ELECTIONS - Labor or Liberal

[numbercruncher]

$10,000 BET SAYS RUDD’S WORKPLACE LAWS WORK FOR PUNTERS

Kevin Rudd and the Australian Labor Party have finally revealed their long awaited response to the Federal Government’s workplace relations policy and it has stimulated fresh election betting activity.

As soon as the story broke, punters got busy and Sportingbet Australia accepted a raft of wagers including one confident bet of $10,000 backing aspiring Prime Minister Rudd. An Australian Labor Party victory is now ranked at odds of $1.52 with Australia’s biggest bookmaker, in contrast to the Coalition’s price of $2.48.

CEO Michael Sullivan is not surprised that punters have flooded Sportingbet Australia with more bets for the ALP. The corporate bookmaker revealed that 71% of the money wagered on the election so far has been in support of the Labor Party, which in betting terms gives the ALP a 21% lead against the Coalition.

“It seems that all publicity is good publicity for Kevin Rudd,” commented Mr Sullivan. “Every time something controversial puts Mr Rudd on the front page – most recently his visit to a strip club and now his IR policy - the punters dive in and put the weight of their money behind him.”

“The betting would indicate that Australian punters are confident that Mr Rudd can handle the tough issues falling his way and lead his party to election victory.”

http://bettingzone.com.au/default.aspx?s=newsdisplay&aid=3625


Ruddmeister for the Win

 

[IFocus]

personally, id like to see wall to wall labor, if only to have all our politicians reading off the same sheet of music.

Hi arminius

The idea that State and Federal Governments getting along will never ever happen no matter what the political persuasion's. They always have and always will be poles apart.
Those who remember Charlie Court (Liberal Party) here in the West kicking political gaols by staring down successive Federal Liberal Governments was an absolute vote winner and i don't believe the rules have changed for either side.

It would be a bonus if Rudd can form a consensus over health care etc with the states instead of the adversarial approach used by the Howard Government for political point scoring and centralization of power in Canberra (so much for the Federation) but i think its unlikely to happen.


Focus

 

[chops_a_must]

The idea that State and Federal Governments getting along will never ever happen no matter what the political persuasion's. They always have and always will be poles apart.
Those who remember Charlie Court (Liberal Party) here in the West kicking political gaols by staring down successive Federal Liberal Governments was an absolute vote winner and i don't believe the rules have changed for either side.

WA politics is slightly different though. Even though I am a supporter of the "left", Charlie Court did do some incredibly important things, as did Richard for that matter, for the development of this state, despite the hurdles put up by the feds.

And as Allan Carpenter said last night, which is a constant gripe of residents here, that the rest of Australia has absolutely no idea what is going on or what does go on in this state.

Hopefully a Labor federal government would be less obstinant in coming to the table when it comes to helping this state out in vital infrastructure, rather than leaving us to do everything ourselves...

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

Labor look as if they will romp in with a reasonable margin in the House of Reps. The Greens, Family First and Pauline will probably hold the balance in the Senate.

Garpal

 

[numbercruncher]

You know Johnny has pulled off a trick straight out of his side kicks Dubbyas book and changed the law that if your not enrolled when he calls the election you cant vote !!!

The new regulations will most affect those who are young enough never to have voted before, those on low incomes (because they're more likely to move home frequently), those with limited literacy or English skills, the disabled or housebound, and members of remote communities, which often lack reliable communications and ready access to bureaucratic offices. Indigenous Australians, many of whom live in remote areas and have limited English literacy, are also disproportionately represented among prisoners, all of whom have been completely disenfranchised under the new legislation. (Previously, those serving less than three years could vote.)

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/democracy-sold-out-by-enrolment-law/2007/08/29/1188067186728.html


Johnny and his Imperialistic mates, busy selling out democracy.

 

[Garpal Gumnut]

You know Johnny has pulled off a trick straight out of his side kicks Dubbyas book and changed the law that if your not enrolled when he calls the election you cant vote !!!



http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/democracy-sold-out-by-enrolment-law/2007/08/29/1188067186728.html


Johnny and his Imperialistic mates, busy selling out democracy.

To which empire are you referring. As far as I know, none now exist, since Britain pulled out of India. The czar is gone. The kaiser is long dead. Only the Greens seem interested in having global control. Even the poor old Chinese and Russians only want to make a quid now. Same with the Stans.

Johnny and his mates will be gone soon and the millionaires in the ALP will be back in. There are other targets you could apply your logic to.

Garpal

 

[Duckman#72]

Hi arminius,

Considering that most Australians want our troops out of Iraq (myself included, as long as its done gradually and not in one go) Mr Howard and Mr Bush appearing to be such good buddies isn't going to go down too well with the voters.

Come voting day, very few voters will give a toss about the Iraq issue. Die hard labor supporters don't get that - nor will voters be voting on trees, climate change or nuclear power stations in their own backyard. These issues haven't decided an election yet and I doubt they will this year.

The coalition has completely bungled the "unofficial" election campaign to date - but if they ever get their act together the polls could gap up considerably.

Agreed they need to forget about getting any political mileage out of Bush and the US. That is dead and buried. But they don't really need it. They also need to stop targeting Kevin Beattie...sorry..I mean Rudd...(I keep forgetting his name). Every taunt makes him grow stronger....and every blemish on his resume.....followed by the obligatory "sorry" ......makes him more likeable. The voters want to like Rudd and they do. The Coalition have been trying to make the public dislike Rudd - and this is not going to happen.....they need to concentrate on making sure the public just don't vote for him.

The biggest assets for the Coalition are Swan, Gillard and Garrett. The Coalition need to bring these players front and centre come election time. Forget Rudd - put the spotlight on his frontbench. And the new ex-union party members. Each time Gillard, Swan and Garrett speaks they diminish the star that is "Kevin 07".

The economy, unemployment, job security, wages, health and education will come back as the big issues in October - Hicks, Iraq, Bush, Whaling, Nuclear Power and all the other lefty issues will drop right off.

In my opinion the election is far from over - the Government just need to tap into the right stream to stop the voter swing. As yet they haven't come close.....surely they will hit some targets before October.

Duckman

 

[moXJO]

The economy, unemployment, job security, wages, health and education will come back as the big issues in October - Hicks, Iraq, Bush, Whaling, Nuclear Power and all the other lefty issues will drop right off.
Duckman

Totally agree with this statement. You would hope that wall to wall labor as rafa and arminius mentioned before would sort out the health and education mess in the states. Right now Rudd’s workplace measures would be tolerable with the unions on a lesh. Would have liked to have seen more done on the unfair dismissal laws for small business. But like I said it’s taken a bit of the sting out.

If Rudd keeps his focus on fixing the mess in the states particularly the schools which are just a joke atm (and a real personal peeve) and the health system, then I don’t see the libs coming close.

On a side note, Rudd brown nosing the Chinese might be good considering they are looking like the future superpower. Howard seems to have already got us on good terms with the US from doing the same thing.

Will just have to wait and see what the election brings.

 

[Spar]

On a side note, Rudd brown nosing the Chinese might be good considering they are looking like the future superpower. Howard seems to have already got us on good terms with the US from doing the same thing.

Its real kudos if you can talk to a super power in their own language, and Rudd does speak Chinese. That has got to give him brownie points with China. So with China a rising superpower, its better to have Rudd holding the reins. Its not as if he's anti-business, his own wife is a successful business person. Unlike Janette Howard, what does she actually do anyway, definitely not enough charity work according to other former first wives.

 

[greggy]

Hi Greggy, I can't agree with you with regard to Whitlam being "one of the worst governments". The stagflation (high unemployment/high inflation) at the time was a global phenomenon that was largely attributable to the massive oil price shocks of '72 and '74 (by memory). Globally, governments and their Reserve Bank equivalents were very poorly equipped to manage this new beast. Whitlam was probably the greatest social reformer in the decades before or since. Below is an extract from wikipedia which identifies some examples.

"Whitlam replaced Australia's adversarial divorce laws with a new, no-fault system; acted to improve the position of women and the Aboriginal minority; introduced the Trade Practices Act; slashed tariff barriers; ended conscription; introduced a universal national health insurance scheme Medibank, now known as Medicare; gave independence to Papua New Guinea; made all university education free to its recipients; introduced needs-based federal funding for private schools; established the long-awaited "third tier" in Australian radio by legislating for the establishment of community-based FM radio (commercial FM radio would be established under his successor Fraser); and established diplomatic and trade relations with the People's Republic of China."

Whilst his failings such as Timor and minister selection were problematic, the above reforms put him streets ahead of those that went immediately before and after IMHO. Without Whitlam, it may well have transpired that Australia would have contnued down the path of the US (ie. health and education for those that can afford it). Unfortunately, Howard has been fighting tooth and nail to derail these reforms, the importance of which cannot be overstated.

Hi Skint,

There's no doubting the fact that Whitlam introduced a number of important social reforms, many of which I agree with being a small "l" liberal in terms of political philosophy. The problem is that he had quite a number of incompetent ministers and tried to do too much in such a short period of time. Spending went way through the roof and there was also a wages explosion. He did little in the way of controlling inflation until it was too late. Infact, the 1975 Budget delivered by Bill Hayden was probably its best budget. But we all know what happened next. Fraser's mob kept on refusing to pass the supply bill. Fraser was indeed a divisive leader and IMO a failed PM. He left us with high unemployment and inflation.
I also especially didn't like the fact that Whitlam turned a blind eye to the situation in East Timor.

 

[greggy]

Come voting day, very few voters will give a toss about the Iraq issue. Die hard labor supporters don't get that - nor will voters be voting on trees, climate change or nuclear power stations in their own backyard. These issues haven't decided an election yet and I doubt they will this year.

The coalition has completely bungled the "unofficial" election campaign to date - but if they ever get their act together the polls could gap up considerably.

Agreed they need to forget about getting any political mileage out of Bush and the US. That is dead and buried. But they don't really need it. They also need to stop targeting Kevin Beattie...sorry..I mean Rudd...(I keep forgetting his name). Every taunt makes him grow stronger....and every blemish on his resume.....followed by the obligatory "sorry" ......makes him more likeable. The voters want to like Rudd and they do. The Coalition have been trying to make the public dislike Rudd - and this is not going to happen.....they need to concentrate on making sure the public just don't vote for him.

The biggest assets for the Coalition are Swan, Gillard and Garrett. The Coalition need to bring these players front and centre come election time. Forget Rudd - put the spotlight on his frontbench. And the new ex-union party members. Each time Gillard, Swan and Garrett speaks they diminish the star that is "Kevin 07".

The economy, unemployment, job security, wages, health and education will come back as the big issues in October - Hicks, Iraq, Bush, Whaling, Nuclear Power and all the other lefty issues will drop right off.

In my opinion the election is far from over - the Government just need to tap into the right stream to stop the voter swing. As yet they haven't come close.....surely they will hit some targets before October.

Duckman

Hi Duckman,

The situation in Iraq is still a negative for the Howard Government. To be pictured and appearing to be a great chum of Bush is no longer a political asset. There's plenty of doctor's wives out there who consider the issue very seriously.
Rudd is in a strong position and the government will have to work very hard indeed to win back lost support.

 

[greggy]

Yes, you're quite right. There is not enough focus given to his aspect.
I'm surprised the Libs have not made more of a meal of it.

The other area which has had me squirming has been the response of some of the senior Libs to the polls, i.e. Alexander Downer rabbiting on about Labor being so cocky about how they are a shoo-in etc and that they would be in for a shock. I've not actually heard any Labor candidate sounding cocky at all (though they would be more than a little entitled to), and all this sort of remark does is make Downer appear to have a limited grasp on the reality of the situation to go with his spiteful mutterings.

The other aspect I've been wondering about is whether the swing to Labor has reached the stage where it gathers momentum of its own accord, and people in some possibly subconscious way don't like to align themselves with "the losing side"? So perhaps previously undecided voters might be jumping onto the side they perceive as winners? I'd be interested to know if anyone else thinks this could be happening.

Hi Julia,

Interesting points as always.
I've noticed increasing bitterness among a growing number of Howard's ministers. This will not change how people vote. What they need to do is to figure out why the electorate is generally turning against them in such a big way before its too late. Howard has come from behind before, but this time he's leaving it a bit late.
In relation to undecided voters, I feel that most of them make up their minds during the election campaign. There may be a few voters who jump onto the Rudd campaign simply because momentum is running his way. But I often feel that undecided voters sometimes shift the other way when it looks as if a party is far ahead in the polls. This happened in the 1999 Vic State Election. Kennett was far ahead in the polls and was headed for another landslide victory. A considerable number of voters changed their minds at the last minute and Bracks was voted in as Premier.
On a totally diffferent subject it was very impressive to see Rudd talk Chinese yesterday in the presence of China's leader. As China is now a major trading partner our relationship with them under a Rudd Government is unlikely to suffer. Infact, it may even be improved. Rudd's Chinese work experience has served him very well indeed.

 

[2020hindsight]

Its real kudos if you can talk to a super power in their own language, and Rudd does speak Chinese. That has got to give him brownie points with China. So with China a rising superpower, its better to have Rudd holding the reins. Its not as if he's anti-business, his own wife is a successful business person. Unlike Janette Howard, what does she actually do anyway, definitely not enough charity work according to other former first wives.

spar
do any of us do enough charity work?
as for the speaking chinese bit - lol -
http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2007/s2026356.htm

RICHARD WOOLCOTT: (laughs) Well, that's right. There are plenty of examples like that. I mean, there's one in my book where Andrei Gromyko, the Russian foreign minister at the time was meeting Jack McEwen, who was then the deputy prime minister of Australia, and the Russian interpreter introduced him.

And in those days the National Party was called the Country Party, and he was having trouble with this and what he actually said in Russian meant that, "This is the honourable John McEwen, the Deputy Prime Minster of Australia and the leader of the Australian Peasants Party", and Gromyko actually spoke quite good English, said, "Really? I didn't know they had one!"

(laughs)

MARK COLVIN: And I believe that Kevin Rudd, who has being showing off his Mandarin skills today, wasn't always quite so good?

RICHARD WOOLCOTT: Well, I mean you have to learn a language. I mean, I myself learnt Russian, Indonesian and you obviously are going to make mistakes in the early days, and when Kevin was in the foreign service, and second secretary in Beijing on his second posting, and Professor Ross Garnaut, was then our ambassador, they were briefing a Chinese delegation that was going to Australia, and Ross Garnaut talked about that our relationship had reached an extraordinary stage of closeness, and how good this was, and I wasn't there, but Kevin is alleged to have interpreted that by saying when you put it back into English, "Our two countries have reached a state of simultaneous orgasm"!
(laughs)

Now, that said, that was a long time ago, I think in 1984. Since then of course Kevin has become fluent in Mandarin, and these are the little mistakes you make along the line. I've made them myself, as I say in the book, in Bahasa Indonesia.

 

[Rafa]

hehe...

apparently rudd met with Hu today and conducted the whole meeting in mandarin!

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national...ns-games-invite/2007/09/07/1188783466709.html

he also scored an invite to the olympics (which i assume is regardless of election outcome).

China's President Hu Jintao has invited federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd and his family to Beijing for next year's Olympics.

Mr Hu made the offer during formal talks in Sydney conducted in the Chinese leader's native language of Mandarin this morning.

Mr Rudd said he would be pleased to take up Mr Hu's invitation. He described their half-hour talk as a wide-ranging discussion on everything from climate change to China's relationship with the United States.

"As a further indication of some kindness towards myself, he invited myself and my family to attend the Olympics in Beijing next year, which I would be very keen to do," Mr Rudd told reporters.

"We spoke at some length about his recent trip to Western Australia and his meeting with (Premier) Alan Carpenter and the desirability of further extending long-term cooperation between our two countries in the energy sector."

 

[Happy]

He might be handy as translator for next Australian PM if it doesn't happen to be him.

(If true, Hu with this invitation seems to have covered all bases).

 

[numbercruncher]

This is Chinas way of unofficially endorsing Rudd as PM !!


China is our guarantee of economic prosperity !


If your a resource bull, Rudds the best bet !

 

[moneymajix]

Election campaign

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5rT97LGmtw&mode=related&search=

 

[numbercruncher]

Good one Money, that was hilarious

 

[moneymajix]

NC

Quite well done.


There are other episodes to be found on YouTube for those interested.

 

[numbercruncher]

While there found this one, suitable seen these guys are a hot topic atm




Chaser War on Everything - John W. Howard


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-ALZyrAF3Q&mode=related&search=