Tony Abbott for PM

trainspotter said:

Do you want to define what Tony Abbott didn't do for Australia whilst he was under the helmsmanship of Howard?

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Julia said:

I'm not sure that's quite fair, IFocus. Mr Abbott has unified the Coalition in a way that has surprised everyone, and in a way Mr Turnbull was unable to achieve.

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No argument on Abbotts achievement to get the Liberals to where they are but I don't think they convinced anyone that they are / would be be better managers of the Australian economy with so many stumbles.

I do agree, though, about Mr Hockey, and perhaps this is what you're meaning when you talk about Mr Abbott's leadership, i.e. that Mr Hockey should be replaced as Treasurer?

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Its not going to happen for unity sake but lets Labor of the hook with Swan.

I'd like to see Malcolm Turnbull as Treasurer. I can't understand why so many commentators say Andrew Robb had 'a good campaign'. Whenever I saw/heard him he seemed unsure of himself, stumbling and quite inarticulate. Silly of him to try to get the numbers for a challenge to Julie Bishop too. Unity is everything for the Libs at this stage.

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Apparently Robb is actually across the numbers finance wise and during the election I did notice they kept throwing him up for the too hard stuff like broadband policy etc, Hockey and Abbott were no where to be seen

Do you think Wayne Swan deserves to remain Treasurer?

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He only remains as long as the Liberals remain weak in this area I think he now has the job for as long as he likes Tanner was a much better candidate who BTW is a big loss.

And given Bill Shorten's role in the axing of Kevin Rudd, do you think he should have a Cabinet role? If so, how will this go down with the Rudd supporters?

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Shorten is from Victoria so will be rewarded in some form for that states performance but he still needs experience / to be tested in Federal Parliament before getting a real gig IMHO.

As for Rudds supporters his Labor power base is minimal and really only good for a headline they hold no real position of power.

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But the Leader of the Opposition and his deputy, Julie Bishop, are hosing down expectations of big changes and heading off attempts to replace Joe Hockey as Treasury spokesman.

As part of the plan to present a unified front and show Labor by contrast as "descending into chaos", Mr Abbott, Ms Bishop and the manager of opposition business, Christopher Pyne, avoided a vote for deputy and moves against Mr Hockey.

Mr Hockey said yesterday his colleagues should worry about their own jobs and not his.

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nulla nulla said:

Health: While treasury figures show the actual dollar amount went up over the 11 years of Howard, proportunately it did not keep pace with with the additional funding that was needed to be injected by the states.

Industrial Relations: Workchoices was a total stuff which is still being unravelled?

Time to let it go.

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trainspotter said:

So therefore it was the states problem and not Tony Abbott directly? He actuallly increased funding to the hospitals?? Where is the billions of dollars being ripped out of the system then as claimed by the Labor Party?

Work Choices !! HAhaahha ... another Labor Party fear mongering smear campaign. They took the power away from the unions to strike and rejigged the unfair dismissal laws for small business.

The passing and implementation of the new laws was strongly opposed by the left side of politics, particularly the trade union movement. Critics argued that the laws stripped away basic employee rights and were fundamentally unfair. The Australian Council of Trade Unions consistently ran television advertisements attacking the new laws.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WorkChoices

It was Employment and Workplace Relations, Kevin Andrews who introduced the legislation into parliament BTW.

But you are right nulla nulla ..... time to let it go.

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todster said:

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAte work choices is dead and buried remember that?
Obviously they used non union labour to dig the hole and they botched it!

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todster said:

MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAte work choices is dead and buried remember that?
Obviously they used non union labour to dig the hole and they botched it!

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trainspotter said:

Joe McDonald gonna help you dig the hole todster?

Been hit with fines worth nearly $50,000 in the Federal Court over ...
Been banned from encouraging building workers to strike at a Perth building ...
Been barred from encouraging construction workers to strike at a Perth high-rise ...
Fired an ominous shot at the Rudd government, warning that its flagship ...
He'll continue to fight for the safety of workers despite being fined ...
Been ordered to stay off construction sites for the next two years, ...

http://wotnews.com.au/news/Joe_Mcdonald/

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todster said:

PIP,redundancy,Long service,24/7 insurance,free ambo,9 day fortnight $600 a year to join tax deductable what a country,Joe in full flight is a joy to watch.

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trainspotter said:

You mean the guy who was sacked from the Labor Party by Kevin Rudd?

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TONY Abbott has taken out two Ernie Awards at the 18th annual forum which names and shames public figures for making sexist comments throughout the year.

But he missed out on the top prize this year, the Gold Ernie, which went to a group of university students at St Paul's College in Sydney for setting up a pro-rape Facebook page.

The college's "Define Statutory" group, which defined itself as "pro-rape, anti-consent", was condemned by women's groups, the government and police when it came to light last November.

Mr Abbott won a Political Silver Ernie award at the awards show in Sydney last night for such comments as "What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing ...".

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such comments as "What the housewives of Australia need to understand as they do the ironing ...".

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wayneL said:

I don't understand. Do housewives not do ironing these days?

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nulla nulla said:

Lets face it, next election will be Ms Bishops turn. Opposition deputy leader under Malcolm Turnbull and again under Tony Abbott.

She is the only one one the team with any consistancy. Ask McFarlane. She fixed him with the "look" and he went to water when he thought he had the numbers to roll her.

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Mofra said:

Well, Abbott does win something this year:

Tony Abbott stars at sexist awards night



http://www.news.com.au/national/ton...ist-awards-night/story-e6frfkvr-1225925104790

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Julia said:

And on "The Chasers" her stare caused the garden gnome to shatter!

Seriously, though, nulla, what are you saying here? That you see her continuing as Deputy to whomever is leader, or rather as leader in her own right?

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nulla nulla said:

Unless Malcolm Turnbull scores some points in his shadow portfolio and rebuilds his popularity in the coalition, I think it is only a matter of time before the liberal numbers people put her in the job.

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Julia said:

That's interesting, nulla. Why don't you think Tony Abbott will last?

Julie Bishop performed quite well in the election campaign, but I wouldn't have thought she had the overall demeanour/strength of personality to be a leader.

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