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Floats like a butterfly, stings like a Clive

Tory Shepherd

by Tory Shepherd

02 Jul 05:55am

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Filed under: Asylum Seekers, Carbon Tax, Clive Palmer, Health, Leadership, Politics, Science, Weight

82 comments

More than anything right now, Australia needs leadership. We need clear policy direction, we need a leader that cares nothing for popularity, for political correctness, for playing the game.

Indeed. Pic: Glenn Barnes

In short, we need Clive Palmer. National Living Treasure. Bold visionary. Mr Palmer is not beholden to trendy ideas. He is unafraid to speak his mind, to cross swords with those from the left and the right.

What the world needs now is Clive, sweet Clive.

Forget all that CIA nutjobbery. Forget the fiddling with football. In the past few days alone, Mr Palmer has shown us that Australia could walk a very – very – different path.

It’s so crazy, it might just work. Let’s take a look at the ways in which he could take the Liberal National Party if they were brave enough to elevate him to his rightful position. 

Asylum seekers
The great impasse that is our national shame right now is asylum seekers. Our politicians bicker over respective offshore solutions while more come, sink, drown. The Greens stick to their pie-in-the-sky onshore processing ideals.

But Mr Palmer takes the debate to a different level.

Fly them in, he says. Despite Qantas’ woes it is still safer than a rickety boat – and despite various airlines charging tricky fees for providing toilets, water and oxygen, flying is still cheaper. Mr Palmer said:

We can say ‘you can buy a ticket if you believe you’re a refugee and you can come to Australia in normal transport at one tenth the cost. The ones that get here, allow them to be processed; the ones that are not legitimate, send them back on the next flight. What sort of a nation are we if we don’t follow our international responsibilities and allow people to come here safely?

We await the Greens ringing endorsement, as we also await further peripheral details on the pesky administration of such a scheme.

Lobbyists in the ranks
Mr Palmer has had a high-profile barney with Opposition Leader Tony Abbott over lobbyists on the party executive and potential conflicts of interest. Reportedly replete with obscenities, the two were “floating like butterflies and stinging like bees”. Such a chest thumping shows not only is he not afraid of authority but he is squeaky clean on the separation of secular power and political ambition.

The billionaire miner will announce next week whether he plans to take on Treasurer Wayne Swan in the seat of Lilley.

“It is just that some people may perceive a conflict of interest,” he said (in relation to his stance on lobbyists).

Carbon tax
Again, with no vested interest to be seen, Mr Palmer is a vehement opponent of the carbon tax that kicked in over the weekend. Such opposition will clearly win him no friends in the voting public, and so must be indicative of his determination to choose truth over popularity.

He wants Prime Minister Julia Gillard to resign over carbon pricing, and believes it is unconstitutional. He is no slave to science and rails against the idea of climate change. A noble, friendless fight.

Fat pride
Finally, Mr Palmer is no nanny-stater. Not for him prescriptive campaigns on eating and drinking. Not for him the wowserism of current governments, the finger wagging on fat, the relentless condescension of two-and-five fruit and vegetable advertisements.

With his slavish scientific attachments, he knows the truth about red wine and cheese being the key to weight loss and health. With a clear condescension for endless CSIRO preaching about evidence bases and population studies, he has gone his own way and the proof is in the pudding - Mr Palmer says he has lost 40kg, is now only 122kg, and says people no longer see him as fat.

At the same time, he retains the respect and influence that fat brings:

They used to say I was fat but they’ve stopped saying that because I’ve lost weight and fat people across Australia have so much power they don’t know what they’re against. Maybe they might realise that by attacking fat people, myself and Gina Rinehart - not that I am saying she’s fat - it’s not working for them.

There are more fat people in Australia than skinny ones. When they started attacking fat people Julia Gillard was at a 52 per cent approval rating. Now she’s somewhat less. That’s because fat people don’t like it. They’re all united by the one thing - food and fatness. God bless us.

God bless you, Mr Palmer. God bless you.

Twitter: @ToryShepherd

Most commented

82 comments

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    • Emmy says:

      07:24am | 02/07/12

      @ Acotrel….all that link proved was that good ole Joe set his show up to get the result he wanted.

    • acotrel says:

      08:37am | 02/07/12

      So did good old Alan Jones under whose guidance ?

    • Craig says:

      06:45am | 02/07/12

      One kilo one vote!

      That way we’d have a parliament that truly represented Australians and could focus on the elephant in the room, the Big Australian Policy.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      07:30am | 02/07/12

      Tony Abbott would have become PM after the last election, except for the flaw in our voting system - the voters have a CHOICE !

    • Chicken Lottle says:

      09:48am | 02/07/12

      what flaw was that?

    • PAH says:

      01:52pm | 02/07/12

      I was going to register to vote after last election - I’m 26 and know far more about politics than any of my friends.

      I will NEVER register while voting remains the pointless excercise which it is under our current sham-democracy system. Baby boomers and Gen X’s who have chosen a party to support make me laugh. NEWSFLASH: The same corporations fund BOTH sides! (greens included)

      The independants should have retained the power after last election - not been made to choose between the ruling duopoly. The Party System IS THE PROBLEM! What did all the Nazis say after WWII? - “I was towing the party line”

      If Clive starts a third party which has some merit and could move towards reforming our current openly outright corrupt system, I may just enroll yet.

    • keng says:

      02:15pm | 02/07/12

      PAH says:

      01:52pm | 02/07/12

      I was going to register to vote after last election - I’m 26 and know far more about politics than any of my friends.

      Obviously, that’s why you put your name to your post. wink

      The rest of the comment was just an excuse as you see it, not to have input into the governing of the country.

    • Pedro says:

      04:25pm | 02/07/12

      @Pah - I think you mean toeing the line, not towing.

    • Suzanne says:

      07:30am | 02/07/12

      Tory, they would need to get the carpenters in to adjust the front bench to fit him.

      Let alone the seat on RAAF 1

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      07:31am | 02/07/12

      Clive Palmer certainly lives up to his name !

      Reply

    • Daemon says:

      08:14am | 02/07/12

      LOL - wondered how long that would take to get in here..

    • marley says:

      09:00am | 02/07/12

      It wasn’t funny yesterday and it isn’t any funnier today.

    • acotrel says:

      11:44am | 02/07/12

      Are you saying that Clive is ‘yesterday’s man’ ?  I thought that was Tony Abbott !

    • Ben C says:

      11:55am | 02/07/12

      Comedy isn’t working for you acotrel, stick to retirement.

    • year of the dragon says:

      12:11pm | 02/07/12

      I’m all for witty jibes at the expense of our big names but that is primary school stuff. tee hee hee

    • Badjack says:

      07:32am | 02/07/12

      Ya gotta love Clive but even the most rusted on Liberal knows he would be hopeless as an MP. That"s not to say the old National guard in Qld don’t support his move. Such is their dislike of Santoro they would back anyone who tries to do him over and they are still not that fussed on Southern Liberals.

      Reply

    • ibast says:

      09:05am | 02/07/12

      “Ya gotta love Clive but even the most rusted on Liberal knows he would be hopeless as an MP. “

      It wasn’t so long ago the same things were being said about Abbott.  It’s funny how quickly party values are dispensed with when the whiff of electoral victory is in the air.

    • acotrel says:

      11:49am | 02/07/12

      But Clive is different - he is not deceitful in everything he does. I’d like him as leader of the LNP - jolly fat man with more ethics than the incumbent. If he even became PM, I wouldn’t have that horrible sinking feeling.

    • Formerly of Spring Hill says:

      02:50pm | 02/07/12

      acotrel, you clearly don’t know Clive. Deceitful in everything he does and no ethics.

    • den says:

      07:54am | 02/07/12

      Whats that you have in your PALMer ?, what a tosser

      Reply

    • KimL says:

      07:55am | 02/07/12

      I thought Clive was good for a laugh, all this CIA and Titanic2 stuff gave me a giggle, but I must say I admire the man for standing up for his principles. Goodonya Clive, stick it up em mate

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      08:28am | 02/07/12

      Might be ‘good for a laugh’, but with all that dosh, he is scary !  Like Gina, he can buy our democracy.

    • Alfie says:

      08:40am | 02/07/12

      Swan must have nightmares about Clive.

    • Batman says:

      10:25am | 02/07/12

      Sorry Acotrel, but Clive cant buy anything unless people are willing to sell.

    • acotrel says:

      11:52am | 02/07/12

      @Batman
      Ever heard of ‘the offer we cannot refuse ‘? You’ve obviously never had shares in a company when it’s been taken over ?

    • Iron Chef says:

      08:12am | 02/07/12

      More proof that the internet needs a font for sarcasm…I keenly await the responses…

      Reply

    • Dean says:

      08:55am | 02/07/12

      I’m drowning in confusion. Was the article sarcasm? Are the comments sarcastic? I can’t tell what is what any more!

    • Knemon says:

      12:15pm | 02/07/12

      I’m guessing Tory may have her tongue firmly planted in her cheek!

    • Inky says:

      01:45pm | 02/07/12

      I think it was rather cleverly written. At the start of the article, it might have been a serious endorsement. By the end, all doubt was removed in my mind.

    • sunny says:

      08:15am | 02/07/12

      Maybe he’ll put a 5000 limit on his own voters to save money.

      Reply

    • Mahhrat says:

      08:30am | 02/07/12

      I’m going to watch this with interest.  This is a man obviously used to getting his own way, and a man used to succeeding at whatever he tries.

      If - as many think - he falls flat on his face, it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

      Of course, at this point in his life all he’s doing is keeping score with Gina.  The problem for me isn’t what’s good or bad about what he’s saying, but whether he’s actually serious about it or not.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      08:40am | 02/07/12

      Gina bringing that idiot Monckton to Australia is a hard act to follow !

    • Dr Jack White says:

      08:35am | 02/07/12

      At this hour on a Monday I would normally shrink from doing this, Tory, but you’ve hit it just right with Clive. He and Gina should both be encouraged to get interested in parliament. Until then, Abbott is our best bet by far.
      BTW, I see that acotrel goes on in his beastly, obsessive way but cohesion is fading fast…an interesting case study.

      Reply

    • thatmosis says:

      08:37am | 02/07/12

      Mr Palmer is a vehement opponent of the carbon tax that kicked in over the weekend. Such opposition will clearly win him no friends in the voting public, and so must be indicative of his determination to choose truth over popularity.

      He wants Prime Minister Julia Gillard to resign over carbon pricing, and believes it is unconstitutional. He is no slave to science and rails against the idea of climate change. A noble, friendless fight.
      Huh, a noble friendless fight, clearly win him no friends, I beg to differ, these stances will clearly win him friends as over 60% of the population believe that carbon Tax is a sham and Global Warming is based on science that has so many holes it could be used as a colander. Look at the Flannery predictions , based on the science,, not enough rain to fill new dams, hahahahah, we could have filled a hundred new dams with the rain we had since that prediction and saved the public billions on desal plants that cost millions to run each year and do nothing. Then there is his prediction based on science that the seas would rise over a metre and flood all the coastal towns in Australia but then bought a home in just that area ????????? Even the dumbest person can see that Clive would get plenty of people as friends because of his stance.
        Perhaps this is what is needed in both sides of the political fence, people who call a spade a spade and not some politically correct manually operated earth moving equipment.

      Reply

    • Chicken Lottle says:

      09:46am | 02/07/12

      You seemed to have missed the point. The article was tongue in cheek.
      Do you like bludgers because Clive is one.  He hasn’t paid personal tax in years. No wonder he supports the liberals. They look after the rich at the expense of the poor.
      I could be wrong it might be a CIA plot. Damn those greens and the CIA.

    • year of the dragon says:

      12:26pm | 02/07/12

      Chicken Lottle says:09:46am | 02/07/12

      “He hasn’t paid personal tax in years.”

      I’m not Palmer’s biggest fan but how on earth would you know how much personal tax he has or hasn’t paid?

      Do the ALP and their apologists know any way other than smear or innuendo?

    • Ben C says:

      12:58pm | 02/07/12

      @ Chicken Lottle

      1. If Clive was a bludger, he would be putting his hand out for welfare. In which case, he would be more supportive of Labor.

      2. In what capacity are you privy to Clive’s finances to come out with such a statement? Or have you just committed libel?

    • libveg says:

      01:52pm | 02/07/12

      Clive may not have paid personal tax, but that would most likely be because when he receives the income,  the tax has already been paid on it by the company.  It’s called dividend imputation and is one of the few things a Labor Gvt has gotten right (Hawke/Keating).
      As much as Chicken Lottle might think rich people should pay tax twice, once is actually enough.  The 30% company rate is still higher than what the vast majority of people pay.

    • Jus says:

      03:19pm | 02/07/12

      Thatmosis Spot on it will win a lot of friends. Chicken Lottle you don’t have a clue if Clive Palmer has paid personal tax or not. As Kerry Packer once argued when he was called in for ‘Tax Evasion’. “Everybody in Australia tries to evade tax simply by minimalisation.”  I try to pay as little personal tax as I can and try to get back as much as I can. i.e. Salary Sacrifice, tax incentives etc and the odd cash payment. Any twit in thier right mind does that. How is Clive Palmer any different.  I’m sure you are doing it orwould do it if you could.

    • Rick with a silent P says:

      03:45pm | 02/07/12

      @Year of the dragon, I thought it common knowlage that the top 20 richest people in Australia claim to earn no more than $20,000/year.Quote Kerry Packer” You’d have to be stupid to pay tax”. Maybe Clive and Gina can start their own party, called The Bloated Stinking Rich Party

    • Bomb78 says:

      04:06pm | 02/07/12

      Anyone is Clive Palmer’s position, claiming to only ear $20,000 a year, is asking the ATO to come and audit them.
      You’d probably find that there is a lot of Fringe Benefit Tax being paid, as Clive’s companies may very well pay for all his personal expenses. The effective rate of FBT is the same as the top marginal rate (46.5%). What that means is that if Clive’s get his company to pick up the lease on his car at $50,000 a year, then it would pay about $43,500 in FBT (worked backwards for those that don’t speak accountant: if the company were to pay Clive a cash wage, at the top marginal rate, he’d need $93,500 pretax in order to pay for his $50,000 car lease). Same with his boat, personal travel on company aircraft, groceries, truck loads of his favourite red, etc.
      And he’d still have to pay tax on cash drawings generally: $20,000 doesn’t go far when you live a billionaire’s lifestyle. Yes, he’d be paying the smallest amount of tax he legally can do - anyone who’s pays more than that is plain stupid - but that doesn’t make him a criminal, or immoral, or even unethical.

    • year of the dragon says:

      04:34pm | 02/07/12

      Rick with a silent P says:03:45pm | 02/07/12

      “I thought it common knowlage that the top 20 richest people in Australia claim to earn no more than $20,000/year.”

      Well you’re wrong then. If this ‘accepted wisdom’ is what you are basing your political views on I can tell you that you can safely change your political views.

      “Quote Kerry Packer” You’d have to be stupid to pay tax”. “

      If that was what he said, you might have some basis for complaint.

      However, what he said, to a Federal Parliamentary enquiry, was “I am minimizing my tax and if anybody in this country doesn’t minimize their tax they want their heads read”

      That doesn’t mean he wasn’t paying a lot of tax. It does mean that he wasn’t paying more than he should.

      Do you pay more tax than you should?

      “Maybe Clive and Gina can start their own party, called The Bloated Stinking Rich Party “

      Why would they do that?

    • Luke says:

      05:12pm | 02/07/12

      thatmosis ... proving that Liberal voters are a humourless bunch since 2011.

    • Martin says:

      08:46am | 02/07/12

      “Maybe they might realise that by attacking fat people, myself and Gina Rinehart - not that I am saying she’s fat.”

      Gina’s fat Clive. She’s fat. Spell it. F.A.T. She’s morbidly obese. She’s a tim-tam away from a heart attack. She’s fat with a capital “F”. Got it ? Good. That is all.

      Reply

    • Chicken Lottle says:

      10:17am | 02/07/12

      thank you, you made my day. Still laughing. Hit the nail on the head.

    • year of the dragon says:

      12:30pm | 02/07/12

      Martin says:08:46am | 02/07/12

      “Gina’s fat Clive”

      So what?

      “Chicken Lottle says:10:17am | 02/07/12

      thank you, you made my day. Still laughing. Hit the nail on the head.”

      A comment of deep thought and substance from a representative of our “tolerant progressives”.

    • james says:

      02:52pm | 02/07/12

      Clive = face palm

    • Martin says:

      03:28pm | 02/07/12

      @YOTD

      I couldn’t give a rat’s arse about Gina and her obesity. Doesn’t concern me in the least. She can eat until she explodes for all I care. My comment was directed towards Palmer’s clumsy attempt at political correctness.

      What does concern me is my tax dollars pouring into a health care system struggling to cope with a national obesity epidemic. It should concern you too.

    • year of the dragon says:

      04:23pm | 02/07/12

      Martin says:03:28pm | 02/07/12

      I couldn’t give a rat’s arse about Gina and her obesity. Doesn’t concern me in the least. She can eat until she explodes for all I care. My comment was directed towards Palmer’s clumsy attempt at political correctness.”

      Fair enough.

    • Fay says:

      08:48am | 02/07/12

      All I can say is the Yanks are impressed with Clive, building a replica of the Titanic even made news over there, my sister who lives in the USA asked me about him, at least his retoric would put Australia in the news more often.

      Reply

    • Terence says:

      08:48am | 02/07/12

      You’ve all got it wrong!  Clive is just pulling you’re chain, and why is he doing it?  Because we need it, in fact demand it, so let him get on with it as we all need a good flush occasionally!!

      Reply

    • Kate says:

      09:00am | 02/07/12

      I wish Clive would stop trying to throw his considerable weight around and stick to what he does so well. Making money. As a capitalist he has gained a certain amount of respect. As a loony, Bob Katter type,  politician, he would lose that respect very quickly.

      Reply

    • Rose says:

      12:07pm | 02/07/12

      I’m not a fan of Clive Palmer but his stance on asylum seekers is worth exploring. If Australia was able to negotiate with Indonesia to establish a legitimate queue, then we could stem the tide of people getting on dangerous boats. We do have an international obligation to process asylum seekers humanely and efficiently and we should start focussing on the best ways to get that happening rather than chest beating in a race to the bottom in terms of how we treat these people. Australian politicians should start honestly stating that individually there is nothing Australia can do to stop people seeking asylum, that for many seeking asylum is their only hope, that Australia’s asylum seeker problem is actually not very big at all and that as a nation we have been sidelined by bullshit debates about deterrence rather than pro-actively seeking ways of making the process more efficient and fair. This could mean going to overseas refugee camps and working with other nations on integrated world wide resettlement programs. Yes it would be hard and yes many countries won’t   be a part of it, but that’s not a good reason not to try!

    • Sam says:

      09:02am | 02/07/12

      He is nothing, if not fiesty.  I dont think politics is ready for him just yet….

      Reply

    • Plain Jane says:

      09:48am | 02/07/12

      He thinks the Liberal Party Council are Stalinists.

      He will never be ready for politics in a freely elected democracy.  Never, ever.

    • Kika says:

      09:28am | 02/07/12

      Gosh I love Queensland. We seem to breed more hillbilly cowboys who get listened to, seriously, than any other state. We’ve had the country’s most autocratic government (which we’ve just voted in another one just for old time sake’s) and the rest of the nutters all seem to be from here too… Sir Joh, Pauline Hanson, Bob Katter, Clive, Krudd, Newman…  Plus we’re damned good at our sports too so we’re totes like the East Germans of Australia or something - Texan East Germans.

      Reply

    • Michael McD says:

      03:33pm | 02/07/12

      No doubt about it. Joh was so bad that he funded our free hospital system from the Golden Casket; not from taxes. Joh was so bad that he took on the electricity union and sacked the lot of them. Guess what; no more strikes or blackouts. Joh decided that the Parliamentary Superannuation scheme was corrupt and refused to join. So far, the ONLY politician at ANY level of Government to have done so. Bob Hawke adopted Joh’s strategy when he sacked all of the pilots. Pauline Hanson’s policies were so bad that John Howard adopted them amd successfully kept the Economic Refugees to a minimum and disbanded ASIC. Kika, you are so obviously NOT from Queensland. You just wish you were.
      PS: It’s the PM & the ALP who are not slave to science, Tory.

    • Al B says:

      10:22am | 02/07/12

      I used to think he was a complete idiot, as i’m an avid football fan and was not so keen what he did and didnt do with his club.

      Lately though i like the libertarian streak in the guy. Hope he is reading plenty of Ron Paul while logging the miles on the treadmill ...the books not the nut newsletters. The libs are a bunch of moralists and populists at the minute, they could use his input at the very least.

      Reply

    • Formerly of Spring Hill says:

      02:56pm | 02/07/12

      No, your initial impression was bang on the mark.

    • Paleoflatus says:

      10:33am | 02/07/12

      I’d vote for him. For a start, I’ve never heard him say “cognitive” or “moving forward”. As well as that, I like the way he gives the finger to the mealy-mouthed post-modernists and pinkos. As the cream on the cake, he’s proved that he can succeed in his chosen field and he obviously knows how to handle money. In other words, I doubt he’d throw our tax dollars around like confetti.

      Reply

    • KH says:

      11:09am | 02/07/12

      mmmm but I’ve heard him use the word ‘titanic’, and the phrase ‘build another one’, which could be an indication that he really doesn’t know how to handle money and likes to spend it on ridiculous things…........and that is aside from the fact that clearly he has a vested interest in his own business - giving him political power would allow him to railroad the taxpayers at every opportunity, if there is something in it for him - and this would not be in anyone elses favour but his.

      People like this should definitely not be in any kind of political position.

    • shinydonkey says:

      12:29pm | 02/07/12

      Never heard him say ‘cognitive’?  I suppose the irony of that is lost on you . . .

    • Paleoflatus says:

      12:58pm | 02/07/12

      shinydonkey:
      Yes, it is well and truly lost on me. My point is that there are far less pretentious and fashionable ways of saying the same thing. I’m not impressed by magniloquence and usually suspicious of it.
      KH:
      In view of the power of current lobbies, including big business, the churches, the union movement, the Greens etc., I’d need to view Palmer’s interests in perspective. I believe that transparency and the free flow of information are far more important.

    • PaxUs says:

      11:08am | 02/07/12

      Flying in eco-refugees won’t stop the boats, because the ones who are coming on the boats know that they have no right to be here and are playing the empathy card which will continue plane trips or not.  I do agree with his other points, especially the lobbyists in political parties.  They must go!  This is a corrupt practice no matter what angle you perceive it from.  As for the fat issue…well I think that’s an individual choice, so let’s not waste time even discussing it.

      Reply

    • Michael S says:

      12:03pm | 02/07/12

      Enrollments in each electorate to be capped at 5,000. If he doesn’t get his own way, he’ll wear a “Freedom of Speech” t-shirt in Parliament.

      Reply

    • col says:

      12:17pm | 02/07/12

      Hey Tory, yes! How’s that for a bloke with lateral thinking. I think Clive Palmer will eventually be a leader, in whatever niche he fits, federal or state. One thing’s for sure, he will be by far ahead of the party political line, of whatever flavour, even his own membership. A bloke of vision I reckon, of which there aren’t many these days. On the other hand, we must always be vigilant of any political aspirant.

      Reply

    • Dan says:

      02:02pm | 02/07/12

      This is why democracy doesn’t work.

    • Mattb says:

      12:41pm | 02/07/12

      is anyone else drawing the same parallels with this with whats happened on the american political scene in the past 18 months

      Obama losing traction mid term to the far right tea party (polls here giving the far right conservatives traction). gridlock over important policy nearly collapsing the entire American economy last year (asylum seekers etc here). one particular policy polarising the population, obamas health policy in America (julia’s carbon tax here) Then a billionare sticks his hand up as a possible opponent in donald trump, but is made out to be a conspiracy theorist fool (clive palmer here).

      you watch all the far right conservative loonies come out looking for pre-selection in the up and coming fed election. all keen to get on the gravy train and push their crazy agendas. the once great liberal party will be turned into an Aussie version of the american tea party and controlled by the ACL like the LNP in Queensland.

      has anyone asked to see Julia Gillards birth certificate yet!!.....

      Reply

    • Dan says:

      02:39pm | 02/07/12

      wasn’t she born in Wales?

      As far as I know you don’t have to be born in Australia to be PM, I think you just have to have “a clear and undivided loyalty to Australia and must not be subject to the influence of foreign governments”.

    • Mattb says:

      04:29pm | 02/07/12

      Sorry Dan, I should have wacked the old sarcasm sign behind that one..

    • jase says:

      12:43pm | 02/07/12

      I would imagine running for politics is not that different to marketing a business.  Clive certainly has the funding to run a potentially very successful campaign, marketing himself is the key. Your always going to have the 10% who vote either side but I think you will find the majority are rather gullible and would vote for whomever puts on the best show (KRudd back in 08 anyone).

      Reply

    • Brian B says:

      01:11pm | 02/07/12

      A man who has become wealthy from scratch in an industry littered with failure…....obviously a fool.

      Tall Poppy Syndrome alive and well.

      Reply

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      01:32pm | 02/07/12

      With the sole exception of Malcolm Turnbull I would vote for anyone other than the clowns & parasites we have in both Houses of the Federal parliament.
      Gillard says we can stop listening to the pollies & make up our own minds about her Carbon Tax.
      She has entirely missed the point hasn’t she? We stopped listening to our politicians, & in particular Gillard, in Canberra two years ago come June 24th 2012.
      Abbott says he will rescind the Carbon Tax and well he might but in the typically dishonest way our Canberra politicians do things he will simply bring on legislation which both parties have always planned: An Emissions Trading Scheme.
      Anyone noticed that Gillard’s oft-repeated statement that “The top 500 polluters will pay her Carbon Tax” has now been reduced to less than 250?.
      Though not for much longer, as all our manufacturing is going off shore,
      there are 10s of 1000s of manufacturers etc. still operating in Australia collectively producing,GLOBALLY, one of the SMALLEST amounts of CO2 but they are all exempt from her Tax.
      As this Tax is not going to reduce CO2 emissions by a measurable amount and Gillard tells us she is compensating us all for her tax just what the hell is the point of having it?

      Reply

    • Geronimo says:

      02:53pm | 02/07/12

      A quick dash through any lunatic asylum will prove beyond reasonable doubt that faith in the fellow man is never a handicap.

      Reply

    • Rick of the Dustbowl says:

      03:25pm | 02/07/12

      Listening to ABC radio news last week on the dust-up between Abbott and Palmer, when Abbott was asked “who is running the NLP?” his responce was ” He is…...............................just a rank and file member of the party”.    pure gold.

      Reply

    • Luke says:

      04:34pm | 02/07/12

      Actually, Clive’s Asylum-seeker strategy is not as crazy as it sounds when you think about it. Although I rarely agree with his views, I actually think it is good to have someone like Clive shouting out from the sideline. I prefer this to the usual backroom deals that go on between political parties and their benefactors.

      Reply

    • Brendan says:

      04:55pm | 02/07/12

      This guy really believes that it is in our best national interest to be closer to China than the U.S.  This is almost treasonous.  China is an inherently brutal, corrupt country with values totally divergent to ours.

      Reply

    • OnedPendPourl says:

      06:28pm | 02/07/12

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      07:07pm | 02/07/12

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    • OnedPendPourl says:

      07:07pm | 02/07/12

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