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The Abbott Government

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The "shirt fronting" statement by Abbott is a piece of pointless machoism by a leader who is virtually powerless to achieve anything when it comes to changing Russia's mind on Ukraine or anything else. Why should Putin listen to us when they don't listen to the the US ?

Abbott's only chance of achieving anything worthwhile (and do we know what he is actually trying to achieve ?), is to get other world leaders to take up our case and act in concert against Russia.

If he can achieve that, then Abbott would have made his mark on the world stage, if not then we get another reminder of our irrelevance in international affairs.
 

+ 1 Rumpy....that is good sound thinking
 
drsmith said:
TA's shirtfront comment struck me as not being very prime ministerial.
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I agree. Can you imagine both together at a news conference and Abbott is asked directly about that statement. It will require some embarrassing back tracking.

He seemed to be getting his act together, but that is like a return to his old ways with his foot in his mouth more often than not.
 
drsmith said:
That doesn't put him beyond criticism.
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I'm not a Labour guy if that's what you mean.

No one's beyond criticism... there's always going to be policies I think is good, others I think not so good - from either party. I just like to put my two cents out there for what it's worth.

I like a couple of things Abbott has done so far... not that that's all I agree with 'cause I just read the headlines... But I like how he tell Holden and GM where to go, to not blackmail the gov't and us taxpayers to fund their ever losing operations else they move offshore. Labour always give in and Holdren always run out of money.

I also agree with not raising the superannuation guarantee.

But then there's all these sports analogies and slogans in more important policies like war and peace, civil liberties, freedom of the press...
 
drsmith said:
TA's shirtfront comment struck me as not being very prime ministerial.
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I don't think its smart either, well maybe in a political sense.
Russia has already banned most of our exports including dairy, kangaroo meat etc.
I can see Russia relaxing the restrictions from Europe but leaving us out of their market.
The farmers are really getting it in the neck.

On a related issue, China has put import tariffs on our coal as it is competing too well against their mines. Lovely, so instead of us getting the tax that Labor failed to get happening due to incompetence, China gets it instead. Well done everyone involved. Another lose lose for Australia.
 
Is that a suggestion that if we had kept the carbon tax that China would not have gone down this route ?
 
drsmith said:
Is that a suggestion that if we had kept the carbon tax that China would not have gone down this route ?
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No, the mining tax, not the carbon tax. And not the Gillard or even the Rudd mining tax which were both flawed.
And yes, there would have been no reason for China to need the tariff if it existed. The reason they slapped the tariff on Australia is because our coal was too cheap. Now they collect the cash, not us. We seem to have no problem with a petroleum rent tax.
 
drsmith said:
Wasn't Bill first with the chest beating today ?
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drsmith said:
TA's shirtfront comment struck me as not being very prime ministerial.
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Just so unedifying, embarrassing really. From both leaders, but TA in particular. Shorten is essentially irrelevant.

A little dignity on behalf of Australia would be much more appropriate.
 

Yeah but, the machismo just oozes from Tony, he's such a warrior king and Julie is his Boadicea. Between them they must have insulted just about everyone who counts to our economy and security.

The Ruskies might have driven back many Emperors and invaders in their time, but they never figured on our Tony. They must be shaking in their boots at the thought of an Abbott dressing down.

I'm wondering what next piece of national patriotism Bill Shorty will tease him with, so Tony can gazump him.
 
Knobby22 said:
Lovely, so instead of us getting the tax that Labor failed to get happening due to incompetence, China gets it instead. Well done everyone involved. Another lose lose for Australia.
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Yes we Australians are really good at negotiating our strengths away. I put it down to the mindset we are a lucky country and as such it's impossible to lose.

We just agree with what News Corp tells us; who to hate, who to ridicule, who to adore, who to vote for, who to believe and therefore if they don't tell us the economy has gone backwards over the last 12months as it has, that unemployment looks grim as it does, that our neighbours distrust us as they do, then implicitly everything is going swimmingly well.
 
drsmith said:
Is that a suggestion that if we had kept the carbon tax that China would not have gone down this route ?
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Well it would have made our coal less competitive and therefore less prone to tariffs. Our sales people must be missing a whole lot of margin if they are under pricing the value of the commodity compared to a third world pricing structure.
 
Tisme said:
Well it would have made our coal less competitive and therefore less prone to tariffs. Our sales people must be missing a whole lot of margin if they are under pricing the value of the commodity compared to a third world pricing structure.
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I've heard of pricing ourselves out of the market, but this is ridiculous.

If ever there was a justification for a MRRT, the China tariff fiasco is it.
 

I think we're too disrespectful of other nations, especially ones as large as Russia and China.
John McCain of the US call Russia nothing but a giant gas station; Captain Abbott seems like he want to march to Moscow through the Ukraine and go toe to toe with Putin; There's these think tanks and Western scholars who practically laughs at the idea that China could be a serious contender to the US and Western powers - one, Lutvak or something, even said that he had studied China and conclude that it's a culture that only know tactics and have no strategic thinking - citing that Chinese dynasties last an average of 2 to 3 hundred years each, not realising that Europe and the Roman Empire change its borders and breaks into countless states while China is the only ancient empire that expand still keep most of its territory throughout the thousands years.

I mean these two have a bunch of problems and I'm guessing that they won't be structurally, militarily as powerful as the US and the West any time soon... but they're not countries you ought to talk down to, especially if you're a little Australia with a mere 22 million people.

There's a recent interview with Robert Johnson, one of the men working with Soros to break the Bank of England in 1992. Johnson said that with the West sanctioning Russia over the Ukraine, China and the BRIC are establishing closer ties away from the Western powers, providing alternative markets and exchanges so the West can't just put on a squeeze and their economy just collapse.
 
SirRumpole said:
If ever there was a justification for a MRRT, the China tariff fiasco is it.
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To suggest we increase our cost base (decrease our economic competitiveness) as a response to tariffs is economic lunacy.

Two wrongs don't make a right.
 
Really? If you are dependent on any organisation to explain to you how to think then you deserve whatever source you subscribe to.

I don't believe for a moment that the average Australian deserves the sort of insult you've just delivered to them.
Most people are well able to form their own conclusions.
 

You have a source for that opinion?
 
Source is the reading of and listening to the opinions of now thousands of Australians across the political spectrum.
A small percentage parrot what Alan Jones et al have pronounced to be The Absolute Truth, but the rest largely demonstrate clear capacity to think for themselves.
 
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