Are we all glad that 2012 is just about over?

Gordon says:

08:26am | 28/12/12

Lucky we have Mrs Carr to save the day, Gregg.

Christian Real says:

08:29am | 28/12/12

Tony Abbott and his Opposition MP’s supported Slipper for years when he was a member of the Liberal party and also the National party,so why didn’t Abbott or any or his yellow bellied opposition MP’s do something about Slipper then.
Was it because slipper was a member of their team,a member of their politicial party?
Peter Slipper,National party MP :1984 - 1987 =  3 years
Peter Slipper, Liberal party MP :  1987 -1993 =  6 years
Peter Slipper LNP MP :            1993 - 2011 = 18 years
Peter Slipper Independent MP:  2011 - 2013 =  2 years
Next year will make 29 years that Peter Slipper has been in Parliament and out of those 29 years, Peter Slipper has been a Liberal/National party MP for 27 years.
So how low could Tony Abbott and his Liberal/National party MP’s go in supporting Slipper for 27 years?
Or are you going to say Greg that Tony Abbott and all the other Liberal/National MP’s knew nothing about Peter Slipper in the entire 27 years that he was a MP in their political party.
Or maybe, Tony abbott and his Liberal/National party MP’s just turned a blind eye for 27 years until it suited their purpose to bring Slipper down when he became an Independent MP and also Speaker of the House.

Rose says:

08:44am | 28/12/12

If you thought the misogyny speech was anything at all about supporting Mr Slipper it’s absolutely clear that you didn’t really listen to it.
“I am offended by those things in the same way that I have been offended by things that the Leader of the Opposition has said, and no doubt will continue to say in the future. Because if this today was an exhibition of his new feminine side, well I don’t think we’ve got much to look forward to in terms of changed conduct.
I am offended by those text messages. But I also believe, in terms of this Parliament making a decision about the speakership, that this Parliament should recognise that there is a court case in progress. That the judge has reserved his decision, that having waited for a number of months for the legal matters surrounding Mr Slipper to come to a conclusion, that this Parliament should see that conclusion.”
These were not words of support for Slipper, but words of support for the process.

Super D says:

09:06am | 28/12/12

@Christian- funny how the coalition never promoted slipper. He was lucky that the ALP spotted his hidden talents…

marley says:

09:15am | 28/12/12

@Rose - the court case had nothing to do with the issue of Parliament deciding whether Slipper was a fit person to be Speaker.  As a lawyer, Gillard would know that as well as anyone.  It was a smokescreen to hide her desperation to keep her seat advantage over the Coalition.

acotrel says:

09:26am | 28/12/12

Dear Rose
‘If you thought the misogyny speech was anything at all about supporting Mr Slipper it’s absolutely clear that you didn’t really listen to it.’

LNP supporters are great at playing with semantics and spin - they have to be ! They have a self-confessed deceitful liar as their leader.

Christine says:

09:43am | 28/12/12

@Christian Real.
Just because Mr Slipper slipped in recent years does not mean he was like that 2 decades ago.  Sometimes decent people under pressure fall into moral decline at a stage of their life. We don’t know the reason and I would think it is none of our business.

I wasn’t aware that the use of text messages was a popular form of communication 10 -20 -27 years ago.  I very much doubt it and I would say its usage has become more prominent in the past 5 or so years. I’ve only started using it three years ago. Many still don’t use text messaging.  Please give the bloke a chance to recover from what ever it is he is going through.

His own electorate supported him by re-electing him each term and they would have been more in touch with ‘talk’ than anyone else in the country I would assume. As the situation became more clearer, the Coalition decided they could not support him in the forthcoming election.  Ignoring the ‘talk’ and I would presume for political point scoring reasons, the PM appointed him Speaker of the House and sacked a well respected Speaker. However, to be an effective Speaker you really need to have the respect of the House. How could any self-respecting politician, man or woman,  respect his recent behaviour for which he belatedly apologized.

At the time of the misogyn speech, many thinking people in the electorate saw this as another diversionary tactic to avoid addressing the real issue.
The blame game is notoriously used by those choosing to avoid facing fact or truth.  Many woman felt sorry for Mr Abbott for the outrageous and ridiculous attack by the PM. Some women in unhealthy relationships cheered the rant on maybe because they don’t have the courage or ability to address their own partnership issues.  Others saw the rant as support for Mr Slipper. Each to their own perception.

Christian Real says:

09:47am | 28/12/12

Rose
I totally agree with your comment simply because as there was a current court case in progress at the time the matter and issue should not have even been brought up or discussed in our Parliament.
Could it be seen that Abbott and his conservative mob were interferring in the Court case that was currently being heard in court, and could Abbott and his Liberal mob be guilty of contempt of court for raising the matter and issue in Parliament while a cuurent court case was in progress.?
Isn’t it a fact that the judge threw the case out of court because it was tainted with political interference from the Liberal mob.?

marley says:

10:10am | 28/12/12

@ChristianReal - the question of whether an individual is a fit person to sit as Speaker is entirely a matter for Parliament, and is a different issue as to whether he committed sexual harassment, which is entirely a matter for the Courts.  Two separate issues, two separate authorities, with one having no bearing on the other.  That’s the concept of separation of powers in action.  And no, Abbott couldn’t be held in contempt, because he wasn’t addressing any issue that was before the courts.

sunny says:

10:25am | 28/12/12

Christine - “At the time of the misogyn speech, many thinking people in the electorate saw this as another diversionary tactic to avoid addressing the real issue.”

To me the real issue was the hypocrisy of Abbott. Gillard’s speech was all about smacking down a blatant hypocrite. Think about it - the nerve of Tony ‘Chair Thing’ Abbott to be lecturing Gillard on misogyny. The nerve of Tony ‘slush fund’ Abbott to be lecturing Gillard on slush funds. The bloke just defies belief sometimes.

Is Abbott a misogynist? I don’t know - probably not. But nevertheless he was in NO POSITION to be lecturing Gillard on the subject. Gillard did a brilliant hypocrite smackdown, it was poetic justice.

It was also fairly common knowledge that Slipper would resign, which he rightly was given the opportunity to do, thanks mainly to the independents Windsor and Oakshott who are the real honourable ones of that episode.

acotrel says:

10:36am | 28/12/12

@Christan Real
‘Could it be seen that Abbott and his conservative mob were interferring in the Court case that was currently being heard in court, and could Abbott and his Liberal mob be guilty of contempt of court for raising the matter and issue in Parliament while a cuurent court case was in progress.?
Isn’t it a fact that the judge threw the case out of court because it was tainted with political interference from the Liberal mob.? ‘

No doubt all these questions will be asked by the authorities, and answered by the conspirators in a public statement. So that the case has minimal effect on the imminent and upcoming 2013 election.
Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha
Tony Abbott is STILL hiding !

acotrel says:

10:39am | 28/12/12

@sunny
‘Is Abbott a misogynist? I don’t know - probably not. But nevertheless he was in NO POSITION to be lecturing Gillard on the subject. Gillard did a brilliant hypocrite smackdown, it was poetic justice.’

‘Hypocrite’ ? I think not, but keep trying.

Christine says:

11:01am | 28/12/12

Sunny, You have your perception and I have mine. However, the fact remains that the PM failed to address the issue raised by Mr Abbott in relation to the suitability of the said Speaker of the House following revelations about lewd text messages to an employee.

When you fail to address an issue by choosing to raise another issue, that is diversion.  I agree with you that Messrs Oakshott and Windsor did right in approaching the Speaker, resulting in his resignation and apology to the House. This is something the PM should have had the courage to do her self.  How could any female politicians support such a Speaker.

And now I am off to a tropical beach to enjoy the day. Refuse to waste anymore of this beautiful day sitting at a man made machine. I had a wonderful Christmas andI I hope many more of you did also..

sunny says:

11:35am | 28/12/12

Christine - “When you fail to address an issue by choosing to raise another issue”

Gillard did stick to the issue raised, just questioned the credentials of the one raising it. If Abbott had sent Bishop in to bat on that one too it would have been far more effective. When he - with his questionable record on the subject - dared to lecture the PM on misogyny, he set himself up for the biggest political uppercut of the year. And Gillard didn’t waste the opportunity, she delivered it big time. Thanks for coming.

Enjoy the beach and all the best for the New Year.

sunny says:

11:42am | 28/12/12

acotrel “‘Hypocrite’ ? I think not, but keep trying.”

I would have thought you’d be the first to agree that Abbott is a hypocrite, but go figure.

Paul says:

11:43am | 28/12/12

“Ring of authenticity”. That’s comedy gold right there. Everything about that speech was just embarrassing. It was obviously rehearsed and she delivered it like a robot. Talk about “porn” acting. “You see this? This is my serious face.” It was a real Mr Burns style smackdown alright.

Gregg says:

12:35pm | 28/12/12

@Rose
” If you thought the misogyny speech was anything at all about supporting Mr Slipper it’s absolutely clear that you didn’t really listen to it. “
I did hear plenty of shrieking and see a bit of hand waving and finger pointing Rose, all such an embarassment for any thinking Australian, completely of the cringe factor scale it was.

Anybody who thought the rant was relevant to anything must have missed completely that it was part of a debate as to the suitability of the speaker to remain as speaker, opposition members including Tony Abbott succinctly and accurately putting the case on how Slipper was personally recruited by Julia Gillard so she could reneg on a written agreement with Andrew Wilkie.

@Christian,
It never ceases to amaze me how Labor supporters, yourself included fail to face reality.
No National or Liberal or LNP party person is not denying that Slipper has so many years up as a member of parliament, it being an electorate that votes for candidates not the party at all controlling voters and as for Tony Abbott and his colleagues having any idea of Slipper’s traits for 27 years, Tony Abbott and most of his colleagues have been in parliament themselves for likely less than twenty years.

The reality Labor need to face is that whilst electorates vote, people do change and the LNP became aware of some things re Slipper and so were no longer supporting his endorsement and thus Mal Brough has been preselected, by that electorate branch of the party btw.

More reality is that it was Julia Gillard who personally recruited Slipper to be speaker and if the truth be known, if it had been up to Caucus, she probably would have been rolled though then again in looking at their own survival for as long as possible they would likely support anything.

Very clearly and well stated Christine.

FL says:

01:20pm | 28/12/12

Rose you are wasting your time with gregg.
He’s an old codger who wouldn’t know misogyny if it jumped up on his shoulder and slapped him about the face screaming “I am misogyny”

In Gregg’s world a woman should be seen and not heard.
He’s hoping an Abbott victory will return us to the joys of the 1950’s where women knew their place.

Joan says:

01:20pm | 28/12/12

2012 the year of the dim wits running the country. The joke of the year being some consider highlight of year is rant of the year   Gillard self serving misogyny rant, a rant penned by a male , a rant which led up to Gillard vote for Australia`s no 1 misogynist of texts Mr Slipper as its climax . What an utter flop.

Bear says:

02:55pm | 28/12/12

@Joan. It was penned by a man? How do you know, were you there? I think it sounded pretty from the heart, although I know you selective haters have to select your ‘truth’ to fit your hate.

PJ says:

03:51pm | 28/12/12

AWU

Rose says:

04:04pm | 28/12/12

Marley, while the judiciary and the Parliament are separate Slipper did have the right to address his accusers in Parliament before being removed as Speaker. To dump him as Speaker before he had any opportunity to address the issues himself would absolutely been an abuse of power by those who sought to have him sacked. Only if the Court case already been resolved in Ashby’s favour that would it have been a whole different ball game, and then there MAY have been cause for his removal if he elected not to stand down himself.
As it stands, the whole Ashby fiasco has been outed as political manipulation of the Court process, one which reflects very badly on the Opposition. Slipper on the other hand, recognized that his ability to perform the role of Speaker had been irrevocably damaged and did the honourable thing and resigned. It may have been one of the few honourable thongs that Slipper has ever done, but none the less, on that day he behaved better than the Opposition.
Gillard’s speech was a well delivered, well deserved smack across the chops to a man who was party to the attempted high-jacking of both Parliamentary and Court processes to serve his own personal ends.
And, if you care to listen to the speech properly, there are numerous quite specific incidents where Mr Abbott’s sexism and misogyny are quite clearly described as such.
This whole thing has been a Coalition fiasco!!

iansand says:

04:29pm | 28/12/12

Now I understand.  While Slipper was in the Liberal fold he was mentored and guided down paths of righteousness by the gentle ministering hand of people like Wilson Tuckey, Nick Minchin, Sophie Mirabella, Christopher Pyne and Tony Abbott.  It was only after he left that nurturing environment that he fell in with bad company and was lured into pits of depravity.

Some of you people must be writing your stuff for laughs - surely you don’t expect anyone to take you seriously?

Ben says:

05:07pm | 28/12/12

@Rose

Rose, have you ever heard of the Australian Constitution? I’m talking about s.35, which states:

“The Speaker shall cease to hold his office if he ceases to be a member. He may be removed from office by a vote of the House, or he may resign his office or his seat by writing addressed to the Governor?General.”

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/cth/consol_act/coaca430/s35.html

I’ve read this section many times and, for the life of me, I can’t see anything in there about “abuse of power”  or “right to address his accusers in Parliament”? Perhaps you could point us to some judgment or scholarly source that backs up the claims you make about Slipper being dudded? Because at the moment you’re sounding a lot like Dennis De Nito of ‘The Castle’.

Gerard says:

10:07am | 28/12/12

I fail to see anything funny about the opposition leader attempting to deny parliamentary representation to the people of Dobell.

acotrel says:

10:44am | 28/12/12

@Gerard
Is that why Tony Abbott was elected to sit in parliament ? I thought it was to represent George Pell and Gina and become PM, and carry on the good work of Mr B.A.Santamaria (GOD’s WORK ! )

acotrel says:

09:33am | 28/12/12

‘I was personally very surprised when Mr Obama was re elected for a second term. ‘

Americans recognise quality in leadership. Obama is not exactly a Tony Abbott.

marley says:

09:17am | 28/12/12

@acotrel - a misogynist certainly was identified, but I don’t think your infamy is quite global as yet.

Christian Real says:

09:25am | 28/12/12

Acotrel
I hope and trust that you had a wonderful and joyous Christmas, 2012 was a great year but 2013 will be even better because Abbott will have no where to run or hide when all his smear campaigns and muck-raking comes back to bite him and others in the liberal opposition on the bum.
It is only the tip of the iceberg(as the saying goes) and it would be reasonable to believe that more will be revealed early in the New Year and that Abbott and others will be replaced in the Liberal/National Party Opposition before the next Federal Election.

acotrel says:

09:29am | 28/12/12

Happier New Year, Marley.

acotrel says:

10:54am | 28/12/12

Cristian Real
My supercompetitive son votes for the LNP.  I never mention politics to him these days.  It must be very difficult for people with any real perception of truth and common decency. How could you live ith the devious, underhanded deceit of that mob ? Some things are so bad that they are good - not them !

Mik says:

02:05pm | 28/12/12

May the outrage against real misogynists continue

http://www.rawa.org/women.php

http://www.abc.net.au/unleashed/4444810.html

http://www.amnesty.org/en/womens-rights

Bear says:

04:49pm | 28/12/12

I don’t think there’s much doubt the smarmy bastards will be crying into their Shiraz come November. All the predictions of Liberal demolitions in the media come from LNP lovers.

Gregg says:

12:44pm | 28/12/12

Sad to hear of all those personal issues you have to deal with T and may some of them sort themselves out with a bit of time in moving into 2013.
Sometimes you just need to stand back a bit to help you decide just what you can do to help or who needs help the most.

Just as sadly for all those suffering immense dangers and hardships, I doubt things will change too greatly for many in Africa or Syria and there could still be unsettled times ahead for Egypt, Libya and even Tunisia as a lot of people come to the realisation that a lot of rebellious activities have not done so much for the quality of life.

Anyway, all you can do is attempt to get on with things as best you can and so all the best for 2013.

tez says:

02:04pm | 28/12/12

HI T: It Sounds like you and Dad need to duck off somewere together for a bit of R&R and let the other buggers grow up. Happy 2013

Shane From Melbourne says:

03:02pm | 28/12/12

Sorry to hear about the sick Parrot…....

Mik says:

04:13pm | 28/12/12

Some you can help, some you cannot.
Some websites if you have time and are looking for info
http://www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au/
http://www.blackdoginstitute.org.au/

http://psychcentral.com/
http://www.psychologytoday.com/

Gregg says:

01:00pm | 28/12/12

Well, you could add Libya, Tunisia, Iraq and Pakistan to the middle east worry pot, and then even India seems to have a few issues whilst it may not be 2013 that the Chinese economy implodes but who knows what is really going on there with their massive building of ghost investment cities, basically unfitted out concrete highrise shells and even allegedly building of ships without having orders for them.
And then their massive coal fired power station building program will not do anything for an already alarming pollution situation in that country and we hop they may help to keep that rocket launching neighbour of theirs in check.

And yes, let us not forget the millions in Africa without too much and the many millions in Europe who are wishing for a hell of a lot more but who may well have to learn to do with less.

The American economy looks to be still very rocky and far away from any sort of a sustained recovery and just sustaining the building of debt.
Meanwhile at home, though it looks as though we could be on the right track re building a stronger cricket side again, unfortunately we cannot say the same for our government and their efforts to have better control over who reckons they can just come if they want to.

I reckon we too in Australia just need to get used to doing a lot more for ourselves and with far less too.
Learning to live frugally should be just behind the three Rs in school.
Sadly, we can never expect the current government to be up front with making changes for a different future and we can probably not expect an alternate government to be much better on that score.

acotrel says:

10:58am | 28/12/12

Buy a ticket , but next week.  I’ve aleady bought mine for Saturday night’s draw , so you would be wasting your time.

sunny says:

10:57am | 28/12/12

You’re the one who knows his middle name.

acotrel says:

11:00am | 28/12/12

2012, the year the Asby v Slipper case happened and Abbott stopped being gabby.

Achmed says:

04:03pm | 28/12/12

Jaqui The real worry about your comment is that you think its clever and witty

Christian Real says:

04:59pm | 28/12/12

Jaqui
You might speak for yourself but you do not speak for me,and to make a comparision with Robert Mugabe has you have shows how dispicable and Un-Australian you are.

Achmed says:

12:29pm | 28/12/12

Only Abbott and LNP supporters see doom and cloom.
The OECD report, recognises the strong performance of the Australian economy and its resilience to the global economic crisis. With GDP expected to grow by about 3 ¾% in 2012 and by about 3% annually over the 2013-14 period.
“Australia’s long period of uninterrupted economic growth makes it the Iron Man among the OECD countries,” said OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said.

The whole truth says:

12:51pm | 28/12/12

Totally agree, RebN with your sentiments.  And 2013 will be even worse until election time, especially if Ms Roxon’s anti-discrimination bill gets passed. What a pernicious, unnecessary, fraught initiative. No doubt about it, the ALP has a perverse concept of priorities and an even more perverse concept of restructuring our society and the alleged democratic principles which underpin it. Very, very dangerous people.

tez says:

02:25pm | 28/12/12

@ RebN: The LNP have a major problems with being runners up so no matter how well the country is going you will have a miserable time, get use to it and have a happy new year.

Mahatma Cote says:

02:26pm | 28/12/12

Oh god. Not another “End of the World” FFS.

Economy continues to grow.
Employment continues to gow, unemployment steady.

Inflation steady and no threat.
Interest rates moderate and easing.

Commodity prices firming again.
Prospective mining projects back to the front burner.

Household incomes on the rise.
Personal income tax down.
Household savings on the rise.
House prices steady, having eased without a catastrophic bubble burst.

etc etc etc.

So enough with the doom doom doom astroturf spin, already. Enough! Its just pure bulldust.

Mik says:

02:29pm | 28/12/12

That’s where more refugees are being made. You know, those people who have been forced to leave their homes and flee - the homes they did not want to leave.

tez says:

02:31pm | 28/12/12

@Charles: We will all know where it is when the displaced want to go for a boat ride to Christmas Island.War seam to do that to people.Happy new year.