ELECTIONS - Labor or Liberal

Have been reading in the papers ( I live o/s ) that Labour are going to win the uncoming election...are Australians really that naive to vote for political inexperience on both national & international issues as Labour ( unions ) are. Do people just choose to forget the past 11 years of wealth.

Saint Kevin representing Australia o/s....please...

It will be like putting the corporal in charge of the Army....

Australia has a great team in government..... the record speaks for itself !!!!

what are you doing o/s superfly?
running the labour camps in Burma?

since you've been without a tv for a while, the country is raking in lots and lots of cash from selling lots and lots of coal, iron ore, bauxite, and gas, just to name a few.

the libs won lotto, and are quite happy to blow it.

now get back to work and crack that whip.

Superfly said:

Have been reading in the papers ( I live o/s ) that Labour are going to win the uncoming election...are Australians really that naive to vote for political inexperience on both national & international issues as Labour ( unions ) are. Do people just choose to forget the past 11 years of wealth.

Saint Kevin representing Australia o/s....please...

It will be like putting the corporal in charge of the Army....

Australia has a great team in government..... the record speaks for itself !!!!

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I agree with you completely. The Libs have done an excellent job of running the country. Labour will blow it all (again).

Well, that IS a surprise.... I wonder if Malcolm Turnbull will become the Liberal party's new "gay icon" and speak passionately about gay rights for the rest of the election run-up?

Unfortunately, it seems he didn't want to speak to the media after his gay policy announcement yesterday. Just out of curiosity, can any Lib insiders tell me whether he has always been an ardent supporter of gay rights - or has he just been "put up to it" in the last couple of days by his pollie mates?

Hmmm... I think I smell a rat....



AJ

hangseng said:

I agree with you completely. The Libs have done an excellent job of running the country. Labour will blow it all (again).

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There was a corporal who once ran a country , he was a short , ultra nationalist , who was good at demonising his enemies and telling the mass want they wanted to hear , a master of propoganda .He ignored international treaties and marginalised minorities for political gain. He held on to power at all costs as he was convinced he was the only person who could save his country and when the realisation came that he was going to lose, he blamed everyone other than himself.(Sounds like someone we know)

John Howard state in 1996 that 10 years was too long for one side to be in power and in 1996 the liberals had no experience either. Time to give the other side a go , this side has run out of steam.

Irrespective of the good/bad/otherwise of all the parties, I don't think having Labour in every state and in federal can have a good outcome. On the other hand while I am in general a liberal voter a number of decisions and comments from Govt. over the last few months are smelling of desperation. What to do....certainly not greens or democrats.

MS+Tradesim said:

What to do....certainly not greens or democrats.

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Put the sitting member last. Put an independant first. Forget the party part. Get a few new faces and stir the pot.

if our fellow aussies put their fear aside for a moment and voted labor, with all the governments of this country reading off the same sheet of music for once, perhaps great things can happen.

after all, they are well aware that all eyes are watching, and if they stuff it up they know what the likely outcome will be a few years down the track.

dont be scared. be happy. lets get on with life without looking over our shoulders for the boogie monsters.

Which ever way the wind blows come election day , the fact remains that neither party have a clear and decisive plan to combat the ever growing hardships faced by rural communities , aboriginal settlements and low income families .

Every single move by either party to date has been reactionary .

This alone proves that there isn't ounce of common sense to be drain out of the whole line up .

The smell someone mentioned before about Malcolm Turnbull , is actually the wads of cash he has stuff down his pants , he's stinking rich .
And what does a rich man want when he already has everything ............ POWER !

The only positive view I have of this election , is that if Labor wins , at least they won't get full control of the Senate .
I make no apologies for being a Liberal , but .......... Howards time is up , and he should have handed over the reigns to a more clinical financial thinker , instead of chasing his own idealogy . His legs may still be able to jog , but his brain is locked in its own little world .

Everyone of them that comes out spruiking that they'll keep interest rates low , are nothing but stonefaced liars . You see to do so they would have to stop spending , but .... , Australia has been in a vacuum over spending , all the cash put out to date has been an eachway bet for an election , that goes for promised spending also .
They should try to spend at a set pace , but it should be spent on infrastructure , like wharf expansions and rain catchments , perhaps even a pipeline that could bring wasted water from up North , down through central Australia . But oh no , they put it out on first home buyer grants that helped send house prices soaring , only to be matched by a boom in $1000.00 babies and other fanciful ideas , that has them trying to build an economy up , but it's as though the recipes are out of an upside down CWA cookbook .

Nope the more I think about it , I keep reflecting that , the only good politician is one in bronze , at least the pidgeons get to poop on them .

ithatheekret said:

Which ever way the wind blows come election day , the fact remains that neither party have a clear and decisive plan to combat the ever growing hardships faced by rural communities , aboriginal settlements and low income families .

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Logically, there is no point in wasting political resources on rural communities. They vote right wing en masse, so there is no point Labor pandering to them, nor is there any point for the Liberal to devote money to them, as voting intentions are rigid. A change in voting habits would change the way they are treated. It's simple.

I feel like I am in the "Twilight Zone" seeing the same scare ads from the libs, the same argument that Labor is inexperienced....so basically forever onwards no-one but the Liberals should be in power. Talk about delusions of gandeur!
So if Labour get in wages will go up and force inflation and interest rates up which is bad. But hang on, the libs are telling us that since "workchoices" wages have gone up, so that's different?? Well inflation has increased and look what has happened to our interest rates!

I really felt like throwing something at my TV last night watching John Howard & Peter Costello squirming and spinning their way through the interest rate announcement.
They are happy to claim the credit when interest rates hit rock bottom (BTW that phennomenon was worldwide actually) and ridiculously claim that they are able to keep them there.
Now the rates are up it's because of the drought, the Aussie dollar, the sub-prime, the........ (next excuse).

The Libs have played on the general ignorance of the population who have been so caught up watching their wallet, but it appears that people are waking up and seeing the terrible situation that Howard has put us into like Iraq, Tampa, FTA, David Hicks, Pacific Solution, AWB, ANti-Terror Laws, Work Choices, university funding, failing infrastructure, NT intervention and Climate Change. Their campaign slogan should be "Asleep At The Wheel!"

I am not a die-hard Labour voter. I would have voted Liberal in the NSW state election if the dopes had put a decent show on.
And the ridiculous premise of trying to scare us from voting Labour federally when every state has been happy to put Labour in charge.

Now back to the stock market.

Funny how "political" messages are hidden in totally unsuspecting places ...

Like tonight on "The Adventure of English" - Melvyn Bragg makes the point that ....
(paraphrasing)..

"in 1972 Gough Whitlam came to power and many of the strong conservative English roots in Australia were replaced by a new nationalism ....

Four years later the first Australian dictionary, the Macquarie Dictionary, was published"

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Incidentally, (and changing the topic) - he screws up badly with "waratah" lol

and completely ignores New Zealand's contribution to the English language

http://goliath.ecnext.com/coms2/summary_0199-4770859_ITM
THE FLOWER of New South Wales, according to Melvyn Bragg, is the "w'ratter". Australia s national dictionary, which he thoroughly recommends, is the "McCarry".

The program was a series called The Adventure of English and it is a very accessible and scholarly piece of work about the birth and development of the English language--until his lordship deals with Australia. Does the standard of research and accuracy fall in a heap at this point, just as it has in other worldwide series? I'm afraid it does. The local television critics, however, raved about the show and gave it the "cancel all engagements" treatment.

The traditional defence of critics who have failed to detect glaring errors is "They didn't watch the program they wrote about". That is the most likely explanation for the fawning reviews The Adventure of English attracted (that, plus Braggy's title; they wouldn't understand that he's just a life peer) when it was screened on SBS in early 2005 to coincide with the publication of the book. I suspect some of them fell in with fashionable practice and watched but did not listen.

Even so, if an Australian asserted on the BBC that the national flower of England was the "rossie", someone in the press would notice. Anyone associated with the Macquarie Dictionary could have confirmed that the red flowers and the rugby team are the "Worra Tars", but alas, they were not consulted.

Lord Bragg of Wigton (a real place in Cumbria and nothing to do with allegations that this senior citizen sports a toupee) is a proud northerner and a champion of regional rights, which makes his indifference to the Australasian contribution to the world language doubly wounding. At least Oz is dealt with, however cursory or inaccurate the treatment is; dutiful New Zealand is not even mentioned, reminding us of the parable of the Prodigal Son.

Appearing on location all over America, India and the West Indies wearing the same visually searing pink shirt and brown trousers, Bragg is impressively eloquent about the contributions of other societies to the development of English. He does not cross the Equator, however, and the few Australian locations are handled by interviewees and second-rung personalities. ...

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shaunm said:

II am not a die-hard Labour voter.

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Probably need some Viagra then,

I really don't like the way ex-military are treated.
Apart from the fact that the dead get a nice funeral - what about the fights for justice after Vietnam that went on for years (Agent Orange effects are still around) - Desert war syndrome - injections against nerve gas that misfired - etc . And people have to fight against an unhearing govt for years and decades. - sheesh!

Or the Voyager for cryssake. - 43 years ago ! (obviously both labour and liberal in power since then - but I'm talking about an attitude for future pollies to take on)

Justice delayed is justice denied.
And all the rhetoric that flows from "such sympathetic pollies". eek
blatant hypocrisy!!

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/09/2086453.htm
'Voyager' survivors dying before getting justice: lawyer
Posted Fri Nov 9, 2007 12:02pm AEDT
Updated Fri Nov 9, 2007 12:00pm AEDT

The Australian Government has settled a claim brought by the family of a former navy Commander who died while battling for compensation over the HMAS Voyager naval disaster.

Commander Ross Wendt was an 18-year-old engineering mechanic on board HMAS Melbourne when it collided with the destroyer HMAS Voyager off Jervis Bay in 1964, killing 82 people.

Commander Wendt had been pursuing a compensation case against the Government for five years, but he died last November after falling asleep at the wheel of his car on his way to meet his lawyers.

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As for any funeral of any Aus (or USA) soldiers - such brave blokes for sure - damned site braver than the ones that sent them there. Widows should be given the right to prevent pollies from speaking about the matter.

George Bush
a) made sure he wasn't called up to go to Vietnam (they say the current White House is the biggest collection / highest concentration whatever of draft dodgers you'll find anywhere)
b) prior to 9/11, he slashed funds for veterans (rehabilitation etc) - if I recall Fahrenheit 9/11 correctly
c) then does his Hollywood bit every time a lead-lined coffin comes home from Iraq - as if he's just an innocent bystander.

Julia said:

Completely agree, Greggy. It's just so easy for those of us who are doing pretty well - and politicians touting the successful economy, low unemployment rate etc - to just "not notice" the many people who are really struggling.

Yesterday I spent some time with a young woman who is a single mother, having escaped a violent relationship. She has a sick baby, the child having been in hospital for the last three weeks and now needs considerable ongoing medication and medical care. The young woman herself needs to have major surgery and will need to go to a capital city for this. She is in constant pain and also needs expensive medication.

She has no family to support her and will need community assistance to get herself to Brisbane for her surgery. She has been going without food for herself to pay the rent plus the medication etc. She is immensely worried about who will care for her baby while she is in hospital.

So what I'd like to see is more assistance for genuinely needy people, especially including people with disabilities (and I don't mean the pseudo bad backs which are used in order to escape the obligation to have a job) and the mentally ill. With rising rents, it's really very difficult to manage on a single pension.

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Hi Julia,

Despite many having benefited from the current economic boom, there are indeed people out there who are doing it tough. My heart goes out to the young mother in question. Despite her awful situation, she can at least consider herself to be lucky to still be alive having escaped a violent relationship.
My wife was previously married to a man who became a drug addict and regularly beat her up. After 5 years she finally decided to leave him. She still suffers depression to this day.
I'm glad that I met her, my life would certainly be empty without her. She has a big heart. She also given me a precious daughter who I love dearly.
Having been busy of late taking my father to and from hospital, I'm sick of the blaming game going on between all levels of government. The federal government should step up to the plate and takeover full responsibility for health. I wouldn't mind paying a higher medicare levy if the problems were fixed. I also have private health cover, so does my father. Australia is still a rich country relatively speaking, but its a pity that our health system isn't in better shape.

Julia I also agree 110 % - more help to the less fortunate (there but for fortune for cryssake)
and that goes for carers as well

Greggy and 20-20, good to know that you have a sense of compassion.
You've made an important point, Greggy, about being grateful for the good stuff, e.g. your wife and daughter, despite the abuse your wife has experienced before knowing you.

The young woman I described still manages to smile. Why? Because, she says, she has her beautiful baby. Such is a person who sees the glass half full and never half empty.

Julia said:

Greggy and 20-20, good to know that you have a sense of compassion.
You've made an important point, Greggy, about being grateful for the good stuff, e.g. your wife and daughter, despite the abuse your wife has experienced before knowing you.

The young woman I described still manages to smile. Why? Because, she says, she has her beautiful baby. Such is a person who sees the glass half full and never half empty.

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Julia, you certainly have a great sense of compassion. I wish the young woman and her beautiful baby all the very best. Every day I come home from work, my 3 year old daughter runs to the front door to greet me with excitement and love. What else could anyone ask for?
There's plenty of good and bad people in the world out there, but I still consider myself an optimist. The good clearly outnumber the bad by a huge majority. I only look down on people in order to give them a hand up.
With such big budget surpluses I'd like to see more spent on health and education for the greater good of this country.

SEMANTICS

1. Howard regrets the stolen generation but won't apologise;
2. He says that he personally didn't say that interest rates would stay at record lows - just his party advertising said that;
3. He says that he wants to clarify misunderstandings with the abs, but, oh no, he wont be the one changing;
4. and now he's sorry that rates went up, but since he has nothing to do with it, , there can be no blame laid at his door, and no way can that even be remoting linked with an apology. (?)

The English language has many oportunities to twist things.
Diplomats do it all the time. For instance when an aggressive developer wants to rip the heart out of an old suburb , they say they make a "Submission" to the council. - as if there's anything "submissive" about it !

As for trying to differentiate himself from his party (the 2003 TV ads about rates staying at record lows) - how ridiculous was his defence, and how much more credible if he had just pleaded a stuffup. Trouble then of course, those ads were pivotal to the 2003 coalition campaign.

ARROGANCE OF THE INCUMBANT

btw, If Rudd gets in, I would not be at all surprised if Rudd is also forced to resort to semantics to cover up for his departments. Will he become as arrogant as Howard? - not if he is forced to answer to the senate. This has been howard's downfall imo. not sufficient fairness in legislation that could be pushed through both houses (and not even giving them time to read the 600 pages or whatever in the 24 hours allotted etc).

And the longer Rudd stays in the more likely it will be that he has to use "clever" wording. This is the way of these things - when howard beat keating 11 years ago, he was never as beligerent or arrogant as he is now. He even used phrases like "I don't have the monopoly of wisdom - Keating was right to do this or do that etc".

DEFENCE OF WHISTLE BLOWERS

On the question of arrogance increases with time in office. Hopefully he won't do what Nifty Wran (NSW) did back in the 80's when an anonymous whistleblower pointed out corruption in the police or hospitals or somesuch - and he yelled into the press microphone that "he was not interested in checking out the facts - but this person should come forward, be identified, and suffer the consequences."

ACCC, OMBUDSMAN etc

And then for Carr to accuse Greiner of arrogance - when Greiner's biggest mistake was to be caught in his own web (some trivial matter of a sideways promotion of Metherill) - by the hitherto unheard-of unprecedented moral code of the ACCC - which HE had introduced.

btw also lol
The Lib advertising has been noticeably avoiding any photo of howard. (and likewise some Labor ads of Rudd - but less so)

The story goes that your local member will make a difference. !! Try to pretend it's not a presidential campaign.

Trouble then is, once elected, they are not permitted to think!! - Once in, they are "one bum on one seat" - and pity help anyone who uses their grey matter - or disagrees with the party machine - and particularly if they cross the floor.!

Winston Churchill crossed the floor twice at least - even changing party in the process - then again , he had "a mind".

Crossing the Floor of the House
The floor of the House is the broad gangway which separates the two sets of benches in the House of Commons chamber.
Crossing the floor is the term used to describe a Member of Parliament's decision to leave one political party to join another.

In 1904, Sir Winston Churchill crossed the floor, leaving the Conservative Party to join the Liberal (leftwing in UK) Party. He then returned to the Conservatives in the 1920s (second crossing).

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