Is Shorten PM material?

noco · 8 March 2014

Bill Shortens future as the alternative Prime Minister is DOOMED.

His short run as Labor Leader is fast coming to an end but who will be the alternative?

Very little talent to be seen on the horizon.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...-reinvent-itself/story-fnihsr9v-1226848535970

rumpole · 8 March 2014

noco said:
Bill Shortens future as the alternative Prime Minister is DOOMED.

His short run as Labor Leader is fast coming to an end but who will be the alternative?

Very little talent to be seen on the horizon.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...-reinvent-itself/story-fnihsr9v-1226848535970

When people find their overtime and penalty rates cut and they can't afford their mortgages and food any more, it will be Abbott that has to worry.

noco · 8 March 2014

rumpole said:
When people find their overtime and penalty rates cut and they can't afford their mortgages and food any more, it will be Abbott that has to worry.

rumpole, people are already starting to feel the pinch from the past 6 years of HARD LABOR.

Higher union demands = higher costs = loss of jobs...I am sure there are plenty of people willing to work on weekends without the burden of penalty rates imposed upon certain industries. Many restaurants do not open on Sundays because of the high cost of wages.

If some people work a regular job 5 days per week Monday to Friday and then seek extra money from another employer to pay for their mortgages by working on weekends as well, are they really entitled to penalty rates on weekends?

It would be better to have a half a loaf of bread than no bread at all.

Jupiters Hotel/Casino Townsville have never paid weekend penalty rates since the place opened some 28 years ago.They operate 7 days a week and 18 hours a day.

rumpole · 8 March 2014

noco said:
rumpole, people are already starting to feel the pinch from the past 6 years of HARD LABOR.

Higher union demands = higher costs = loss of jobs...I am sure there are plenty of people willing to work on weekends without the burden of penalty rates imposed upon certain industries. Many restaurants do not open on Sundays because of the high cost of wages.

If some people work a regular job 5 days per week Monday to Friday and then seek extra money from another employer to pay for their mortgages by working on weekends as well, are they really entitled to penalty rates on weekends?

It would be better to have a half a loaf of bread than no bread at all.

Jupiters Hotel/Casino Townsville have never paid weekend penalty rates since the place opened some 28 years ago.They operate 7 days a week and 18 hours a day.

You may care to read this, also quoted in another thread

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-...wages-blowout-of-an-inflexible-market/5305998

It seems that HARD LABOR has left us with a flexible labour market after all.

IFocus · 8 March 2014

noco said:
Bill Shortens future as the alternative Prime Minister is DOOMED.

His short run as Labor Leader is fast coming to an end but who will be the alternative?

Very little talent to be seen on the horizon.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/...-reinvent-itself/story-fnihsr9v-1226848535970

Same thing was said about the Coalition in opposition and they were right we got Abbott

noco · 9 March 2014

IFocus said:
Same thing was said about the Coalition in opposition and they were right we got Abbott

So what is wrong with Abbott?......He is now well accepted by majority of voters according to the latest poll whereas Shorten is going down hill fast.

I suggest it won't be long before Paul Howes enters parliament in order to move Labor in a new direction.

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/...tens_challenge_dont_take_labor_back_a_century

noco · 9 March 2014

Wake up Bill before it is too late.

[Shorten] presents, however, as a leader lacking not just a sense of conviction but an absence of any comprehensible ideology. The question starting to be asked is whether he is suited to the role of leading the modern Labor Party…

One of Shorten’s own factional colleagues lamented privately on Tuesday after emerging from a caucus meeting that it was like watching a “theatre of the unwell”.

“We are not now at risk of being viewed as pre-Hawke Keating, we are not even pre-Whitlam. We are looking more like a pre-Calwell Labor party,” he decried…

He was referring to the economic nationalism and protectionism which Labor appears to have adopted as the language of the new economy. It started with the auto-industry and reached a crescendo this week over Qantas…

Labor in opposition has historically gravitated back to the Left. But this natural cycling has become demonstrably more pronounced since the post election structural changes to the party ”” primarily the decision to allow the party branch members a potential veto over caucus in the election of the party’s leader… Shorten is confronted with a new internal constituency often dominated by social misfits, union hacks and members of the Socialist Left…

Labor’s recast policies on asylum boats, climate change, energy policy and industrial relations are all a consequence of this new paradigm. They may make sense to his internal constituency but makes no sense to the majority of Australians.

(Thanks to reader Brett t r.)

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/...e_qantas_argument_because_were_not_that_dumb/

wayneL · 10 March 2014

rumpole said:
When people find their overtime and penalty rates cut and they can't afford their mortgages and food any more, it will be Abbott that has to worry.

Do you not find it disturbing that the ability to afford mortgages and food relies on penalty and overtime rates?

rumpole · 10 March 2014

wayneL said:
Do you not find it disturbing that the ability to afford mortgages and food relies on penalty and overtime rates?

Of course. Are you suggesting a general pay increase ?

noco · 10 March 2014

Shorten appointed his mates to run a large super fund just before the 2013 election and have now been dismissed because of a conflict of interest.

What a hypocrite he is after hounding Senator Nash over the Cadbury deal.

“This situation is a result of Bill Shorten’s deliberate strategy to stack the Fair Work Commission,” Senator Abetz told The Australian. “Mr Shorten must explain why he made two appointments to such sensitive roles with such obvious conflicts just before the 2013 election.

“This process will have a significant impact on the retirement savings of 1.3 million honest workers. It is extremely concerning that Mr Shorten chose to play politics with these appointments and thus jeopardise the entire process.”

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...-to-bill-shorten/story-fn59noo3-1226849770200

noco · 10 March 2014

rumpole said:
You may care to read this, also quoted in another thread

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-03-...wages-blowout-of-an-inflexible-market/5305998

It seems that HARD LABOR has left us with a flexible labour market after all.

The subject of debate revolved around weekend penalty rates and has nothing to do with your link.

VStephen Koukoulas is a Research Fellow at Per Capita, a progressive think tank. Between October 2010 and July 2011, he was economic policy advisor to the Prime Minister Julia Gillard

rumpole · 10 March 2014

noco said:
VStephen Koukoulas is a Research Fellow at Per Capita, a progressive think tank. Between October 2010 and July 2011, he was economic policy advisor to the Prime Minister Julia Gillard

I bet he's got horns too.

sptrawler · 10 March 2014

rumpole said:
I bet he's got horns too.

The problem is, nobody can get excited enough to even discuss Bill Shorten.

That tells you something, everyone sees him as a non event, sad really.

When Abbott was leader of the opposition, Labor couldn't shut up about him.

Nothing has changed.

rumpole · 11 March 2014

sptrawler said:
The problem is, nobody can get excited enough to even discuss Bill Shorten.

Fraid you are right. Bill is deadly dull. He may be a good worker behind the scenes, but as a front man he does little to inspire. Neither does his deputy. Albanese, Burke or Bowen are better long term bets.

sptrawler · 11 March 2014

rumpole said:
Fraid you are right. Bill is deadly dull. He may be a good worker behind the scenes, but as a front man he does little to inspire. Neither does his deputy. Albanese, Burke or Bowen are better long term bets.

I agree Burke and Bowen would be a better long term proposition.

dutchie · 12 March 2014

Well I think its obvious now that we can answer the threads question.

Bill Shorten is PM material. I hope the Labor party keep him there as long as Bill wants to be there.

If for some reason Bill is unable to fill the role, he should be replaced by Tanya Plibersek.

We know that these two excellent politicians will continue the great legacy of previous Labor PM's.

For Australia's sake keep them there!

trainspotter · 13 March 2014

Bill is stuffed now if he goes against "BIG" Joe (who by the way is only about 5 foot 4")

OPPOSITION Leader Bill Shorten has been challenged to expel West Australian union heavyweight Joe McDonald from the Labor Party after he was fined for physically threatening a worker who refused to strike.
Mr McDonald, the assistant secretary of the CFMEU in WA, was banned by the Federal Court from Brookfield Multiplex sites for three years and fined $30,500, after the incident at a water treatment plant last March.
The union will have to pay a total of $500,000 in compensation to the company, and $143,000 in fines.
The West Australian newspaper reported that the court heard how hydraulics worker Eddie Ierace was held by the neck and threatened with Mr McDonald's fist as he tried to enter the plant.
Now federal Employment Minister Eric Abetz has said the example of "appalling bullying and intimidation" warranted action by Mr Shorten.
"This issue is now a test of Bill Shorten's leadership and a test of his political sincerity," Senator Abetz said.
"If Mr Shorten is really concerned about workplace bullying he must act now to have McDonald again expelled from the ALP.

http://www.news.com.au/national/bre...-dump-union-boss/story-e6frfku9-1226853591872

sptrawler · 15 March 2014

dutchie said:
Well I think its obvious now that we can answer the threads question.

Bill Shorten is PM material. I hope the Labor party keep him there as long as Bill wants to be there.

If for some reason Bill is unable to fill the role, he should be replaced by Tanya Plibersek.

We know that these two excellent politicians will continue the great legacy of previous Labor PM's.

For Australia's sake keep them there!

After serious navel gazing, I'm with you dutchie.

There isn't any obvious replacement for the resplendent Bill, maybe Anthony or Tanya, could be called upon in a pinch.

noco · 16 March 2014

Poor old Bill....he did not know who the Premier of South Australia was...he thought the Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett was the Premier of South Australia......I am afraid he did not have a very good day in Western Australia

rumpole · 16 March 2014

noco said:
Poor old Bill....he did not know who the Premier of South Australia was...he thought the Premier of Western Australia Colin Barnett was the Premier of South Australia......I am afraid he did not have a very good day in Western Australia

Probably he had a better day than the Lib SA Opposition leader who urged people to vote for the Labor party

Is Shorten PM material?