The Gillard Government

[Julia]

The PM is putting herself about. Watching the tennis, she's just sent a tweet to an incredulous Jim Courier. 'Is that for real?' he asked Bruce MacAvaney.

She sure is. She went touring the fire-stricken areas again yesterday. Well into campaign mode.

Re the police stepping up enquiries in the S & G affair, the assumption seems to be here that the legal secretary's evidence will contribute to proof of criminality on Ms Gillard's part. Does anyone think it's possible that evidence could alternatively contribute to finding her innocent?

I'm not expressing a view about either outcome, just wondering about the automatic assumption that the former will be the conclusion. I haven't read Michael Smith's blog so may be unaware of various factors.

 

[MrBurns]

The PM is putting herself about. Watching the tennis, she's just sent a tweet to an incredulous Jim Courier. 'Is that for real?' he asked Bruce MacAvaney.

She can see the writing on the wall re the AWU, get ready for an election.

 

[sptrawler]

Maybe the picture isn't looking too good for the middle of the year.

http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/bu...534/australian-jobless-rate-hits-5-4-percent/

Leaving an election with the economy worsening, would be a bit silly.
Interest rates dropping, unemplyment rising, manufacturing failing. It will be hard for Labor to hold up anything as a shinning example of their term in office.
Other than to say, we broke it, give us the chance to fix it.

 

[drsmith]

Like Nazi Germany in the last months of WW2, the battle fronts are now closing in on the Gillard government from all sides.

 

[MrBurns]

Like Nazi Germany in the last months of WW2, the battle fronts are now closing in on the Gillard government from all sides.

I'll be glad when this is all over..............

 

[noco]

I'll be glad when this is all over..............

Me too.

 

[Calliope]

I'm not expressing a view about either outcome, just wondering about the automatic assumption that the former will be the conclusion. I haven't read Michael Smith's blog so may be unaware of various factors.

Unless a completely watertight case can be made out against her, Gillard will not be charged. No serving PM has ever been charged with an indictable offence, and it would be a very daunting task for any police force to initiate this charge. The final decision would rest with the State Government. The political fall out if the charge failed would be huge.

I have my doubts that justice will be served.

 

[drsmith]

Unless a completely watertight case can be made out against her, Gillard will not be charged. No serving PM has ever been charged with an indictable offence, and it would be a very daunting task for any police force to initiate this charge. The final decision would rest with the State Government. The political fall out if the charge failed would be huge.

I have my doubts that justice will be served.

I think in any case that Labor would move on her first before it came even close to any charges being laid against her.

What will be interesting in the shorter term will be if anyone else gets charged. A panicked rat might just squeel.

I too have doubts, but we can still hope.

 

[bellenuit]

Unless a completely watertight case can be made out against her, Gillard will not be charged. No serving PM has ever been charged with an indictable offence, and it would be a very daunting task for any police force to initiate this charge. The final decision would rest with the State Government. The political fall out if the charge failed would be huge.

I have my doubts that justice will be served.

Unfortunately, I think you may be right. Although the evidence presented in the Michael Smith blog would suggest that she has acted unlawfully, it doesn't appear to be that serious an issue. It would seem that all that can be proven (if correct) is that she signed as witness to Blewitt's signature granting specific power of attorney to Wilson to purchase property on Blewitt's behalf, when in fact she was not a witness. Who is the aggrieved party? The WA state government? Hardly something they would feel worthy of pursuing 17+ years later considering the enormous political implications attached to it.

I think the police would have to prove that Gillard was actually party to the conspiracy to milk the union funds and used the Melbourne property to launder the ill-gotten funds. The MS blog hasn't found anything that could prove that was the case. It would require Wilson to rat on Gillard, but why would he do that when for his own protection it is best to have his partner in crime as prime minister of the country.

My only hope is that the police investigation can dig up a lot more than MS has.

 

[drsmith]

I'd like to see Craig Thomson charged first.

 

[Julia]

Unfortunately, I think you may be right. Although the evidence presented in the Michael Smith blog would suggest that she has acted unlawfully, it doesn't appear to be that serious an issue.

Quite. So depending on the outcome, of course, it's possible that the Coalition will have laid themselves open to accusations of muck raking to no effect.
Gillard is not stupid. I doubt she would have done anything which could come back to bite her in any significant way.

I just fear another issue like the carbon tax which the electorate doesn't regard as especially important, but on which the Libs are placing massive importance.

No one has commented on the perception, displayed here earlier today, that the police interest in interviewing the S & G secretary will necessarily pull any noose more tightly around Ms Gillard's neck.

 

[noco]

I think in any case that Labor would move on her first before it came even close to any charges being laid against her.

What will be interesting in the shorter term will be if anyone else gets charged. A panicked rat might just squeel.

I too have doubts, but we can still hope.

I believe Miss Gillard is cunning enough to cover her tracks like the two missing files.

I would say find those files and there might be some success in nailing her.

 

[bellenuit]

No one has commented on the perception, displayed here earlier today, that the police interest in interviewing the S & G secretary will necessarily pull any noose more tightly around Ms Gillard's neck.

Yes, there is no way of knowing what she may say. However, there seems to be the perception on the MS blog (and it's now grown too big for me to reference the relevant parts) that Olive was a meticulous employee of S&G and some of her comments handwritten on documents seemed to suggest that some of Gillard's activities at the firm raised her suspicions.

However, just the fact that the Vic Police are actually questioning her is positive news. They could have just dropped it for lack of evidence. A few people familiar with police procedures have said that the fact that Vic police were willing to send 2 officers interstate for a couple of days to do the questioning is in itself unusual. Such expenditure would rarely be approved for just routine questioning, so they see significance in that.

 

[sptrawler]

I just fear another issue like the carbon tax which the electorate doesn't regard as especially important, but on which the Libs are placing massive importance.
.

Maybe the Libs are going to roll out the cost to the Australian economy of having coal fired power stations sitting idle while we burn much more exspensive fuels.

It seems like an obvious ploy to me, I think I read last week where base load at Tarong wasn't available.
Smurph has explained it endlessly, but obviously it is missing the mark, they are not running coal fired plant and this is costing someone.

I certainly hope this is the Libs ploy, it will blow the feet out of Labor.IMO

 

[Logique]

I'll be glad when this is all over..............

So far they've burnt an inherited surplus, and racked up $147Bill of net national debt. The PM is running around playing Fairy Godmother to all the Cinderellas she can phone, tweet, text or greet at a bushfire.

The national accounts are going to get ugly before this is all over. Let's hope that long-suffering taxpayers will get home before midnight.

 

[MrBurns]

Unless a completely watertight case can be made out against her, Gillard will not be charged. No serving PM has ever been charged with an indictable offence, and it would be a very daunting task for any police force to initiate this charge. The final decision would rest with the State Government. The political fall out if the charge failed would be huge.

I have my doubts that justice will be served.

I tend to agree, I think the office of the PM would have some sort of immunity from prosecution unless the charge was very serious and irrefutable.

 

[bellenuit]

I tend to agree, I think the office of the PM would have some sort of immunity from prosecution unless the charge was very serious and irrefutable.

I think so too, but then there is this teaser from Michael Smith today:

I have had the best news today!!!! Fantastic news and I want you to know.

http://www.michaelsmithnews.com/201...ay-fantastic-news-and-i-want-you-to-know.html

 

[drsmith]

Upon listening to Michael Smith little teaser I'm expecting a step in the right direction, but not anything major such as someone being charged.

Still, a step in the right direction is a good step.

 

[DB008]

Well, our school kids were recently ranked low on a international ratings scale.

Wonder what opportunities awaits for them when they try to go to uni?

Have a look at what China is doing...the best investment any Government/Country can make. Investing in educating people.

An investment that will pay off many, many, many times over in the long run.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/business/chinas-ambitious-goal-for-boom-in-college-graduates.html?hp&_r=0

China is making a $250 billion-a-year investment in what economists call human capital. Just as the United States helped build a white-collar middle class in the late 1940s and early 1950s by using the G.I. Bill to help educate millions of World War II veterans, the Chinese government is using large subsidies to educate tens of millions of young people as they move from farms to cities.

The aim is to change the current system, in which a tiny, highly educated elite oversees vast armies of semi-trained factory workers and rural laborers. China wants to move up the development curve by fostering a much more broadly educated public, one that more closely resembles the multifaceted labor forces of the United States and Europe.

 

[sptrawler]

Well, our school kids were recently ranked low on a international ratings scale.

Wonder what opportunities awaits for them when they try to go to uni?

Have a look at what China is doing...the best investment any Government/Country can make. Investing in educating people.

An investment that will pay off many, many, many times over in the long run.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/17/business/chinas-ambitious-goal-for-boom-in-college-graduates.html?hp&_r=0

Well they can probably become teachers.Lol

http://www.news.com.au/national/low...teaching-nursing/story-fndo4eg9-1226530628399

Then the best of the worst can become teachers union organisers. Then jump into politics.lol