Is Kristina Keneally the new Peter Garrett?

john says:

07:37am | 10/02/11

Not if she’s endowed with charity of a federal seat !

10 9 8 7 6 5 ... says:

03:19pm | 10/02/11

To semi paraphrase a certain song: ‘If power brokers give the nod, it’ll be a set back four our country.’

Brad of Bentleigh says:

06:16am | 10/02/11

Forget not, that she’s probably no fan of the sussex st ALP backroom boys… after all, they’re the ones who have [possibly] destroyed her political career.

It’s amazing in this country, if you look OK, can string 5 words together, and are of the left… then you are capable of high office.
Super D is right, do not forget the anti-democratic closing of parliamentary debate of the sale of state-owned infrastructure. Don’t forget the appalling state NSW is in. Mal thinks it’s OK (another OpEd piece, with little on actual opinion, only tacit opinion - weak) as he’s a Labor man… anything for the team, regardless of their “actual” suitability.

TChong says:

06:40am | 10/02/11

Garretts hopes and dreams met the reality of politics.
As a fan ( that confirm your suspicions AtM? ), I think he was clearly in the wrong place, for any time.

Grumpy says:

08:10am | 10/02/11

American women dont have cute accents. they just sound like they’re nagging.

kidk says:

09:04am | 11/02/11

Are you kidding? She is annoying, smug and a smaaarrrttt aaaaaaassss. Her accent, especially when she tries to Australianise is is extremely irritating.

Flexo says:

07:17am | 10/02/11

“a huge talent…” really? For what? Screwing things up? The ALP is such a shocking government whether it be at State of Federal level. People need to wake up to the fact that we are paying these birdbrains to screw us over each and everyday.

Peter Oataway, Hay, NSW says:

07:54am | 10/02/11

I think the real thing that screwed Labor up was Bob Carr’s misguided Sydneycentric over zealous public sector centralism to his idealogue mini-state Newcastle - Sydney - Woolongong “NSW” ...we have got hospital managers west of the dividing range who need to get 6 levels of approval to book a Locum Doctor a $150 - night motel room

dovif says:

12:42pm | 10/02/11

C’mon guys

In the ALP close shop which is made up of 90% unionist/ Union Lawyer/ ex-ALP staffers/ Husband or wife of ALP parliamentary members

There is very little talent in such a close shop… someone like KK is a “hugh talent” in these circles.

Or else why does $hit like insulation, BER, Green Loan, ETS, Electricity privatisation and Mining super profit tax happens

Kurisu Sonsaku says:

07:16am | 10/02/11

Yep, that pretty well covers it.

Jordie says:

07:56am | 10/02/11

Where is the talent everyone talks about.  Perhaps it is just a comparison with her Labor colleagues.  This woman is an over-hyped, arrogant, puppet for the Labor Party who only apparent talent is the complete disdain for the people of NSW and democracy.  We will see how she performs on the opposition benches in 44 days time

Mayday says:

08:13am | 10/02/11

I live in this electorate and can tell you she will retain her seat simply because most people who live here are die hard Labor voters.

They will never vote for a Liberal candidate simply because it is a complete anathema to them…...stubborn ignorance will lead the way.

MarK says:

08:07am | 10/02/11

Don’t you read journalistic code?

That is Mal saying this is his speculation.

He believes Kenneally has talent.

He can read electoral boundaries so puts his own Kenneally prejudice and love of cartography to use and writes this bit of tosh.

If people call him out for a goose for claiming the ridiculous, like KK has talent, he can shrug his shoulders and say that was the “speculation” talking not him.

He uses the “code” as a way of denial if the shit hots the fan because ....well…..“shit happens”.

Against the Man says:

04:26pm | 10/02/11

This legacy of shame that the ALP politicians will be left with is going to haunt their descendents for generations to come HaHa!

MarK says:

07:51am | 10/02/11

“....have a large majority there will be a lot of flakes, duds and even lunatics polluting the new government ...”

Exactly.

Gave Labor 16 years though and remember a lot of inner city seats will go Green this time. Hard to dislodge the all care no responsibility candidates in the future. Nothing is ever their fault. Just ask them.

Zeta says:

09:06am | 10/02/11

@ MarK - Two seats might go Green, Balmain and Marrickville. With an up swing to the Coalition across the board, they won’t carry a third 2011 Legislative Councillor so they’ll stick with four total.

I don’t think they will get Marrickville, preference flow in NSW is unpredictable because it’s optional, and the Greens are creatures of preference. The Nationals might pull a couple of seats back of Independents, so the Greens won’t have anything vaguely resembling a balance of power, not even in the Upper House, where the split between the Christian Democrats and Family First will mean one less Christian Independent and one more Liberal/National.

MarK says:

09:59am | 10/02/11

@Zeta.

I wasn’t suggesting a balance of power to the Greens at all.

The Libs will be able to govern in their own right if they choose.

What I was alluding to is the fact that seats like Balmain, and I believe a few others, that have forever been Labor will be lost to the Greens and it will be hard to dislodge a Green candidate in the future for Labor.

Labor will not only be fighting the right come the next election to win back “marginals” but will be fighting the left as well to beat the Greens. Similar problem to Labor federally without the issue of balance of power.

Having to expend energy and resources in Balmain for example is a drain elsewhere for them and simply exacerbates the issue down the track.

Hence my rejection that Kenneally is n anyway talented. If she can’t stop the rot in a seat like Balmain she is useless.

LJ says:

10:35am | 10/02/11

@ MarK- Balmain being lost to the Greens has nothing to do with Keneally nor does Marrickville. Both Tebbutt and Firth are poor members who employ the same tactics as Keneally. They are incredibly lazy and were only promoted to the ministry because of the faction they hail from.
The Greens are a possible in Canterbury and maybe Kiama or Wollongong but Zeta is correct; the Legislative Council (which I think, along with the Senate should be abolished- proportional voting is a load of crap and very unrepresentative) where the Greens gain their power will stagnate. Remember only half the house clears. Labor did quite well at the last election and still have some numbers there. However, the Coalition will be in complete control of both houses.

MarK says:

10:57am | 10/02/11

Gosh LJ.

I agree Zeta is correct in the fact that the Greens will not win anything close to a balance of power.

Zeta misread what I wrote which has nothing even vaguely suggesting this.

I then made absolutely clear I did not think this was so.

Crystal?

Phew….it is hard work.

Anyway I disagree that their loss will have nothing to do with Kenneally.

Look at what you wrote;

“Both Tebbutt and Firth are poor members who employ the same tactics as Keneally. They are incredibly lazy and were only promoted to the ministry because of the faction they hail from.”

They are in Kenneallys cabinet. She is the boss. She condones their actions. If they are lazy that is Kenneallys issue.

Read what I posted above you - maybe it wasn’t there when you wrote this.

Zeta says:

12:38pm | 10/02/11

I didn’t think you were referring to a Green’s balance of power, I was.

I just don’t think the Greens will end up with any lower house seats other than Balmain.

When the Liberals are ascendent, and have their shit together, they’re capable of such sweeping, glorious acts of bastardry you can’t help but cheer. Look at power privatisation - O’Farrel went back on generations of conservative support for privatisation of assets just to watch Iemma squirm. Michael Costa chucked a tanty and marched out of the House it was so perfect in its execution. And in the process, O’Farrell excised from his shadow cabinet Peter Debnam, the only major thorn in the side of his leadership. BOF is a bro. And I have no doubt he’s capable of screwing over the Greens so perfectly they’ll end up enjoying it.

NSW is optional preferential voting, and preference flow for minor parties runs at just 10-15 per cent. Assuming an across the board Liberal swing, you equalise 3 party preferred to the point where it’s just a lottery and the result comes down to a handful of preferences. If the Libs don’t preference, if they encourage their base to just vote 1, they will deprive the Greens of those seats.

And why wouldn’t they? In a projected land slide election, it makes sense to give Labor 3-4 seats, with their lame duck members, rather than give the Greens a dozen extra staff and a few hundred thousand dollars in funding. And the Greens will vote with Labor most of the time anyway, it makes more sense to coalecse their opposition into one, and only negotiate with one Party instead of two and a rag tag bunch of anti-National independents.

LJ says:

02:03pm | 10/02/11

@ Zeta That makes a lot of sense about exhausting preferences.
I do tend to disagree with you saying that Balmain is the only seat the Greens can win. Balmain is far more affluent than Marrickville, and if the Libs employ your strategy in Balmain they will win the seat, as the left vote will split between the Greens and Labor.
Marrickville however is more than likely to fall Green, due to the results in Grayndler, and the fact that they are more entrenched in the local council (Leichhardt is controlled by Greens but not as long as Marricville has been).
If I was O’Farrell, I would be pushing to abolish the Upper House when he got in. In fact I would encourage Labor to do the same. The Greens get all of their oxygen from the Upper House and Senate, if you destroy that vehicle for them to communicate they will fade away.
I would reason that the only reason the Greens have suceeded is because of the exposure the Upper House and Senate has given them, that includes Local Councils too.
Libs and Labor both have the numbers to finally eliminate a party that knows nothing about rationality or reason

MarK says:

08:27am | 10/02/11

Liam 22 have quit.

She will have 20 odd people “to lead” in her party. The Nats might have more seats outright than Labor when the dust settles.

She has had scandal after scandal to deal with. She has no authority or control - the way her people act are testament to that. All she has is a “blue steel” angry look. Wow.

You call this holding it together?

Some historical “facts” off the top of my head. I am sure I will be corrected if wrong. Labor has held power in NSW for about 50 years compared to the Liberals at about 20. That covers the period form the war give or take.

I can only recall 2 NSW Liberals winning from opposition. Askin was one and Greiner the other.

Happy to be corrected. Go your hardest.

Put that into the current context. Kenneally will be wiped out. No seat is safe. The Labor brand is so trashed it will be hard to recover. In a state that votes Labor as a norm and hardly gives the Libs a crack she will lose HUGE.

Contextually she has stuffed up in historical terms. She is a walking disaster area. She will be the punch line of jokes and the answer to trivia questions that begin the session because they are easy.

she has not held it together. Her tenure is and was a farce.

Garrett running as an independent might be on the cards. He has a bit of payback to do and would have some pretty hefty ammo up his sleeve to toss back at any Labor spite. Garrett must look at Brandt, Windsor and Oakeshott and drool with envy.

LJ says:

01:21pm | 10/02/11

@ MarK In Keneally’s defence she cleaned out 22 MPs: duds and lightweights. Despite the loss she and the party will endure, at least there is some semblence of renewal.
Pity they didn’t stop at 22 before the election but I have the feeling that the voters will use their voting power to get rid of the rest of the untalented ones (McLeay, Tebbutt, Firth, Judge, etc…).
Robbo will be far more ruthless and confrontational than Keneally.

MarK says:

01:44pm | 10/02/11

She didn’t clear them out. They quit.

It is understandable behaviour given her lack of leadership or authority.

Stop spinning it. Sick of Labor spin.

Robbo lol.

He has some baggage that will be fun to explore.

LJ says:

02:49pm | 10/02/11

@ MarK- Not spinning it mate. How many stepped down for family reasons?

I can tell you right now, General Secretary Sam Dastyari withdrew Head Office support Tanya Gadiel (Parramatta), Tony Stewart (Bankstown), Lylea McMahon (Shellharbour), Diane Beamer (Mulgoa)
The other half like Aquilina, Sartor, Andrews, McBride, Martin, Robertson, Megarrity, Collier are all reaching 60 or above and would have been stepping down either this election or the one after.

Upper House MLCs that are on that list should be taken with a grain of salt. Most would have got pushed down the list on the ballot in favour of newer candidates, ie, Ian West, Tony Catanzariti

Say what you will about Robbo but he will have Electoral Appeal, as will Steve Whan (if he can survive). Michael Daley is ambitious but a boofhead.

MarK says:

03:39pm | 10/02/11

Yes.

I see.

Family reasons.

Is it viral? Seems very infectious. Of course this is all coincidence. If Labor were well ahead in the polls then the same 22 would still be going. That is your position is it?

I do so hope that sudden epidemic of family reasons is quickly brought under control before it spreads any further.

I see. No spin at all.

Thanks for clearing that up

MarK says:

08:47am | 10/02/11

Rudd agrees with you

Steve Douglas says:

03:18pm | 10/02/11

Yes Honkhonk like all true ALP lets get dirty and personal and make snide remakes about a persons size.  The ALP have got nothing else to say or do I suppose

cityboy @ Sydney says:

10:47am | 10/02/11

I’ll have whatever mary is having!!  Bizzaroland sound fun!
(If you don’t like the Telegraph then dont read it, as I don’t!)

MarK says:

11:00am | 10/02/11

Quite happy to bet anything you want on the result.

Anything.

Please.

Jojo says:

03:07pm | 10/02/11

No they won’t I’m afraid. It’ll be like the Howard years. Unscrutinising, more corruption & lazier journalism.

Rob says:

11:52am | 10/02/11

Why on Earth would you wish another four years of Labor on NSW when they have comprehensively ruined it for so long already? Look around you. Does this look like a well-run, functioning state? And who’s been in charge all this time? Hint: It hasn’t been the Liberals. It’s astounding to me that ANYONE will be voting Labor, come this election.

Ben81 says:

09:48pm | 10/02/11

He obviously means by population.