Prev
Next

Early poll shows Gillard is Libs nightmare scenario

Mark Kenny

by Mark Kenny

26 Jun 06:00am

Must Reads

Protecting the Barrier Reef is the Fin end of the wedge - this is a caption

Protecting the Barrier Reef is the Fin end of the wedge

38

ICB: Is white bread the worst thing since sliced bread? - this is a caption

ICB: Is white bread the worst thing since sliced bread?

92

Sometimes, you’ve just got to stick it to the bloody ref - this is a caption

Sometimes, you’ve just got to stick it to the bloody ref

71

Filed under: Election 2010, Julia Gillard, Kevin Rudd, Polls, Tony Abbott

132 comments

Two weeks ago an edict went out from the Opposition Leader’s office to Coalition frontbenchers: don’t say Rudd Government, say Rudd / Gillard Government.

Gillard as the new Bob Hawke. Ilustration: John Tiedemann

Just days before, a Neilsen poll in Fairfax newspapers had confirmed a trend in several Newspolls showing the Labor vote tanking to just 35 per cent. In fact the Neilsen poll put it at 33 per cent. Conservatives everyhwhere couldn’t believe their luck.

The Government’s support base was crumbling before their eyes. But wiser Liberals became nervous. As one told me at the time, things were going ``too well.’’

The fear was that with such disastrous numbers, Labor MPs would take decisive action.

With the value of hindsight, this was prescient. But then, they had been burnt before. Former foreign minister, Alexander Downer made no secret after the event that he had wondered why throughout 2006, it had taken Labor hardheads so long to replace Kim Beazley with Kevin Rudd. He revealed the Rudd ascendency had been wargamed as the Coalition’s horror scenario.

Yet even with the value of that lesson, the chances that Labor would behave the same way in government and take the unprecedented step of knifing a sitting PM, seemed remote.

Nonetheless, the word went out. ``Never understimate the professionalism and sheer ruthlessness of the Labor machine when their backs are against the wall,’’ one fomer Liberal said with some admiration. ``That is why they win so often’‘.

It was an insurance policy of sorts. If Julia Gillard was to be Labor’s answer, the Liberals wanted her hog-tied to the Government’s most odious problems.

It was not much but then, how do you prepare for a nightmare?

And make no mistake, today’s Galaxy Poll is a nightmare for Tony Abbott.

Executed with blood-chilling speed and efficiency, the replacement of the communicationally challenged Kevin Rudd, with the formidable Julia Gillard has delivered in spades.

Labor’s calculation was that voters would eventually embrace Julia Gillard even if they might take time to forgive her for knifing her former boss.

They need not have worried.

The poll of 800 voters was taken on Thursday night, even as television screens all over the country beamed heart-rending pictures of Mr Rudd’s teary departure. If ever there was to anger for a leader betrayed it was this night. Instead, Labor got an immediate bounce - its primary vote recovering to a much healthier, 41 per cent, predicting a two-party-preferred share of the vote at 52-48.

Remember this. No federal government has lost with numbers this solid so close to an election.

Instantly, Ms Gillard has jumped way ahead of Tony Abbott as preferred PM smashing him by 58 to 32 per cent.

More worrying for Tony Abbott is Galaxy’s breakdown on character traits such as trust and empathy. These perceptions are the anatomy of Mr Abbott’s approval ratings and suggest subsequent polls leading up to the ``only one that counts’’ will be difficult to shift.

Consider them. Asked which of the two was the better listener, 59 per cent picked Ms Gillard to 24 per cent for Mr Abbott. Being seen a good listener in politics is pure gold.

On another key indicator, ``understanding the needs and values of the community’‘, Ms Gillard again scored well ahead on 58 to his 28. ``Tough but fair’’ came in at 55 to 29. A ``strong leader’‘, 53 to 31. The more trustworthy of the two again went to Ms Gillard by two to one at 52 to 26. Even on the most knockabout index, the question of which leader would you prefer to have a beer with, Ms Gillard solidly elipsed Mr Abbott by 42 to 35. In fact, on only one index, did Mr Abbott score higher: someone you don’t like much. This went to Mr Abbott 52 to 24.

One thing is clear. It is no longer the Rudd Gillard Government and voters like what they see. As she told Tony Abbott in parliament on Thursday, ``game on’‘. You can already see he knows it.

Most commented

427Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself
375There's no one Thomson won't burn to save his skin
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
304Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
262Who murdered the Arts degree?
246A big day for Thomson, who thus far is guilty of nothing...
231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

132 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • mags says:

      06:12am | 26/06/10

      800 people is a very small sample considering the population. If people think the Coalition has been sitting on its hands over this episode, they are mistaken.  The difference between the two entities is that for some reaso the Coalition has not yet learned to get down and dirty as their opponents do. It’s been a failing for decades.

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      11:59am | 26/06/10

      All polls have small samples compared to the population. They just don’t have the time, the resources or the money to poll tens of thousands of people. Indeed, a huge poll of 200,000 would be just under 1% of the population—a tiny, tiny minority. The samples are always small, but are nonetheless indicative of trends.

    • Christian Real says:

      02:13pm | 26/06/10

      Mags, it is funny that when polls of 800 people or just over have been conducted favouring Tony Abbott and the Liberal/National party Opposition that had him winning the election the Liberal cheersquad was already celebrating and popping the champaine corks, but now that the polls have reversed in the ALP’s favour, comments like yours,“800 people is only a very small example considering the population.”
      Oh, how a week in politics can change and turn things around.

    • Ben81 says:

      08:02pm | 26/06/10

      Christian Real - “Oh, how a week in politics can change and turn things around. “
      Perhaps those getting excited over a poll taken just 2 days after a leadership change should ponder that thought.

    • Rhys says:

      02:38pm | 28/06/10

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

      mags, please learn how random sampling works before saying that 800 is not a big enough sample. Doubling your sample size does not actually increase your accuracy by much once you get to a certain point.

    • Shelley says:

      06:49am | 26/06/10

      re: cartoon

      ahhhhh, Bob Hawke?

      If so it’s a bit unkind to the lass. The only screwing around Jools has done has been on the Aussie public.

      Reply

    • Phil says:

      07:20am | 26/06/10

      Paul. There is no doubt that M/s Gillard will get a jump in the polls. She is in my opinion a better politition than her former boss and will make a better PM than him regardless of the fact that I dont agree with many of her policies.

      A samply of 800 persons is not that big to draw such strong conclusions by, given that Nine MSN, the Australian, Herald Sun had opposite trends.

      As I have always said the only poll that matters is the one on election day. Everything in between is only to see newsprint and gain comments.

      M/s Gillard supported nearly every backflip, poor policy, wastage, and the mining tax, so to did her new deputy Wayne Swan. That they can not get away from. Had they installed someone like Combet, they could easily make a differentiation, however with M/s Gillard I dont think they can. Labor voters will make excuses for anything.

      She presided over one of the biggest rip offs in our history, the BER. Not every year 9 child upwards has their new Macbook, and Workchoices was merely watered down rather than tanked completely.

      M/s Gillard will also possibly lose the Christian Vote, as per Tors piece stating her Atheist position. Hey it may in turn pick up a few votes, but a great percentage of Australians believe.

      M/s Gillard may win the next election, but if she doesnt she will go down in history as the shortest PM, and the one who knifed her boss to get the job, and, I may be wrong here but would be the only Prime Minister in our history unelected as PM at an election. As much as you vote for your local candidate representing the party, most voted for Rudd and her new leadership slogan, not the reds under the beds Gillard, that is fact. Kevin 07 election was per my labor friend at work a great day for the True Believers.

      Reply

    • Peasant #3167 says:

      01:00pm | 26/06/10

      Phil, you don’t really know what Gillard supported. She followed the political line.
      It’s not as if she would publically go against Rudd as the deputy. it has already been discussed how autocratic Rudd was. I don’t think she will have the exact same polices.

    • Albie says:

      04:55pm | 26/06/10

      Phil, a couple of things.. what’s with “M/s” instead of Ms? It just makes you seem sexist and I’m sure that’ snot the case.

      Although I agree 800 is absurdly small to put any stock in a poll, your other points have some issues:
      - of course Gillard supported the PM’s decisions at the time publicly. we can’t know what she may have thought privately but Rudd was PM, as deputy you support the PM’s decisions in public
      - if every kid got a new macbook then BER would be the biggest ripoff in history. value for money issues with BER are entirely the problems of the public education departments in each state and territory. why can’t people start blaming them? What was GIllard to have done, had the cwlth department run the program?! We know how that worked for hte insulation scheme…
      - as an atheist who has voted for christians in the past, i think it’s naive, simplistic and a bit offensive to assume that christians will not vote for Gillard just because she doesn’t believe in God. Sure, some will vote for Abbott instead because of this, but there are all sorts…
      - finally, Gillard only has to stay in power 8 days to avoid being the shortest serving PM. Oh and you were right about being wrong - Paul Keating was unelected as PM at an election after taking the reigns from Hawke. Mind you, the public don’t ‘elect’ the PM, they elect a party and the party decides who is their leader and therefore who is PM. Semantic, yes, but important to know.

      I’m not convinced they can win with Gillard. It really seemed like madness to have this change to me but Rudd also seemed to be losing it. Whether shifting to Rudd helps them or not, only time will tell.

    • Phil says:

      08:56pm | 26/06/10

      Peasant & Albie

      Gillard has even admitted to sharing her part of the stuff ups. This is fact. As a deputy, it is her job to counter. If Rudd was a meglomaniac, control freak then the dopes in Labor put him there to make those decisions. Labor used Rudd to get them elected then spat him out when he outlived his used by date.

      Do one of you for one minuite think Gillard would have got elected in her own right as PM in 2007. I admit Howard was on the outer, but Labor only got going when they installed Rudd as opposition leader. I dont personally think she could have got elected at the time.  She is far wiser now, and as I said I think she will get more done.

      M/s or Ms no difference in my opinion. She is in fact not married. That is her choice, and one must respect that. Not that I care. Regardless of this not many first world leaders live with their boyfriends/girlfriends depending on their sex.

      There is no doubt Gillard was behind the BER program and its roll out. The delivery and bully boy tactics involved giving schools buildings they didnt want or were not good for their most important needs. It was her department which designed the program and its delivery. They chose who rolled it out. To blame state governments who are hopeless at on time and on budget delivery of projects is a cop out.

      The BER was not about computers. Did not Rudd state that every year 9 and above child would get a laptop to keep. Sure there would be a timeline however Gillard respondible for the delivery. This was a flash announcement to get elected without consultation on who would pay for the infrastructure to get them working.

      I agree with the fact that commonwealth departments did a poor job with programs, but Labor traditionally couldnt organise a chook raffle, let alone a major project. Most Labor Polititions have no business experience, have only either worked as trade union lawyers or officials or been public servants. The best business person amongst them was the ex Pm’s wife and good on her.

      Surely just looking at Cordells building guide would have said many projects were poor value for money, a rip off or fraud. Many Point Piper/Toorak mansions were built cheaper than some class rooms/canteens etc.

      The BER enquiry was not asked to investigate quantum or value which is a joke. This alone will haunt Gillard who has defended the program.

      As for being an atheist, I commented to someone today, that many former PM’s were Freemasons. I still voted for one of them on policy/party even though I do not agree with freemasonary and its teachings. Personally I would not vote for an Atheist, and thats my choice. An element of voters will go to Gillard as I mentioned due to her Atheism, however more would look elsewhere simply based on this fact. Just like not all catholics will vote for Abbott.

    • Peasant #3167 says:

      07:49am | 26/06/10

      I have voted Liberal since Bob Hawke but from what I seen of her so far she is great. To me she is the inspirational leader we been looking for. Please, please Julia do what your heart says and not what the fractional people want you to do. Rely on the peoples vote not the bullies from NSW.

      Reply

    • Ryan says:

      11:34am | 26/06/10

      Backstabbing an lying is “inspirational”.. and there I thought the average Aussie was against this sort of behaviour and more for a “fair go” and “mateship” not “stab him in the back when you are in the trenches”.

    • Joan says:

      11:57am | 26/06/10

      Peasant: You talk like a peasant from a banana republic `Julia do what your heart says ` -  this after the most treacherous politician in Australia`s history, Julie with the blood red hair went for Rudd`s jugular to become PM - if you think this is inspirational it explains why Mao and other commie leaders last so long in power- the peasants are suckers and pollies like Red Julie count on the likes of you.

    • WayneT says:

      03:20pm | 26/06/10

      Unfortunately no matter how popular Gillard may become, and even if she wins the election, if she goes against the party mantra, she can still be removed as Prime Minister and replaced with whoever the party wants.  I don’t understand how that is democratic, but that is the reality.  This is why a PM in this country can never do what is right, instead of having to towing the party line.

    • PaulB says:

      09:04am | 27/06/10

      She did her pigrimage late last year, and will now get a free ride from the Murdoch Press.  She will be PM one way or the other so she can deliver the UN agenda that Rudd tried to but couldn’t.  We will be globalized and exploited like everyone else.

    • Rob r Charteris says:

      08:13am | 26/06/10

      Great article Mark, I wonder if the Liberal party will now see the light and neck Abbott….. would love to see a leadership change there, but then they have a problem with timing their leadership changes. They would look more than a lil desperate doing it now. Besides as a Labor and Union man I’ve always loved Abbott leading the opposition, having him there is one of Labor’s best Assett

      Reply

    • Evan Findlay says:

      12:19pm | 26/06/10

      Rob,
      I agree. In the past two weeks I have posted a number of comments on “The Punch” in regards to Julia Gillard taking over the reigns and subsequently how such actions would impact on Tony Abbott and the coalition. The usual right wing suspects that fester throughout this site took aim at and belittled my comments.

      I stated at the time that the coalition had no reason to believe that Tony Abbott would get them this close to an election win and so when elected to the leader of the opposition they had no problems with his elevation as the thinking at the time was that they would lose the next election, dump the right nutbag and install Hockey to take Mr Rudd on at the following election.
      Now that Tony has come so close only to be thrown back to where he started must be demoralising. The act of bastardry that was perpetrated on Mr Rudd on Thursday morning was nothing short of disgraceful and has most assuredly triggered a rethink of my voting intentions. But having said that, it has had the desired effects, the same effects that I declared and I repeat my comments of last week and state what will be the intentions of the coalition? Will they assassinate Abbott to get them back into the game or will they return to their original beliefs that this election was lost a long time ago and begin preparations for the following election.
      A Morgan poll, the last under Mr Rudd’s leadership was revealed yesterday and it showed Mr Rudd pulling away from Tony Abbott’s coaliton by a two party preferred of 53% to 47%. It just makes you wonder had they gone too early in their assessments.

    • Tim says:

      01:11pm | 26/06/10

      So if the Libs neck Abbott now, it will look desperate and be bad timing. But Gillards necking of Rudd just the other day was not?

      Right.

    • Ben81 says:

      01:13pm | 26/06/10

      It’s been 2 days, Rob.  Still the same government, still accountable for the same mistakes and mismanagement.  It hasn’t all magically gone away just because of a desperate political lynching of Rudd, who certain people here until 2 days ago would fall over themselves to defend to the death and are now pretending they’re perfectly ok with what’s going on, exposing just how glib they are. 
      if I were you i’d give it a little bit of time before I get too cocky, and no, the Liberals don’t need to change leaders just to suit those who think politics is some kind of gameshow on TV.

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      01:48pm | 26/06/10

      Rob , You seem to forget that Tony is still there as leader but Rudd has gone , Tony and the Coalition managed to bring the public’s full attention to the fact that Rudd was a Dud . The opinion polls confirmed that fact and the unions subsequently ordered Rudd’s political assassination . Julia was only too pleased push the political knife in to the former Prime Minister’s back .
      Gillard is about to face the reality of the R.S.P.T. , from which $12 Billion is needed to shore up the 2010-2011 budget.
      The B.E.R. schools building scheme continues to br ripped off by $millions from taxpayer’s funds.
      Then of course , there is the E.T.S. which is set to make a come back with it’s cost effects applying to everything the consumer uses daily.
      Power bills set to soar , food , freight , fuel , rates , insurance , etc etc .
      You name it , the E.T.S. will add a rise in cost s of everything , which is one of the reasons Rudd and Labor went off in the polls.
      Proudly a union man Rob , proud of the political assassination of your beloved former leader too no doubt.

    • Evan Findlay says:

      09:14pm | 26/06/10

      Ben81
      It hasn’t been two days, it has been more like two months. Internal Labor polling, and to a lesser extent, media polling has clearly demonstrated that Tony Abbott and his coalition would struggle against a Julia Gillard led Labor party. I think you will find that Liberal party polling would have been revealing similar results, precisely why the Liberal party wanted to tie Julia to Kevin, and precisely why the Labor party installed Julia to the office of Prime Minister.

      At the end of the day it’s about perceptions and their polling has shown that people differentiate between Julia and Kevin. They also distinguish vast differences between Juila and Tony and it is these comparisons that led to the political upheaval on Thursday morning.

      Lump it or like it, Julia is vastly more popular than Tony on all fronts and Tony now finds himself punch drunk and staggering, just waiting for the knock out punch.

    • Ophelia says:

      11:55am | 27/06/10

      Nightmare][ ref dictionary.com,,a monster or evil spirit believed to oppress persons during sleep, yep,thats Gillard

    • Trisha says:

      08:20am | 26/06/10

      I am a senior female executive at a major Australian company. I had high hopes that Julia Gillard would one day become Australia’s first female prime minister. However, I am now extremely disappointed that the way in which she became Prime Minister this week did not make it a momentous occasion for women and, instead, has set us back. She has added to the stereotype of women being selfishly ambitious and manipulative in the way in which they get ahead; a stereotype that our male colleagues fear and that senior women have spent years distancing ourselves from. The polls are wrong. Both men and women will not be voting for Julia Gillard.

      Reply

    • Peasant #3167 says:

      11:20am | 26/06/10

      Trisha, i think she did what any man would do in that position. She didn’t get to deputy PM by talent alone. it’s takes dealing and wheeling. I’m proud to have her as PM.

    • Seano says:

      12:06pm | 26/06/10

      What rubbish. Did the way Abbott got his job by rolling Turnbull set men back? This is how our political system works and has always worked. It is incredibly rare in our political landscape for any pollie in a leadership position not to stay beyond their use by date.

      As a shareholder I would hope that our senior executives had better analysis skills.

    • raine ferdinands says:

      12:49pm | 26/06/10

      Well said Trisha! This is the exact sentiment of a number of my female friends. JG has acted treacherously to get to the top. She is not getting my vote. What is most disturbing is the way an elected PM of Australia has been betrayed and dumped unceremoniously by faceless puppet masters in cahoots with JG. This is both undemocratic and indecent, to say the least. Kevin Rudd and the rest of us can now say, “Et tu Gillard-Brute?” How can we trust her or the current Labour party?

    • Luke says:

      01:26pm | 26/06/10

      Do you think she should have been leader while labor were in opposition?

    • Fred says:

      02:10pm | 26/06/10

      You can’t just say the polls are wrong.  Inaccurate maybe, due to the small sample size, but not wrong

    • marley says:

      04:32pm | 26/06/10

      Or maybe she just had the courage to seize an historic opportunity. 

      After all, ambition and manipulation are hardly limited to the female of the species.  Did we criticize Rudd when he knocked of Beazley, or Abbott when he ousted Turnbull?  Remember Hawke and Keating?  Why apply a different set of criteria to Gillard than to the blokes? 

      Politics is a cutthroat game - it’s not one for the squeamish. Most voters know that.  All that’s happened is that Julia has proved she’s as tough, ruthless and ambitious as her male counterparts.

    • Banks for the memory says:

      01:04pm | 27/06/10

      @ trish,why would have high hopes for gillard becoming pm just because of her Gender,If as you allege you are an elderly female executive in a major company perhaps your sexual discriminationalist attitude may be the very reason you are not running the large national company,the secret with breaking glass is knowing where to hit it

    • You play with your pole to much says:

      08:42am | 26/06/10

      Why would it change,last week all the media was spruiking how kevin was coming back in another poll,the poll has been a boost for media circulation,the poll that most people dont participate in, the pole that can be taken in a room full of supporters,the pole that never lists the people who are polled,the pole that can be manipulated by anyone, the poll taken in the pub, the poll taken at a union meeting, the poll taken while waiting for the lights to change the poll,there is no scrutiny no credibility,try going a week without having a headline without the word poll in it,you would be out of a job

      Reply

    • Wayne Fehlhaber says:

      08:49am | 26/06/10

      Gillard’s honeymoon plays the usual part in early polling. Lets see what happens when the newly ascended P.M. has to deal with the R.S.P.T. ,  $12
      Billion of which is a key part of the 2010-2011 budget ,  the B.E.R. which has had millions of dollars of taxpayers money ripped off it’s mismanaged program and Health reform with it’s controversial rearranged funding requiring one third of the states G.S.T. revenue , and leaving the suffering taxpayer to cope with increased state taxes and fees to make up the shortfall.
      After the reality of dealing with the mess she had a part in creating , the new Prime Minister will have a short honeymoon indeed.
      There will only be one poll that counts at the end of the day.

      Reply

    • Rob r Charteris says:

      12:33pm | 26/06/10

      Wayne Fehlhaber says:08:49am; good old flip flop wayne I mean Jayne. Yesterday you were saying the opinion polls were pouring in and are not fovouring Gillard. Flip flopping like a true Liberal lololololol

      Btw, I think shr’ll do fine with the RSPT, and the BER hasn’t been a failier I think any business having less than 1% of it’s projects blowing out is far from failier, silly boy

    • Steve Putnam says:

      09:17pm | 27/06/10

      Once again you make statements that show you to be either a nong or a liar. The RSPT has nothing to do with the budget. Read the budget papers.

    • Polywatcher says:

      08:58am | 26/06/10

      My reading is that the Libs only dropped one point and Labor picked up 8 points (55/45). We should all be celebrating the fact that the Greens went down from 15 points to 8.  That means the Labor voters, under Rudd, “parked” their votes with the Greens until Julia came on board. With this pattern it looks as if we wont have to witness a coalition of Labor/Greens. What a relief!!

      Reply

    • Liz says:

      09:18am | 26/06/10

      I’m sorry to say that Miss Gillard is my worst nightmare.  Thus far her “oi” vowel replacement for “I” drives me insane. I feel violated by that voice.

      Beyond that I believe she was up to her ears in the unseemly execution of the elected Prime Minister (who was her immediate partner in repeated bad policy management).

      The polls may change over the coming weeks.  When Australians have more time to understand how they have been delivered a Labor/Union connived Prime Minister, and the immense power wielded by unelected heavyweight outsiders and union hacks, they might be more wary about Miss Gillard’s as yet unseen post-elevation persona.  When power is secured, only then are we permitted to see the real person behind the campaign facade.

      A little more time and some more analysis on how her gross incompetence was rewarded with unearned promotion to the Prime Ministery could well result in an entirely different outcome to her immediate opinion poll honeymoon.

      I wonder how Australia would feel if her colleagues publicly humiliated her in the same manner as they brutally executed the incumbent, elected Prime Minister? 

      It would be unconscionable bias if she would be quarantined from the same outspoken criticisms, public anger and accountability for her past failed policy involvements, on the basis of her gender.

      Reply

    • Soames says:

      02:17pm | 26/06/10

      Liz, the grating sounds from the voicebox of Ms Gillard makes one either switch momentarily to SBS,  hit the mute button on the remote, or catch up with the latest wanted list from Gerry Harvey. Ms Gillard is likely to be curiously both the victor and the vanquished in a short period of time, based on the dynamic shift in contemporary Labor politics.

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      09:26am | 26/06/10

      The ACL must be pissed as well- they had Abbott and Rudd eating out of their hand. To have an unmarried, childless, secular Prime Minister forced upon them must be most annoying…......

      Reply

    • Fred says:

      02:12pm | 26/06/10

      Oh Shane completely agree - cannot wait to see how that transpires!!

    • Lonely Planet says:

      06:26pm | 27/06/10

      @ shane from malbin Basically your saying she has nothing in common with most working families of any denomination or belief,she doesnt have kids,doesnt have a husband and really only cares about herself,what exactly does she have?
      Does not exercise nor play sport, only really goes to breakfast,lunch and dinner, all on the bludge,Pathetic lonely backstabbing,a cold and meaningless nothing,what a winner not

    • Roja says:

      03:10pm | 29/06/10

      @Lonely planet - that means she has plenty of time to serve the Australian people with the utmost of her ability. 

      I don’t care about the gender, sexuality, marital status and most certainly which of the 4,000,000 religious denominations she might choose, if any.  What I care about is her ability to manage the country of Australia.

      If you are claiming to be Christian with that post, you should be utterly ashamed of yourself.

    • Kelly says:

      09:27am | 26/06/10

      Surely you can’t take a poll regarding Gillard less than 48 hours after she got the job seriously? Are they trying to say she’s been a fantastic leader for 1 and half days? and now she will definately win the election? c’mon don’t get too excited kids. She was a huge part in decisions made that casued Labors slump in the polls remember.

      Reply

    • dinki di says:

      03:31pm | 26/06/10

      This is the Australian media all over. Their silly ravings put Rudd in and now they will romance Gillard until we all feel nauseous. How she has won office is dirty, but that is the ALP all over. Spin,spin,spin ,so do redback spiders.

    • Adam Diver says:

      09:37am | 26/06/10

      Do Australians deserve the government they get?

      Yes: 100%
      No: 0%

      Once again the masses are manipulated with ease and we all lose as a result. Congratulations Labor keep holding on to power at any cost

      Reply

    • Super D says:

      11:42am | 26/06/10

      I couldn’t agree more.  If the rapid turnaround in the polls demonstrates anything it is the intellectual shallowness of the Australian electorate.  All they need is something new and shiny dangled in front of them and they grab for it every time.

    • Richard of Brisbane says:

      04:45pm | 26/06/10

      well said Adam Diver, Australians today are made up of a majority of illigal boat people mentality and brains, spending more time on gender and bullshit,  and not the too hard questions that will never be asked of this assasin and back stabber, back from the days of Kim Beasley where she started doing this along with the TWO ROOSTERS!!

    • nosthow says:

      09:37am | 26/06/10

      Quite correct she is Mark - poor Abbott must have been in a state of shock on Thursday when Labor showed how tough they are when the big decisions have to be taken. Abbott is now , as he put it “Roadkill” ! As are his geriatric shadow cabinet !

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      01:17pm | 26/06/10

      Again with the double standards.  Whenever The Lib leadership changes there is nothing but insults fromm the Labor camp. When the Labor leadership changes (mid-office no less!) it apparently shows how tough they are with big decisions!


      How do you explain this blatant hypocracy?

    • Christian Real says:

      07:28am | 29/06/10

      Your comment:Tim
      It is interesting when you comment about ‘Double Stadards”, because the Liberal/National party has perfected ‘Double Standards’ into a art form.
      Remember how the Liberal/National party coalition hounded Joel Fitzgibbon over his failure to declare ‘gift’ overseas trips on the MP’s pecuniary interests register in Parliament.
      Joel Fitzgibbon stood down and resigned from his portfolio of defence Minister which he held at the time.
      It seems that Tony Abbott has also breached the parliamentary rules covering MP’s pecuniary interests when he failed to declare a new $710,000 mortgage to Parliament for almost two years.
      The Liberal Opposition forced Joel Fitzgibbon to resign , so by the same token, and by the same Parliamentary rules, Tony Abbott should stand down and resign as Leader of the Liberal/National party Opposition.
      As Tony Abbott has not done so as yet, and as the Liberal/National party hasn’t forced hime to stand down and resign his Leadership role, it would seem that the Liberals have “Double Standards”, two sets of rules, one set for them, and a totally different set for other Political parties.
      The disregard and the contempt for the Rules of Parliament that the Liberal/National party has displayed, by failing to take action against their Leader Tony Abbott for breaching the Parliamentary rules, also shows their disregard and contempt for the Australian people who elected them.

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      09:46am | 26/06/10

      Polls?
      Give me a break!
      The mere size of the samples make the polls unscientific and in that sense completely rubbish eg one earlier poll was done in Eastwood,Howards old electorate and the other at Lindsay after a state bye-election….completely biased.
      If the corporate owned media….Sky News… hadn’t of done such a hatchet job on Rudd after the mining tax was announced he’d still be the PM and Labor would win their next term.
      The latest polls are also misleading because the bounce is just the protest Green vote moving back to Labor which it would of done at election time anyway.
      For weeks i have been turning on Sky News and watching shows like PM Agenda where the focus was on mining tax and how bad Rudd was performing.Now all i hear how good Gillard is performing….no mining tax…no policy changes.
      It seems if the electorate vote in a PM they should be able to vote one out but it seems the corporate and political brokers running this country make that decision for us…..so why even bother going to the polls.

      Reply

    • Luke says:

      12:01pm | 27/06/10

      I do wonder when everyone is going to see through Sky News for what it is… Pro-labor propaganda to a point its not even worth watching anymore… everything they say is just too dam predictable…

    • Notorious says:

      10:03am | 26/06/10

      I can understand why Gillard is reluctant to call and early election. But to me, the sooner the better. This change of leadership has pulled the rug out from underneath the Libs/Abbott. Call an election this week, they’ll be playing major catch up, and their best attack will be, ‘well Julia was there when Rudd was there.’ Which isn’t good enought to win.

      Reply

    • BobM says:

      04:33pm | 26/06/10

      Ha, keep believing the spin - you’ll find out soon enough on polling day…  clutching at straws.

    • Ripa says:

      10:14am | 26/06/10

      Spin spin spin, if you think Gillard will change the leopards spots you are crazy and so very gullible. She is going to lie and promise the world AGAIN, like rudd did,  and deliver nothing again. Egg on our faces. History shows you what this group is.

      Reply

    • Luke says:

      10:30am | 26/06/10

      OK
      Labor has…
      Got a leader who said she would be a full forward for the bull dogs first
      Has thier exleader saying completely this is from factional leaders not the people…
      Has another exleader bad mouthing the party
      Has gotten the country in a huge debt
      AND the LIBERALS are in TROUBLE???

      Reply

    • Phil says:

      12:07pm | 26/06/10

      Think there was a mention of solo round the World sailor, plus a trip to Mars.

      Agree Libs are yet to be in trouble. However it will be a much tighter contest than with Rudd, make no bones about that.

      SHe did however oversee every wastful policy, program etc that Rudd Labor tried to push through a stupid electorate.

      Labor have no shame. They would eat their young if it bought them power. Richo whatever it takes, said it all long ago.

      Not one of them (cept Rudd’s Mrs) is successful in their own right. None have great success in their own business. Few if any have built anything worthwhile, but rather latches onto the coat tales of others. Many in labors ranks are dishonest and thugs. Rudds assasination was proof that they will hand onto power at any cost.

    • Fred says:

      02:15pm | 26/06/10

      What about this article did you not understand. 

      I remember recently a very prominent Liberal party member removing themselves from the party, not just bad mouthing it.

    • Ben81 says:

      07:36pm | 26/06/10

      Fred - Fraser should have quit the party 15 years ago, big deal.  If you really want to hear a prominent ex pollie bad mouthing their party you should read Mark Latham’s book!

    • Luke says:

      12:06pm | 27/06/10

      @fred… are you accusing the Liberals of having “trouble in thier front bench” ??

    • Andy says:

      10:35am | 26/06/10

      From all the accolades laid on Gillard it seems the main reason people are crowing about her is that she’s a woman. Terrific reason for her to be the Prime Minister? I hope people soon snap out of it, and start looking at how she’s is going to change Labor and change the way this country is run. Although she’ll have to check with the Unions first and see if they agree, otherwise she’ll be getting the chop too.

      Reply

    • Anthony of WA says:

      10:49am | 26/06/10

      I don’t think so, where was the poll taken? in Victoria!! where is Gillard from?
      She and Swan are are responsible as Rudd for the ETS backdown and Mining Tax, it is only journos like you that come to this conclusion, the same Jornos that failed to properly inform the public of what Rudd was like and really up to. How about asking Gillard how the 1 billion dollars Abbott took out of health care compares to the 5 plus billion dollars tipped down the toilet in her building education revolution, Money that has been borrowed in our names for which we have to pay back?

      Reply

    • Juju says:

      10:45pm | 26/06/10

      Wasn’t it some town in Wales…...?

    • Joan says:

      11:05am | 26/06/10

      Just 800- and Julia`s won? You`ve got to be kidding. Her treacherous ways do not match her feighned humility, she is but a wolf in sheeps clothing- her blood red hair symbolic of where she has come from, how she got there, and what she stands for. I hope the Australian people read all about her treacherous ways to become PM and vote for any party other than Labor and . send a message to Labor that they we will not be treated like residents of some banana republic.

      Reply

    • Barbara says:

      12:42pm | 26/06/10

      I feel relieved to read that the sample poll numbers are questionable.  It was high treachery. We have been taken for complete fools, like we are nothing in the scheme of things, and Gillard condescends to us, along with her union friends.
      Gillard was in it up to her ears.  That disgusting episode in Australian history was carefully engineered to protect her image from any known involvement.  Every one of them knew, except Rudd who was used just like Gillard will be when the public turns on her for what she has done.
      There might be a few minutes of admiration, but truth will out and I for one will be hoping to see the back of her. 
      Her ascendancy was gifted by factional heavy-handed executioners, it was not contested and won.
      Australian women are much better than we are seeing.

    • Fred says:

      02:18pm | 26/06/10

      “her blood red hair symbolic of where she has come from” - is that really necessary?  I mean I get that her hair is red but using it to stereotype “where she has come from” is a bit unnecessary. Your point would have been made equally as well without it.

    • Dave says:

      03:09pm | 26/06/10

      What’s the bet that all the people who are mentioning the number of people polled would have no complaints about the poll size if it showed the Liberals to be winnning?

    • Ashley says:

      11:18am | 26/06/10

      All this nonsense about “knifing” a sitting PM is rubbish. It was up to vote - she didn’t merely step in and declare “Mr. Rudd, I am usurping you, please stand down”. She had the right tacts, the right get-it-done attitude: other MP’s even stating that they loved when Rudd was out of the country/town because Gillard was in charge and she would just get all of it done in one fell swoop.
      Ok, putting that aside, Abbott always knew Gillard was a threat - the fact that he didn’t prepare for such a situation is almost infantile. His mouth has already run him into more controversy than he can afford, so his support was always reliant on the fact that the voting public didn’t like the “Rudd” part of the Rudd Government. Abbott’s strength as a leader is so minimal, especially when forced to butt heads with someone as “charismatic” - dare I say it - as Julia Gillard. My point being that the Liberal government can have all the dazzling policies in the world, but with a weak leader like Abbott they will be very hard pressed to win over the popular vote with an opposition like Gillard.

      Reply

    • Ian Moses says:

      11:37am | 26/06/10

      Gillard will have her clothes soaking in NapiSan all weekend just trying to remove Rudd’s DNA. Australians don’t like back-stabbers Gillard, so lap up your months of fame and then enjoy many years in exile on the opposition benches where you really belong.

      Reply

    • Wanted_asylum in Switzerland says:

      03:29pm | 27/06/10

      Australians dont like backstabbers ..dont make me vomit….  people getting busted at airports, shows about cops breaking down doors to rescue a “child from an evil bong”..Crimestoppers ..oh australians are the biggest suckers on the planet….see the telly says the cops are our friends so surely they must be lol…wars on drugs ,wars on science ..shit maybe wars are profitable ... bunch of backstabbing dawgs if ya ask me… since Howards reign at least

    • Carnegie says:

      11:43am | 26/06/10

      I got burned prior to the 2007 election when I continually thought these polls were rubish. So with that in mind I’m trying to avoid being “in denial” but what I can’t reconcile is how the ninemsn poll of 300,000 people produced the polar opposite result….... I’m confused!

      Reply

    • Darrell says:

      05:19pm | 27/06/10

      This is something that I cannot reconcile either.  A sample of 300,000 voted 2 to 1 against Gillard.  How can everything change so quickly?

    • Rocket Surgeon says:

      09:38pm | 27/06/10

      The difference is a self selecting poll vs a poll of a cross section of the population to mimic the actual population. Never, ever trust a poll where the participants opt in.

    • Daniel says:

      11:53am | 26/06/10

      Lets hope she beats Abbott or we can kiss goodbye to our overtime and redunduncy payments when bosses sack us. I also hope we see an increased Greens representation in both houses too.

      Reply

    • Seano says:

      12:11pm | 26/06/10

      I do like the way for conservatives over the last few years polls have been meaningless, then suddenly all important and are now suddenly meaningless again.

      I’ve aways thought polls were little better than a finger in the wind. Which is kind of apt considering the storm Abbott is now facing.

      Reply

    • antiperspirant says:

      12:53am | 27/06/10

      HAHAHAHA.

      Obviously the conservatives were real intersted in them.

      And look see it cost the most popular PM ever his job without being able to front the people.

      Labor = cowards. Poll driven machine men. they didn’t change leader for the betterment of the country. They changed because the polls told them too.

      What a bunch of cowards. Whatever it takes. Power for powers sake. NSW Inc all over again. Now there is a different giirrl installed with debts to pay. Same old same old.

      I love the “storm” Abbott is facing. very lyrical. Wait for the honeymoon to be over. All this mess was Gillards making as well.

      At least the fanbois and girls have been shown to be so very wrong about this government.

      LAWL. Cowards not willing to back their convictions.

      The Labor Party, standing for polling numbers and 24 hour news cycles, that is all.

    • Andrew says:

      12:25pm | 26/06/10

      The Gillard goverment:

      -day 1: treachery & deceipt, Unions and factions, which one is Rosencrantz and which one is Gildenstern. Queen Gertrude (Jools) marries her dead husband’s (Rudd), brother (Swanny).

      Day 1: the Daily Everthing headline “First Woman to take throne”, “What she wears”, “Her parents are proud”, “She’s a beaut!” page 55: “Was she complicit in Kind Kevins Death?”

      Week 1: Queen Jools sooooo popular. Airhead 1: “It’s like so great to have a woman as Queen. I like think its super.” Headline “Prince Tony no chance!”

      Week 2: Jools a retrospective. Who is she, how’d she get there. Puff piece after puff piece.

      Week 3: Questions start to be asked, “Is Jools getting a rails run because she’s a woman.” Person asking the question attacked by all and sundry for being sexist. Australians start to catch on to this whole reverse sexism thing.

      Week 4: Will she won’t she call an election. Shee does!

      Month 2: the campaign: The Jools party claims Libs are negative for running a campaign based on Labor failure. “Labor” she says “will focus on the future, we will save the whale, save the environment, build australia, get rid of boat people, increase immigration, encourage industry, destroy poverty, fix hospitals, balance the budget, stop smoking, abolish indigenous disadvantage, get rid of obesity, run faster, junp higher, eat wheatgrass, lead the world in everything and still have time for a great Aussie sausage sizzle.

      People begin to suspect she might be bunging on the promises a bit.

      Goes on campaign trail with Christine Kinneally and Anna Bligh. People start to wonder about ALP tactics.

      Liberals table BER disaster. Jools denies it ever happened and then gets left wing to claim libs are sexist.

      Everyone getting a little sick of the voice.

      Press start to ask questions other than what is she wearing and where dod she go to school.

      Answers reveal incompetence on grand scale and intrinsic involvement in Rudds failure and downfall.

      Honeymoon is over baby! The cycle from rooster to feathduster complete. Australia’s 1st female non elected PM goes down in the polls.

      Curtain close.

      Reply

    • Gran Depine says:

      07:45am | 27/06/10

      Hahahaha! Encore, more, more…I love it Andrew. Spot on mate, these incompetent bastards are so predictable. PM Gillard must have selective memory. She accused a minute portion of the electorate of being conspiracy nuts because they questioned the accountability and audit of the BER. By stopping the latest NSW BER progress payments to the prime building contractors, isn’t this an ADMISSION of her Education Ministry failure, just like the cancellation of insulation installation payments?

      The only Conspiracy Nut/Theorist is PM Gillard. She conspired with other members of the ALP factions to force a PM of Australia to resign without the mandate of the Australian public. This is not a good example for women in politics, shame on the way she conspired to reach her political position. Women of Australia, no no I should go further women of this planet, should not be proud of her deceptive Machiavellian accomplishments.

      Why doesn’t the media focus on her contradictions or expose her imaginary self proclaiming prose of being a master negotiator and auditor as she mentioned in her her first sitting of question time as PM in Parliament?. Hahahaha how can she negotiate and audit an Australian “Carbon Price” (as mentioned in her inaugural speech at 12pm last Thursday) when she can’t manage a $14 Billion BER budget Ooops corrections. Acting as the Minister for Education, PM Gillard has blown out the BER budget to $16 Billion ? Bravo Bravo PM Gillard a great example of negotiations with the contractors and examples of accountability. When ETS mark 2 will be presented once again by PM Gillard,  the Australian public will have to come up with $11 Billion dollars per year for 15 years..Bravo Bravo..you are an accounting negotiating genius PM Gillard. I guess further negotiations with miners will be required? Ask your union buddies, they have lots of great ideas.

    • WayneT says:

      07:18pm | 27/06/10

      Problem is that the Canberra press gallery are too close to the action and on a first name basis with most of the politicians there.  This why Rudd had such a long period of unaccountability.  Same thing is now happening with Gillard.  These reporters need to be rotated out every 3 months with younger and hungrier reporters fighting each other for a story, who will look a lot closer at what is going on there.  The Government has had a field day with the current crop of reporters.  They wait until the last possible moment to hand out press releases and the lazy reporters make some quick changes and hand it on to their respective radio, TV or newspaper to get it out on time.  There’s no time for questions, no time for further investigation.  They are suppose to be the eyes and ears of the public.  Without them doing their job the Government of the day gets away with bloody murder.

    • Rainé Ferdinands says:

      12:27pm | 26/06/10

      Eu tu Gillard (Brute)?

      What happened to Kevin Rudd, the former elected Prime Minister of Australia, is certainly a cowardly, mean and disgusting act initiated by unelected factional “war lords”. No Prime Minister of Australia deserves this. This act is also a slap in the face of all Australians; factional Labour “war-lords” apparently can over-ride the will of the people!!

      That Gillard is a female does not warrant celebration for this sly, cowardly act. As a female I am thoroughly disappointed and will certainly not vote for Labour. Factional leaders and “war-lords’ of the Labour party must take heed and be prepared for a thumping defeat when the real people speak at the elections.

      Shame on you Julia Gillard-Brutus. If you have no respect for decency, don’t expect the rest of us to respect you nor forgive you for what you did to our elected Prime Minister. If the labour party can do this to their own, imagine what they will do to the rest of us when the plotters and cowardly schemers are in power, again. Can anyone trust this Labour Party any more? Your words ring hollow; it is your actions that speak volumes. You and your faceless schemers have politically ‘assassinated’ the elected Prime Minister of this great nation!! Shame, shame, shame, Gillard!

      Rainé Ferdinands

      Reply

    • Gran Depine says:

      01:46pm | 27/06/10

      Vas-y Rainé Ferdinands c’est bon! Shame on the way Gillard conspired to reach her political position. This is not a win for Australian feminism or an example of sexual equality in Australian politics. No logical thinking male or female would be proud of her deceptive Machiavellian political assassination of a democratic elected PM without the mandate of the free voting people of Australia. Base Moi! If only she was a politician in Greece.10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1….. Kaboooooooooom!
      Cowards die by the hands of a cowardly assassin. How is the medicine PM Gillard? Hors categorie? Enjoy your 15 minutes of political shame.

    • George the Fraud Oneill says:

      03:08pm | 27/06/10

      Great Nation??? says who??? great at what??? being redneck ,racist homphobic..is that who the “working families” are???
      Not a nice place if you belong to a minority….
      One thing..um ..are the “junkies of today” the anzacs of tomorrow???
      Afterall there is a war ( on drugs) being waged on them???
      Shut up n pass me a beer mate…

    • Tim says:

      12:40pm | 26/06/10

      it wouldn’t matter to me who Labor ponied up as the prime minister, it could be the pope but that wouldn’t change my mind.  Clearly they just hell bent on keeping their jobs in office, no matter the cost.  I can’t trust Labor at all any more.  Have voted for them probably twice in my life time, and after the past few years I doubt I will ever want to vote for them again.  People are thick if they think they are voting for their chosen prime minister or leader in campaigns.  Labor has just shown in both the NSW state govt and now the Australian federal govt that it’s all about the party, not the leader.  People remember you are voting for the party, not the leader.  Politics is a dirty game, but Labor are indeed the dirtiest of them almost.

      Reply

    • Greg says:

      12:46pm | 26/06/10

      What faith would one want in a poll when it claims Gillard rates higher on trust when she has gone to great length to show support for Rudd only to become the greatest turncoat in Australia’s history.
      Julia may go down in folklore with the likes of Ned Kelly and GG Kerr but it is Kevin who’ll be thinking of not Such is Life but What is Life after Assassination.
      Sure the polls will jump on the euthoria of a woman becoming PM and to some extent for the underlying detesting of how Rudd performed at times though the same people who lapped up Rat F….. language of a PM probably drooled over what has occurred but in the light of a few weeks and more as we see policy debacles continued and more revealed, voters with any sense will decide on what policies are best for the longer term future of Australia.

      Reply

    • luke09 says:

      12:50pm | 26/06/10

      It was a cowardly way to get rid of a PM by following orders from unions but the decision maybe proven correct if labors primary vote stays in the 40’s. The liberals need to release effective policies soon otherwise they are gone and Australia will be governed via stealth, by unions.

      Reply

    • Anjuli says:

      12:59pm | 26/06/10

      So Tony Abbott some times stretches the truth, which labor jumped on but what about them just the day before they were all supporting their leader, then over night he was out . I am sick of seeing her on the news and in the papers already and it has only been a day. Now I will be watching DVD,s till after the election.

      Reply

    • Luke4 says:

      01:03pm | 26/06/10

      I think a lot of journo’s might be getting a little over excited about Julia Gillard. 48 hours of her as PM and they have her as the saviour of the Labor Party. mmmmm interesting stuff. And to even have a poll after less than 48 hours of 800 people making headlines around the country is even more ridiculous.

      Reply

    • Paul says:

      01:40pm | 26/06/10

      So there has been a huge spike in the polls because the PM now wears lipstick and the occasional dress, nothing else has happened to warrant the upswing in the 800 people polled so Julia don’t worry about changing any of the dud policies just throw on some lipstick and head to the polls. WAKE UP AUSTRALIA.

      Reply

    • Andrew says:

      01:48pm | 26/06/10

      I would say Abbott is Labors nightmare, they even had to stab the Prime Minister in the back to try and deal with him. Abbott may still not be that popular, but he has exposed Labors incompetence, failures and backflips. Labor like to say their behind in the polls because they can’t sell their acheivements, the truth is they can’t get past Abbott at the door. So they axe Rudd and give Gillard a go.  I say Go Tony! “game on” as Gillard said as she shook Abbotts hand in QT.

      Reply

    • John J says:

      01:49pm | 26/06/10

      Nice try all you Liberal supporters but Julia is going to cream Phony Tony. All this hand wringing and crocodile tears for Rudd are pure hypocrisy. You loved it when he was being torn apart by the media and crushed by the polls, and now you are worried that your little mad monk won’t get the top job. Boo hoo.

      Reply

    • Juju says:

      05:25pm | 27/06/10

      @John J

      Latest SMH Poll -Are you more likely to vote Labor with Julia Gillard as leader?
       
      Yes 42%
      No   58%
      Total votes: 142,964.

      Boo hoo.

    • Thinking Voter says:

      03:06pm | 26/06/10

      I’ts the Mad Monk who is a wolf in sheep’s clothing with his admitted ‘gospel’ lies. 
      And it was Rudd who was the banana, not Julia.  She is the carrot!

      Reply

    • LizzieA01 says:

      03:12pm | 26/06/10

      I thought that the extremely ungracious speech given by Tony Abbott on Thursday was a poor attempt at positioning against the #spill development, but the “12-point contract” they released this afternoon implies that the libs are in even more trouble than this article suggests.  Never in my born days have I seen a more pathetic attempt at a policy position piece - and signed on every page by Tony Abbott no-less!

      Reply

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      03:50pm | 26/06/10

      Ok if it’s true they back stabbed Rudd because he was going down the wrong path…why haven’t their been policy changes?
      And if Labor does do a major back flip it will be the pot calling the kettle black because on numerous occasions in Parliament Rudd would hammer the Liberals for proposing policy on the run.
      The Liberals just have to keep it simple:
      That under Labor you have:
      1. The invasion of the boat people
      2. Th pink bat fiasco responsible for the death of people
      3. The millions of dollars wasted on stuff ups like the school halls
      4. A HUGE BIG TAX: this alone should lose them the election.
      5. A party run by assassins who send Death Squads out to hit elected sitting PM’s

      On the other hand you have Julia Gillard who has done nothing positive yet.
      It was Rudd who won the election for Labor.
      It was Rudd whose stimulated the economy that kept Aust out of recession.
      It was Rudd and the Labor Party (Julia Gillard) which stuffed up the Pink Bats,School Halls and ETS.
      So apart from being the 1st female PM and a good back stabber…what has Gillard done?

      Reply

    • hohum says:

      01:43pm | 27/06/10

      Another boat load of ninety plus yesterday. Is it reported in the ES press? Labor must be running out of motels etc to keep all these expensive boat people in. The place at Leonora in WA must have cost millions to set up and it has a permanent guard around it. How much?

    • Luke4 says:

      02:58pm | 27/06/10

      As Julia repeated over and over again at nauseum when in Opposition, “another boat, another policy failure”

    • Cynical Goat WA says:

      04:12pm | 26/06/10

      If the press gallery do their job properly (yeah I know I’m asking way too much) then the train wreck of incompetence that this woman has presided over for the past 2 1/2 years (only a third of the amount of computers promised, Building rorters fund and her integral part in the litany of disgrace that has been the hallmark of these clowns), then there is absolutely no way in hell that any sane thinking person could possibly vote for her.

      Oh and remember, according to the ALP, you vote for the party not for the leader, so all this “honeymoon” adulation of the Teflon Queen is only a temporary feeling because Arbib, Howes and the rest of the number crunchers will make a move to dispose of her as soon as the Teflon starts to wear off.

      Reply

    • Steve_of_Cornubia says:

      04:13pm | 26/06/10

      Clearly, any polls taken over the past days can be discounted, because Ms Gillard hasn’t done anything meaningful yet, other than copy her former boss’s penchant for tokenism. Let’s wait till we see some real action, not just words. As a sitting PM she has a chance to actually SHOW us what her government is about. Will she ditch the RSPT? If so, how will she fill the $12billion hole in the budget? Will she scrap the BER or continue to defend th indefensible? Will she do something for the thousands of people who lost their jobs in the insulation industry when the scheme wa killed off?

      Reply

    • MrX says:

      04:16pm | 26/06/10

      It’s too early for polls.

      They are currently measuring the public reaction. Wait til things settle down.

      Reply

    • Boris Knight says:

      04:21pm | 26/06/10

      Same horse…...Different jockey!!!

      Gone from Krudd to Dullard, no thanks!!!

      Reply

    • Jacob M says:

      04:36pm | 26/06/10

      Labor will win, they would have won with Rudd at the helm too..eat ya hearts out Libs

      Reply

    • BobM says:

      04:51pm | 26/06/10

      The Poll in The Australian -  Who would you prefer as Prime Minister? 31,000 votes - Abbot 63%, Gillard 34%. Don’t start crowing yet about a Labor victory. Julia is a Unionist and was ‘elected’ by her Union mates -  and don’t expect the Governor General to save us,  Bill Shorten, one of the architects of this coup, is her son in law.

      Reply

    • Helena says:

      04:53pm | 26/06/10

      Gillards taskforce to look into the BER is about to be exposed. Brad Orgill who is in charge of the taskforce appointed by her has been trumpeting it’s a success, and parroting her lines. He is supposed to be independent from the Government, but it seems he is just a lap dog to Gillard. The principles are now saying they haven’t even been consulted or approached about it.  They say it is a furphy to say there is only 200 complaints. Intersting times ahead for the new PM I would think.

      Reply

    • Ms Gizzard here says:

      05:16pm | 26/06/10

      Hey, Hey people, you can all relax now, I’ve gotten rid of that rotten man Rudd for you, come on, come out from under your beds.
      Now, as we ALL know, it was ALL rudds fault we’re in this mess and I’m here to save the day…TRUST ME she saids with a wicked grin on her face

      Reply

    • Chris says:

      05:21pm | 26/06/10

      Oh please leave you red’s under the bed rant out of this. That argument sounds like it belongs in the 50’s. Just like you Joan.. As a firm Labor voter even I was wondering if Labor had lost it’s way with Rudd as it seemed to be it’s own worst enemy. . But there was no way I was going to vote for the mad monk. A self confessed liar and sanctimonious, pious misogynist. Sounds like Phoney Tony got your vote Joan with the paid parent leave plan hog wash… but wasn’t that to be paid for by a big bad tax? I sugest you better dust off your apron get into that kitchen and start cooking some pumpkin scones cause your going to need some way of placating hubby when he comes home laid off from Abbotts new work choices.

      Reply

    • Edward James says:

      05:36pm | 26/06/10

      Bring on the Federal election the sooner the better.  We will sort the wheat from the chaff then. How easy it will be with people voting below the liine and short circuting dodgy preference deals. Greens will not stand alone and neither will Labor or the Coalition. Voters have been disrespected by their elected reps for decades the time has come to number all the boxes below the line and hopfully destroy the two parties not much prefered habit of taking turns milking taxpayers for all they are worth!

      Reply

    • Ms Gizzard again says:

      05:55pm | 26/06/10

      Psss, it’s me again, Ms Gizzard, now, when I get elected, if I start to lie to you and to tax everything you have, please forgive me, it’ll be PMT’s fault, not mine. ok? thanks you mugs…er, I meant to say, you working familes.

      Reply

    • antiperspirant says:

      06:08pm | 26/06/10

      Honeymoon.

      MSM will be in love for a while.

      Not one policy has been changed. All that has happened is a backflip on the mining tax.

      This whole debacle was not about fixing anything but polls. Labor is just poll driven. They have no vision. They seek power for powers sake. They even want to include the failed Rudd in the power base again.

      Cynical tactics seen too often. labor has done it in NSW too often.

      What a joke

      Reply

    • Bazza the Oracle says:

      06:33pm | 26/06/10

      Here we go again. Jounos trying to put another figment of their imaginations in the lodge.Get in the real world. labour is totally out of control and playing “musical chairs” won’t fix it!!  200 more illegal immigrants being sent to Leonora this week! Where the hell are the other 6500? If labour wins the next election it will be open slather,( if it isnt already.)

      Reply

    • JohnM says:

      06:49pm | 26/06/10

      Your comment:I have the distinct suspicion that most MSM have lost a great deal of credibility, from what I hear around the traps and I travel a great deal, Labor is not a sure thing at the forthcoming elections, contrary to the so called polls as listed by MSM. If Gillard had any fortitude she would call an immediate election and let the people decide, yea right, and pigs fly too smile. My only concern is Abbott ( he has done his job got rid of ETS but his zealous believes and poor debating skills will cost liberals), in my view he should step down now and make room for someone like Andrew Robb who has a lot more credibility and presents/debates well in the media.

      Reply

    • Veronica Boom says:

      08:31pm | 26/06/10

      I’ll like to call her bluff on this, call an electin now! If the polls are accurate she has nothing to fear. Reality is Labor have already lost and no one can save them. Welcome PM Abbott!

      Reply

    • Ohno says:

      10:47pm | 26/06/10

      Well if you weren’t aware the smiling assassin has already shown her true colours!
      As a sign of good will she pulled the govt funded pro super tax adds off TV
      well she may have canned them from the box but as of 7pm Saturday night they were still playing on the radio…
      I think this maybe how the law educated behave and it will be claimed as a technicality!
      Her and turn coat Swan are more dangerous than you think and the way Rudd was removed I suspect we have a great deal more to fear.
      I want a clear explaination of where she thinks the govt got lost enough to remove a PM from his office.
      That to me should be the job of the people of Australia not a bunch of pollies fearfull of losing their entitlements!

      Reply

    • Sirro says:

      10:52pm | 26/06/10

      One poll matters and that will still likely be in October.

      Rudd was definately a goner prior to Thursday.
      The Qld and WA labor seats were going hard to the Libs and so were enough of the NSW marginals that Rudd was out.

      The Unions and Labor Party hacks knew this and saw another 3 + years of being in opposition and away from the gravy train ahead of them.
      To think that they would be loyal to the man who effectively won it for them in 2007 is crazy. They certainly never valued the Rudd effect to the same extent that the media did.
      Lets not forget the 40 + million dollars in advertising the Unions came up with for that campagn and the similar amount that they will have to come up with again.
      They surely played their part and therefore had the right to choose the leader if they wish?
      Who better to take over than the ideological zealot heroine of the Victorian left.

      The whole Labor plan from here is to run diversion (spin) to the extreme.

      Review JG’s speeches of the first couple of days and see how many times she has said that a “good government had lost its way”. Its not the “good government” that she was second in charge of.
      Not once has she used the tired old “working families” line. Its now “hardworking Australian families who get up early to go and make an honest living”.  Tangled in all of this is the veiled distancing of herself from Kevy’s policies and autocratic leadership style.
      At the same time the usual crowd of spruikers, Emerson, Howes, Hawker et al are busy in the media putting it around that Rudds style of leadership was completely different and uninclusive and Julia will be a consensus touchy feely leader who can really communicate with people.
      Then they come out with the old “dont forget a vote for T Abbott is a vote for Work Choices” BS.

      I am hopeful that the Australian public wont be fooled by this diversion.

      I for the life of me cannot see the shift in Qld and WA votes coming back to Labor in the next three months, regardless of what happens with the mining tax. Given that NSW Labor remains tainted and unelectable I also cant see a big turn back to the ALP there either though this one is alot harder to forsee.

      Ultimately, Gillard may benefit from those who tend to give people the benefit of the doubt and a chance to prove themselves. Whether thats enough to get her over the line I doubt, but generally Australians don’t really like changing the governing party very often. It remains though that this current government of Rudd / Gillard / Swan and Tanner has been so berefit of competance, they certainly do not deserve a second term.

      Australians certainly do not deserve an a Prime Minister who is accountable to the four or five top Union officials first and to the people second.

      Reply

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      08:34am | 27/06/10

      As far as i know the Labor Party hasn’t done a back flip on the mining tax…it’s still policy.Just because the adds were shelved means nothing…the money is still waiting there in the budget.The whole idea of dumping Rudd was to take the emphasis away from the mining tax so the Labor Party could concentrate on positive policies which could be used to win a election.
      Without the mining tax the Labor Party keeps us in the red forever.
      Now say the Labor Party with its BIG NEW TAX generates the capital it needs,they’re odds on to waste all the money like they did on the Pink Bats,The School Halls etc etc etc
      The Labor Party are a good party for instigating reforms but unfortunately they’re terrible at implementing the reforms…all you get is waste.
      The millions wasted on stimulating the economy is a joke…i mean i feel i have been stimulated to the max…i’m taking cold showers every 5 minutes.

      Reply

    • Michael says:

      10:28am | 27/06/10

      I am so disillusioned with the people of Australia. I had dreamed that after years of stupidity and inaction in nsw labor, we would have learned not to be impressed by smily faces and musical chairs, yet here we have EXACTLY the same sort of deceptive bullsh1t NSW has suffered for years. labor have proved to me once again that you CAN fool MOST of the people ALL of the time! This is exactly the same labor everyone was so disappointed with a week ago - we just have a new face to lie to us now. Same product, different sales person. The Australian people are so incredibly stupid that some new shiny thing will entertain them endlessly - or labor will give them a new shiny thing to focus on. labor are the political equivalent of a poker machine!!

      Reply

    • Jeff M says:

      10:41am | 27/06/10

      Lump it or like it we have a new PM. I think Labor would have won with or without Julia. Yes its nice to have a female PM, its a first for Australia, but Julia will need to pass the gender barrier and become a fantastic leader, or win lose or draw, at the election after the one coming, she will either be shunted out by the factions or voted out. I think Kevin Rudd should be given a ministry position , mainly because he’s earned respect but secondly to appease Labor voters who were shocked by the brutality of his over throw. I know Liberal voters like Tony Abbott but many many in the suburbs do not. He will have to overcome that, or he too will tossed aside.

      Reply

    • Cecil says:

      10:52am | 27/06/10

      Whoever wins the next election, we will all survive. Then we will all be here whining or crowing about our parties. I talked to a young man in his 20’s the other day , who asked me who was Wayne Swan? So I am not convinced the general public is really into politics. Most will vote on who they like or who their parents like. To be honest with you, when I was young I never cared much either. Life was to good and exciting to be worried about who was in charge.

      Reply

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      11:34am | 27/06/10

      Unfortunately nobody knows who Andrew Robb is but everyone knows ah ah ah Abbott.

      Reply

    • Concensus Feminist says:

      12:49pm | 27/06/10

      Julia the First - Long may she reign as she is able to negotiate and can cope with concensus - not many of the men on any side can do that.

      Reply

    • mikk says:

      04:26pm | 27/06/10

      Given all the comments here and their dissonance with the published polls I think I have discovered who are the “chattering classes”. It is us!

      Reply

    • Holly says:

      04:36pm | 27/06/10

      Well there are a lot of people still foaming at the mouth but once you are over this and decide what policies Abbott might be presenting you might like to take a look at the 12 point plan for re election which Abbott presented yesterday.  The press seem to be running with a few key comments from his speech but not much detail on the policies themselves.  Don’t waste your time looking for any, because I have tried and there is none.  The document is such a let down.  If an election is called soon Abbott will be caught with his budgie smugglers around his ankles

      Reply

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      04:36pm | 27/06/10

      Unlike the US the bulk of our kids don’t go to Uni so there knowledge on politics is virtually zero.There political views are either governed by biased media sound bytes,class structure (blue collar votes Labor,business votes Liberal) or family views.
      You just have to run a few bytes on the news showing the boat people coming over every 5 minutes and sections of the electorate start to freak out. Abbott blames Labor and right away the polls swing against Rudd.
      People aren’t inclined to “think” about the issues.
      Like who are these people behind the polls?
      Who are the people behind the blatantly biased sound bytes of the media?
      These are the people who formulate the opinions of the electorate.

      Reply

    • Lee from WA says:

      07:01pm | 27/06/10

      Yeah, great numbers…for someone who hasn’t done anything yet. That why polls are stupid (or maybe the people who participate in them) - you get great numbers when you haven’t done anything.

      Reply

    • Ben says:

      07:31pm | 27/06/10

      I get polled regularly and always make up the answers on a whim but always make sure the qualifying questions are consistent.  Many of my colleagues treat polls in the same way - it is a bit disturbing this is how we run the country.

      Reply

    • Rosie says:

      10:02pm | 27/06/10

      Forget the Polls and Gillard as PM will not only be the Libs nightmare scenario! It will be more of a nightmare for most of us when Obama & Michelle arrive in Australia and are entertained at the Lodge for the very first time by our PM and her BOYFRIEND! “What is his name?” 

      Rudd, Abbott & Obama have something wonderful in common that the majority of people can relate to, all leaders are happily married to very lovely ladies and have loving caring children!

      Reply

    • DD Ball says:

      10:39pm | 27/06/10

      While it is true that Gillard would indeed be a nightmare scenario .. seeing her face in a dream .. yet even so, it is the best the ALP can hope for, while not being good. She is a policy failure whose wonky policy has been covered up by being 2ic to the worst PM ever. There will be a (shudder) honeymoon and probably she will want to go to election to capitalize on that, but she offers no more than she has achieved nothing. Doubt my assertion, consider her IR credentials and look at Gillard, Sunrise on youtube. ddball1 posted a reply to her request for a challenge before the ‘07 election .. and to this day she has never answered it.

      Reply

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      08:14am | 28/06/10

      Holly says:

      04:36pm | 27/06/10
      If an election is called soon Abbott will be caught with his budgie smugglers around his ankles

      Shit i haven’t had my coffee yet…ew…give me a break.

      As for Obama showing up…he’s a left wing secular progressive…they should go great together.

      Reply

    • Henry says:

      11:05am | 28/06/10

      Australia has gone form having the world’s most effeminate man as PM to the world’s most masculine woman as PM.

      OS people think we are freaks. 

      Gillard = BER, Medicare Gold….  Epic fail.

      Reply

    • Christian Real says:

      07:49am | 29/06/10

      Henry
      “BER bungle saved Australian economy”, written by Andrew Carswell and Alison Rehn, source:, ‘The Daily Telegraph’, June 03, 2010 @ 12.00AM
      “It has been condemned as a failure but the Rudd Government’s Building the education Revolution may have saved the Australian economy from posting a negative quarter of growth.’
      “official figures released yesterday showed the Australian economy grew by a mere 0.5 per cent in the first three months of 2010,helped substantially by an 11.6 per cent in Federal Government investment.”
      “Much of that investment, which contributed 0.7 per cent to the nation’s gross domestic product, was attributed to the poorly managed spending blitz that stemmed from the $16.2 billion BER, along with increased construction spending and public works.”
      And in another paragraph of the same story it reads:
      “Federal government stimulus was widely regarded as having saved Australia from following the world into recession last year, with it’s $900 handouts and boost to the First Home Buyers Grant preventing the nation from chalking up two consecutive quarters of negative growth.”

      Reply

    • Darrell McKerlie says:

      11:30am | 01/07/10

      A Modern Day Parable
      Once upon a time in a land not far away, there lived a ruler who was very popular with his people.  It was called the “Lucky Country”.  This ruler had lots of friends who helped him reign, and they were all very popular with their subjects because they gave them everything they wanted, even when they used up all their money – they said we can borrow and borrow and borrow more money for we must not disappoint our subjects lest they cease to worship us and follow other rulers.  The leaders reasoned and determined together that while their subjects were spending they would be happy and unaware of the crisis in the kingdom.  But the crisis grew worse and the debt so big that it could not be hidden any longer so the leaders decided because they could not stop their spending that they should create new taxes to cover up their folly.

      But the people rebelled and the leaders became scared that their subjects would not like them anymore.  So the rulers decided that if they sacrificed their most important person in the kingdom, even though he gave them all their positions, fame and money – he could become their scapegoat and take the blame for all the things that they together had done wrong. 

      People have short memories they resolved and so the ruler’s second-in-command who was privy to all the rulers secrets, traitorously stabbed him in the back and took his position, agreeing with the other rulers that their deceptive ways could be best disguised if like the wolf in little Miss Red Riding Hood the new leader appeared to be different – but for the sake of the kingdom that could never be – but the subjects must never know that and so this knew ruler with blood still on hands says to all the people, “You can trust me to do a better job!”

      The meaning of the story is this – will the people see the wolf in disguise before it is too late, or do we all get eaten up?

      WAKE UP AUSTRALIA!!

      Reply

    • Raine says:

      11:53pm | 02/07/10

      Hmmm… the modern Aussie Guru. I like your parable. Have you ever thought of writing more .. especially on Kim Yong Shorten & Kim Yong Arbib? Would make very interesting reading.

    • Steve W says:

      10:40am | 17/07/10

      People on here that claim what happened to Rudd was the most treacherous thing that has happened in politics really do not have any real grasp on Australian Politics. There have been plenty of things that have happened since federation that make this insignifficant. Billy Hughes as Prime Minister changing sides in mid term of his Government during world war one strikes a mention just because he couldn’t get what he wanted with conscription . Formed a government with the opposition I reckon that would have caused plenty of termoil. Anyhow this is no different that a football team changing coaches in the middle if the season and quite frankly I dont vote for a prime minister I vote for a belief and an ideology because the issues of the day are just that the issues of the day . If you think Abbott wont re introduce some form of work choice you got to be dreaming because its liberal idiology and that doesn’t change with a leadership change just like labor, the greens or any other political party they are subject to the idiology of their party. Although the Libs would try to have you believe there not subject to outside sources they are subject to being controlled by the business unions ie chamber of commerce and industry and the wealty of this country and we know what they want to do with work choices

      Reply
 
Comment

Facebook Recommendations

Read all about it

Punch live

Up to the minute Twitter chatter

Daniel Piotrowski

drpiotrowski 24 May 12 09:56PM

RT @popculturechris: Meanwhile, Gotye holds no.1 for a sixth massive week in the US - "that" song has now sold over 4 million copies there.

ToryShepherd

ToryShepherd 24 May 12 09:17PM

@loupascale if the survey made you sad, probably skip the comments...

Paul Colgan

Colgo 24 May 12 07:27PM

@paulwiggins @richardkendall that fountain pens yarn is a great social trend story

Paul Colgan

Colgo 24 May 12 07:27PM

I like how a tip erodes so only you can use it MT “@paulwiggins: BBC News - Why are fountain pen sales rising? http://t.co/0hk2MRtf”

See all tweets

Recent posts

The latest and greatest

Protecting the Barrier Reef is the Fin end of the wedge

by Tony Burke

38

Protecting the Barrier Reef is the Fin end of the wedge

When you take on a job like being Environment Minister there’s some hits you can see coming. …

ICB: Is white bread the worst thing since sliced bread?

by Tory Shepherd

92

ICB: Is white bread the worst thing since sliced bread?

Welcome to this week’s I Call Bullshit column. It’s a regular column that looks at skulduggery…

Sometimes, you’ve just got to stick it to the bloody ref

by Anthony Sharwood

71

Sometimes, you’ve just got to stick it to the bloody ref

We are taught early in life that we should not question authority. We must listen to our parents, our…

Nosebleed Section

choice ringside rantings

From: They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

Michael S says:

"A teacher at Geelong Grammar had criticised her for using words that were too long, which had left her confused and had made her doubt her ability to write essays. She became ''quite distressed'' when her English marks began to fall." I can sympathise. My scholastic mentors conveyed to me a causal relationship… [read more]

From: Welfare for breeders is a bonus for everyone

Change Up! says:

I have no problem paying my taxes. As a single, childless person on a very decent income, I can afford it and not have my life severely altered. Plus I understand that my taxes paying for things like schools, childcare and infrastructure is ultimately a good thing. A better community is better for me… [read more]

Light weight

Gentle jabs to the ribs

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

They must pay for one’s bitter disappointments

A private school girl’s family is sueing her elite, extremely expensive private school for not… Read more

243 comments

Newsletter

Read all about it

Sign up to the free daily Punch newsletter

Subscribe to The Punch RSS feed