perhaps these people, being migrants themselves, are heavily in favour of migration and are therefore unfazed by the 40 thousand or so illegals who came in under Bowen’s watch.

That's probably part of the story, but if people are going to change they tend to want to change to something better.

People usually don't throw the baby out with the bathwater on purpose.

...which gets back to the point of my rant... if your are in the business of 'popularity' be careful not to offend the populous. Being on the favourite team doesn't guarantee you'll win, if you aren't 'popular'. There were a few examples where the vote went for the candidate rather than the party trend.

In Qld, the nationals in particular had a record of disendorsing candidates who didn't toe the party line. It worked so far as people had no doubt about what the party stood for... but often the 'popular' support went with the candidate on principles and local issues rather than with the party.


PS: Agree with your wisdom again Smurf.

I just wish more people would so we can get out of this cycle of extremes and uncertainty in the administration of the country.

 

[wayneL]

Wayne, a bit of light hearted gloating is fine, however as a swinging voter (the only type that really count) my hope is for better public administration, not for dominance of the political scene by any politician or political party. One doesn't have to look far to see the consequence of politicians abusing large swings in real, assumed or manipulated popularity, and self assumed authority, eg Rudd, Gillard, Howard.... and at the very extreme the aforementioned Hitler... a classic example of a hater, gloater and delusional selfrightness imposed on others.

If the LNP won control of the Senate one could claim an unequivocal mandate... authorization to act in a particular way on a public issue given by the electorate to its representative... BUT, they did not.

However, even if they do in the future, I'm advocating (for predictable and progressive public service) to avoid the fate of Howards selfrightness who went berserk with control of both houses, Rudd with his own importance and Gillard with her she 'knows what is best for us', her form of selfrightness.

What I'm advocating is the LNP don't underestimate the opposition and particularly the voting public, if you want to avoid the same fate as Labor and LNP under Howard.

Gloat if you wish, but an eye for an eye is hardly good sense if your focus is better government as opposed to winning for the sake of winning or your own (un-mandated) agenda... my original point! Probably not registering with the party faithful!

I don't think the coalition under Abbott will be partaking in any eye for eye actions, I reckon our Tones has too much class for that. I have the sense they will be careful and steady, but we shall see of course.

But the LNP is still fighting off the viscious barbs of the Fabians, even in defeat... and as Yogi Berra once said, the best defense is offense.

Like I said, it's the Labor muppets who need your council.

 

[Whiskers]

I don't think the coalition under Abbott will be partaking in any eye for eye actions, I reckon our Tones has too much class for that. I have the sense they will be careful and steady, but we shall see of course.

Agree there.

But the LNP is still fighting off the viscious barbs of the Fabians, even in defeat... and as Yogi Berra once said, the best defense is offense.

The best defence is offence if winning for winning sake is your goal... But I think Abbott's winning tactic was more of making himself (and the LNP) a smaller target, ie while necessarily making plenty of noise about unpopular Labor decisions, but not opening up too many new frontiers (going too strongly on the offensive).

Like I said, it's the Labor muppets who need your council.

On the contrary, I'm not in a hurry for them to get back in power. They need to demonstrate they get it, as opposed to presenting just a new face in fresh clothes.

We have what appears to be a capable new government. I'm cautioning against getting too over-roared with their "win", self importance and mandate from the voter and propelling the government into more of the same.

The only mandate I would suggest they have is for stable government according to stated policy as tempered by the Senate.

Remember, governments typically loose elections rather than opposition winning. Any Gov and especially their hard core supporters needs to keep a cool head if they want the respect of the only voters who can toss them out... the swing voter.

 

[Macquack]

Rupert Murdoch's summation.

Don't post that f*cking low-life's opinion on ASF, he has his own media empire to do that.

I suggest Murdoch stop "tweeting" so much and concentrate on his marriage. Oops, to late Wendy Deng has flown the coop.

 

[Calliope]

Wayne, a bit of light hearted gloating is fine, however as a swinging voter (the only type that really count)

It's perfectly understandable that you're cranky because you swung the wrong way. You could still enjoy a bit of the sick gloating that Rudd indulged in after beating Bill Glasson...a man superior to him in every way.

 

[So_Cynical]

Bowen’s stamping ground in western Sydney contains a substantial migrant population by all accounts. Perhaps these people, being migrants themselves, are heavily in favour of migration and are therefore unfazed by the 40 thousand or so illegals who came in under Bowen’s watch.

Unlike red necks living far from any migration and yet constantly whinning about it even though it has 0 impact on them.

 

[Julia]

It's perfectly understandable that you're cranky because you swung the wrong way. You could still enjoy a bit of the sick gloating that Rudd indulged in after beating Bill Glasson...a man superior to him in every way.

That was particularly distasteful and ungracious and it goes to the essence of Rudd's character (or perhaps lack of it.)

 

[Whiskers]

It's perfectly understandable that you're cranky because you swung the wrong way. You could still enjoy a bit of the sick gloating that Rudd indulged in after beating Bill Glasson...a man superior to him in every way.

How on earth you concluded from the paragraph from which you extracted that line, that I'm cranky beggars belief!

Note I do write in paragraphs for a reason. Here's the rest of that paragraph which clearly repudiates you **** stirring misrepresentation.

"my hope is for better public administration, not for dominance of the political scene by any politician or political party. One doesn't have to look far to see the consequence of politicians abusing large swings in real, assumed or manipulated popularity, and self assumed authority, eg Rudd, Gillard, Howard.... and at the very extreme the
aforementioned Hitler... a classic example of a hater, gloater and delusional selfrightness imposed on others."

You have no idea who I voted for! But if you knew anything at all about me and many others in the community you might appreciate why predictability and stability of government is far more important than any political candidate or party... or simply engaging in blow for blow insults with extremists.

 

[sptrawler]

How on earth you concluded from the paragraph from which you extracted that line, that I'm cranky beggars belief!

Note I do write in paragraphs for a reason. Here's the rest of that paragraph which clearly repudiates you **** stirring misrepresentation.

"my hope is for better public administration, not for dominance of the political scene by any politician or political party. One doesn't have to look far to see the consequence of politicians abusing large swings in real, assumed or manipulated popularity, and self assumed authority, eg Rudd, Gillard, Howard.... and at the very extreme the
aforementioned Hitler... a classic example of a hater, gloater and delusional selfrightness imposed on others."

You have no idea who I voted for! But if you knew anything at all about me and many others in the community you might appreciate why predictability and stability of government is far more important than any political candidate or party... or simply engaging in blow for blow insults with extremists.

+1 great quote whiskers

 

[dutchie]

Since the election I have not heard one word of complaint about the timing of the release of the Coalitions costings.

 

[bunyip]

Unlike red necks living far from any migration and yet constantly whinning about it even though it has 0 impact on them.

Nobody in Australia, redneck or otherwise, lives ‘far from any migration’. Even the most remote outposts such as Alice Springs have quite a few immigrants these days.

Nobody in Australia is unaffected by immigration to our country. It affects all of us, sometimes positively, sometimes negatively.

An example of negative impact of immigration is the 12 billion dollars the Labor government has poured into those arriving illegally by boat as a result of Rudd’s crazy decision to abandon the Pacific Solution.
That 12 billion could have been better spent on defense, roads, health, customs, universities etc. But what happened instead – Rudd and Gillard ran short of dough because of their irresponsible decisions, reckless spending and crazy borrowing, resulting in substantial funding cuts to these areas.
The money flowing into the illegal immigrant problem hasn’t stopped yet either, and will continue for some time even if Abbot stops the boats. More millions or billions will need to be spent in dealing with those who are detained in camps awaiting processing.
Next time you hear of more money being poured into fixing this particular mess that Labor created – money that could otherwise be spent to the benefit of all Australians – ask yourself if you still think that immigration has zero impact on some of us.

 

[pixel]

Since the election I have not heard one word of complaint about the timing of the release of the Coalitions costings.

Have they really been released yet?
I'm quite sure that we'll see a year of arguments "We inherited a much bigger mess ..." and "It's all Labor's fault that we can't deliver ..." The only issue all will agree on is another increase in remuneration and Super entitlements for parliamentarians.

 

[bunyip]

It hasn’t taken long for the Rudd haters in the ALP to start laying into him.
Craig Emerson let loose at Rudd yesterday, and another Labor bloke joined in today. There will almost certainly be others who are keen to nail Rudd's miserable hide to the wall.

There must be very few politicians who have been so strongly disliked by their colleagues as Rudd is by his.
This bloke has dished out plenty to his party over the last six years - many of them will now relish the chance to give him a dose of his own medicine.

 

[noco]

Whilst I am no fan of this windbag Clive Palmer, I must confess he has a valid point in the way elections are held and a lot of reforming needs to be implimented.

In this modern world of electronics I am amazed at the way these elections are conducted using pencils and the way the electoral roll is marked off.

There is nothing to stop anyone from voting at ten different polling booths. I was aked on Saturday if I had voted at any other polling booths. They would not have known any difference..

Inthe 2010 elections, I tested the system out, much to the discust of my of my wife, by giving the name of a friend who had passed away. Without any hesitation the attendant was about to mark me off when I told her the truth. She was higly embarrassed through no fault of hers but the way the system is carried out. Voters should be asked for some ID before voting and have it recorded on an electronic system hooked up to all polling booths.

So yes this is one thing I do agree with that does need reforming and it is something I did take up with my local MP three years ago.



http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...s-corrupt8217/comments-fnho52jo-1226715514962

 

[stewiejp]

There is nothing to stop anyone from voting at ten different polling booths. I was aked on Saturday if I had voted at any other polling booths. They would not have known any difference..

While there is nothing to stop you doing this, and all 10 votes would be counted, you would be fined (more than the $20 fine for not voting) once the big books were all collated.