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Is this woman about to become a Labor hero?

Malcolm Farr

by Malcolm Farr

18 Oct 01:15pm

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Filed under: Act, Canberra, Canberra Election, Labor Party, Politics

76 comments

Katy Gallagher, about whom little is known outside the Molonglo tundra of the Australian Capital Territory, is set to become a distinctive political figure nationally.

Katy Gallagher… a popular Labor leader. Picture: Kym Smith

On Saturday she will be - if opinion poll findings are correct - the first Labor leader elected since Julia Gillard limped home in 2010. And, of great importance to Labor, she could be the first incumbent to defy a Liberal campaign which is based on attempts to frighten the voters.

If she does prevail she could be promoted by her federal colleagues as evidence that scaring the electorate doesn’t always work and can be countered. And that voters are not easily spooked.

The Gillard Government, keen for any positive sign visible from the depths of the polling tables, would will hail her as a strong woman who takes no nonsense and is devoted to implementing good policy. Sound familiar?

However, Canberra is not like other places. It has a one-house local legislature representing three multi-member electorates via proportional representation. Picking how that might work before election day can be tough.

Ms Gallagher, 42, a mother and former social worker who succeeded the patchy Labor leader Jon Stanhope, already is ACT Chief Minister and on Saturday will attempt to halt the ALP wipeout of the past two years. Labor has been routed in Queensland, NSW, Victoria and the Northern Territory since the last Federal election.

She is facing Zed Seselja, 35, a personable and presentable local who wants to be the first Liberal Chief Minister in about 15 years.

The Liberals have been campaigning heavily on what they see as the certainty of a tripling of rates under a Gallagher government. Canberra rates are already high. A further three-fold rise would be grounds for taking to the streets.

The incumbents have raised this prospect by overhauling taxes so that imposts such as stamp duty will be eased - to help people buy their own homes - and the revenue recouped by other taxes and charges, which of course would include household rates rates.

“We’re abolishing stamp duty, we’re not collecting any more revenue, but we’re going to change the way we collect revenue, but we’re going to do it over a long period of time so that people don’t get these sharp increases,” said Ms Gallagher.

It is a bold redrawing of the tax system for long-term objectives. Or, as Liberals have been saying on billboards, newspaper advertisments and interviews, it is a guarantee that rates will triple.

“Labor or Greens = Triple Rates,” said one moving billboard. Foregoing tens of millions of dollars in stamp duty means the shortfall has to be made up elsewhere, the line has been.

Labor reply was comparatively low key. It featured a photo of Mr Seselja stamped “rejected” and the legend, “Canberrans are smarter than that.”

Of course, they might be smart in a way which costs Labor the election, but Patterson Research polling published by the Canberra Times indicate they won’t.

The Patterson polling found “household rates” came fifth among election issues, with just nine per cent saying it would influence their vote. This is despite rate notices arriving at households in the final week of the campaign.

The result will be close with Labor battling to get a majority in the 17-member assembly.

But even trickling over the line with the largest representation would be enough for Labor to take more notice of Katy Gallagher.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST.

Most commented

76 comments

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    • Tim says:

      12:26pm | 18/10/12

      LOL,
      as a resident Canberran you’re drawing a massively long bow here Mal.

      Both parties here have been in negative attack mode.

      The Liberals with their silly “triple your rates” slogan, which BTW is probably one of the few good ideas Labor have had here and the ALP with their scare campaign over lost public sector jobs and the “Abbott Bogeyman”.

      Seriously, in this town the ALP could put a monkey up for office and I think it would be a good chance of getting elected. I think John Hargreaves was drunk for half of his time in office.

      The ACT election has as much relation to the federal election as the US presidential election does. ie zero.

      Reply

    • Anthony says:

      01:06pm | 18/10/12

      It’s only negative if you have something to loose. What it shows is that public service cuts are rallying the troops. Self interest appears to be a partisan quality.

    • Steve of QBN says:

      02:20pm | 18/10/12

      @ Anthony,  the Public Service is even now being trimmed.  Regardless of who gets in Federally, the federal PS is getting downsized in a big way.  Swan won’t make his surplus without it.  The only PS that may be safe is the ACT ones purely because the numbers may be smaller in comparison to NSW or QLD.

    • Anthony says:

      02:46pm | 18/10/12

      So it’s Abbott’s or Newmans fault. Which mysoginist do I blame?

    • Bertrand says:

      02:50pm | 18/10/12

      Both federal seats in the ACT are safe Labor. That, combined with the ACT’s voting system makes a Labor win almost certain.

      It has nothing to do with a backlash against negative campaigning by the Liberals.

    • Russell says:

      04:05pm | 18/10/12

      @Bertrand

      How so ?

    • P. Walker says:

      12:26pm | 18/10/12

      Is this woman about to become a Labor hero?

      I expect you will tell us, Mal.  Ho hum.

      Reply

    • RMB says:

      02:50pm | 18/10/12

      Please Farr. Just stop!

      Of the multitude of topics you could have chosen to write about today you go with this partisan tripe?

      The best you can come up with is a Labor puff piece on the upcoming local territory election, an area represented by 1.5% of the population?

      Good grief. You are now officially a bona fide, card carrying Labor hack.

      I tell you what. I’ll even give you a scoop.

      Nicola Roxon has some serious questions to answer over the Slipper affair. My advice is to book in a time to meet with her office.

      Or if that doesn’t interest you, try digging a little further into Combet’s gross misrepresentation of Victoria’s electricity generation numbers earlier today.

      Hop to it Scooby Doo. You can thank me later.

    • Steve says:

      12:27pm | 18/10/12

      Another Labor good, Liberal Bad post…....................

      Reply

    • Phil says:

      01:14pm | 18/10/12

      Yeah no comment on any HSU issue, nor Nicola Roxon hiding the truth about Slipper, but what do you expect with Mal. He is as one eyes for Labor as Alan Jones is for the libs, however Jones will come down hard if and when he needs to particularly if its one of his pet issues, like Coal Seam Gas or Foreign Investment

    • PJ says:

      01:31pm | 18/10/12

      “a popular Labor leader”


      .... Is that what is mean’t by an oxymoron?

    • Jess says:

      01:52pm | 18/10/12

      @ Phil
      Because those issues totally are relevant to the ACT Government elections in Canberra….

    • Greg in Chengdu says:

      02:14pm | 18/10/12

      Your right guys, another typically one sided opinion.
      “a Liberal campaign which is based on attempts to frighten the voters.”
      at least he was smart enough not to write:
      A liberal campaign based on sexism and misogyny

      which would be worse ofcourse than a labor campaign based on lies, personal attacks, and chasing mining companies out of Australia. but hey according to Gillard we don’t need the miners anymore

    • JoniM says:

      03:36pm | 18/10/12

      @ PJ

      ” Is that what is mean’t by an oxymoron? “

      Yep !
      Generally the word is shortened after a few weeks in the office, and we can dispense with the oxy !

    • Flynn says:

      04:54pm | 18/10/12

      The complete opposite could be said for what you get dished up to you every day by Gloria Jones on 2UE and that other angry, angry Liberal stooge Hadley over on 2GB.

    • Lance says:

      05:18pm | 18/10/12

      Gotta agree. This blog has turned into a Labor propaganda machine lately. So many more important issues that could have been discussed.

    • Markus says:

      12:29pm | 18/10/12

      With the majority of fulltime workers in the ACT being employed in the public sector, the ACT will continue to be a Labor stronghold so long as Liberal run on an ethos of reducing the size of the public service.

      How much taxpayer money ACT Labor has blown on overtime and overbudget roadworks, or on useless vanity projects (a national arboretum in the Bush Capital, which was purely former Chief Minister Jon Stanhope’s “legacy” to the ACT) is of no relevance to the majority of voters, so long as it has no bearing on their job security.

      Reply

    • Jane Goodluck says:

      01:01pm | 18/10/12

      “the majority of fulltime workers in the ACT being employed in the public Sector”

      Oh yes?

      And of course you’ll shortly be posting a checkable link to show that there is reliable original data supporting your assertion.

      Won’t you? Oh good.

    • Markus says:

      01:04pm | 18/10/12

      I should clarify, I meant bearing on their ‘perceived’ job security.
      Given that most are employed under the Commonwealth government, it doesn’t make a bit of difference which party is in power in the ACT, except in their mind.

    • Al says:

      01:20pm | 18/10/12

      re: “the ACT will continue to be a Labor stronghold so long as Liberal run on an ethos of reducing the size of the public service.”
      You do realise that Labor is also currently running under an ethos of reducing the size of the public service don’t you?
      It just isn’t as widely reported.

    • Jane Goodluck says:

      01:27pm | 18/10/12

      Pah. Clarify my foot.

      Do you not understand the term ” reliable original data”?

      Without a proper source for your “majority of fulltime workers in the ACT being employed in the public Sector” claim,  your comments are simply worthless.

    • Markus says:

      02:10pm | 18/10/12

      @Al, yep that’s why I clarified it was perception more than anything.
      Liberal = job cuts is a long established perception, regardless of its accuracy (Howard oversaw the biggest growth in APS history).

      @Jane, over 166000 people employed in the APS, more than 40% of which work in Canberra. And that is not even starting on public sector employees in health, education etc.

    • Tim says:

      03:28pm | 18/10/12

      Marcus,
      It’s not the majority but it’s a lot.
      The last data I saw it was approximately 40% of the fulltime work workers in the ACT were in the public sector.

      That was a couple of years ago though and may have changed.

    • Jane Goodluck says:

      04:15pm | 18/10/12

      Just to summarise, Markus claims
      “the majority of fulltime workers in the ACT” are “employed in the public sector”.

      After repeated requests to source and justify his claim, he cannot give a reliable source. He does not in fact know what the numbers are. 

      Pah.

    • marley says:

      06:08pm | 18/10/12

      Well, let’s see now.  According to the ABS, and the ACT Dept of Education, of the 205,800 people employed in the ACT we have the following:

      Public Admin and Safety 64,100 (31%);
      Education and Training 18,200 (8.9%)
      Health Care and Social Assistance 19,200 (9.4%)

      Now, not every single one of those teachers or health care workers would be public service, but then we haven’t counted in scientists, IT types or Arts and Recreation services, rather a lot of whom would work for the government.

      Personally, I don’t have a problem believing that half the employment in Canberra is at one level of the public service or another, or funded by it.  But no doubt Jane has better figures.

    • PeterM says:

      12:29pm | 18/10/12

      Malcolm, You correctly observe that Canberra and the ACT are a bit of an anomaly.  So why are you trying to paint this as a bucking of a national trend? Perhaps you’d be better off waiting to see the results and then write on the reactions of the respective parties to it?

      If the ALP goes trumpeting it about, then it confirms that they are truly desperate and unable to grasp the fact that the ACT is an anomaly.

      Reply

    • Testfest says:

      12:45pm | 18/10/12

      Meh. Both are running negative campaigns.

      The Liberal campaign is threatening voters that Labor will triple their rates.
      The Labor campaign is threatening voters that Liberals will cut their jobs.

      The problem is that Labor has totally failed to provide a coherent explanation of their plan to remove stamp duty (which I think everyone can agree is a crappy tax).

      If they can just get someone to come up with an decent explanation of how they will remove stamp duty, and how they will replace that revenue without cutting services or jobs, then they could have defused the Liberal campaign weeks ago. Policy explanation fail.

      PS. Not sure why you say Stanhope was “patchy”? He seemed reasonably popular amongst Canberrans… as popular as politicians ever get anyway.

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      01:06pm | 18/10/12

      Because the triple your rates slogan is technically correct but the ALP didn’t want to admit it.
      Over the next 10-20 years, the ACT government will replace their stamp duty revenue with increased rates, simple.

      Actually the Liberals would have been a much better chance if Stanhope was still in charge. He was definitely starting to get a bit on the nose in the last year or so as CM.

    • maria says:

      02:05pm | 18/10/12

      Both are running negative campaigns.
      and what are you going to do to stop them when democracy is kaputt and you’re irrelevant?

      If you know a better system than a direct democracy a la Switzerland let me know?

    • nihonin says:

      12:49pm | 18/10/12

      Yes Mal, in Canberra it may be a big deal, but for the rest of Australia, most of the noise will be the sound of crickets chirping.

      Reply

    • Tim says:

      01:07pm | 18/10/12

      Exactly the same as any state or territory election, although the journalists always like to think there’s some bigger meaning in them.

    • TimB says:

      01:54pm | 18/10/12

      I dunno Tim. I understand where you’re coming from, but the I think the bigger states do have a bit of an impact. Not an all-important one of course, but at least enoug to serve as a vague barometer of sorts to general voter sentiment.

      The issue here is Mal seems to think the ACT result will be significant in that respect. It won’t. In a 2 year period where the ALP lost every eastern state, (representing two-thirds of the nations voters), the significance of the ACT result (whatever it may be) on a federal level will be but a mere blip.

      In contrast, NSW and QLD voters are waiting for the next federal election with baseball bats. Not quite on the scale of the state elections, but there’s no denying the underlying sentiment.

    • nihonin says:

      01:58pm | 18/10/12

      True Tim they do, its almost as if they expect reporting (using that word loosely) Labor or the Liberals picked up more votes in the (name your area) election, somehow translates in to an Australia wide resurgence for that particular party…..........amusing these party (see petty) faithful journalists.

    • maria says:

      01:59pm | 18/10/12

      Tha’ts what happens when democracy is kaputt and superseded by the absolute power of the political parties.

      Direct democracy a la Switzerland is the only way to force us to listen to the sound of crickets chirping…..

    • nihonin says:

      02:42pm | 18/10/12

      lol, ah maria you’re good for a laugh.

    • Ted says:

      06:01pm | 18/10/12

      Did you hear what your mate Kevin Rudd said” I worry about losing democracy” .....very phony!!!!

    • JoniM says:

      12:51pm | 18/10/12

      So if the ALP win the ACT election this weekend for the council area sized territory of Canberra, that is populated extensively by Public Servants, this will be regarded as some great achievement ? Really ? The Federal ALP will hope to spin some positive out of it for themselves, but who will be that naive to think this might point to a new Federal trend ?
      Suggesting that the ALP might lose the ACT election is like suggesting that ACTU members are considering a vote for Peter Reith as their new Union Leader !

      Reply

    • Grunt says:

      12:53pm | 18/10/12

      I’d suggest Mal that the rest of Australia don’t give a flying fish about the ACT elections let alone Katy Gallagher.

      Reply

    • Jess says:

      01:44pm | 18/10/12

      Just like the rest of Australia don’t give a flying fish about elections outside of their state or territory.

    • lower_case_andrew says:

      12:56pm | 18/10/12

      “If she does prevail she could be promoted by her federal colleagues as evidence that scaring the electorate doesn’t always work and can be countered. And that voters are not easily spooked.”

      This is a rather partisan commentary from Malcolm Farr.

      Reply

    • PJ says:

      01:36pm | 18/10/12

      One thing the Labor Party has proved is that at least 40 percent of voters are easily spooked.

      ‘The worlds going to end unless we give you the carbon tax!’

      ‘The Upper class Australians will conspire to keep all the money and you’ll starve, unless you vote for us!”

      “do you want all your tax to go to middle class wealth fare? Vote for us and we’ll guarantee you the dole.”

    • JoniM says:

      03:45pm | 18/10/12

      @ PJ

      And don’t forgot that old ALP chestnut…...” And you don’t want that misogynst anywhere near your women folk ” !

    • Economist says:

      12:57pm | 18/10/12

      Hero is a big call. My understanding of Canberrans is that they are apathetic when it comes to local politics, even those who work in local government. It’s a Fed town.

      Canberrans are also because the biggest whiners in the country. An extra 5 minutes to the morning commute is the end of the world and a bigger voting issue. Yet hospital waiting lists, I believe the worst in the country of any capital city, people don’t complain about as much. The reason being I believe it has the healthiest population in the country and people pay to go to Sydney.

      The stamp duty thing is interesting. They probably think they’ll recoup money from higher rates due to house prices further spiking, to be on average the most expensive in the country. It’s a rubbish policy. But then the Liberals do themselves no favours by campaigning to increase the number of poker machines and reduce taxes on pokie clubs. Pffft hilariously Labor and the unions own these clubs so they’re giving money to the these hacks to line their own pockets.

      The one good thing about Canberra politicians is that they’re all fairly moderate. If only their federal counterparts could take heed.

      Reply

    • Michael Carroll says:

      01:13pm | 18/10/12

      Malcolm,

      With respect, does your contract say you ‘must’ contribute something to this site every day?
      If it doesn’t- then please exercise the clause at will.

      Less really is more. But in this case Less really is Less.

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      01:17pm | 18/10/12

      Sorry but easing Stamp Duty is an idiotic idea. Why should other people pay for someone’s lifestyle choice to move to another area? It will do nothing to increase housing affordability just like the First Home Buyers grant didn’t. The sellers just whacked on a couple extra grand…...

      Reply

    • TimB says:

      02:06pm | 18/10/12

      Stamp Duty in general is an idiotic idea.

      The question you should be asking is why should *anyone* including the people moving be paying for what you call a ‘lifestyle choice’ of moving to another area? The only costs that should be involved here are actual property costs, & maybe hiring a moving truck. Stamp Duty itself is pointless.

      These taxes tip thousands into government coffers, and for what? To cover the cost of updating property records? Please. All it is is free money for governments.

      Abolish Stamp Duty. Debate the issues surrounding of any potential new taxes on their own merits. Don’t erroneously link the two with idiotic lines like ‘paying for other people’s lifestyle choice

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      03:04pm | 18/10/12

      @TimB- If stamp duty is eased, as is the case in Canberra and rates are increased to cover the revenue shortfall, as is also the case in Canberra, then clearly someone is paying for someone else’s “lifestyle choice” to move to another property. I don’t mind rates going up due to a fire service levy, since everyone has access to the fire brigade and it stops people freeloading of those who have home insurance which was the previous method of collecting revenue for the fire brigade but I’ll be damned if rates should go up just because people want to move houses.

    • TimB says:

      05:01pm | 18/10/12

      No Shane. Rates are going up because the Government feels the need to make up for a revenue shortfall. The reasons for that shortfall are irrelevant.

      Say the government decides to lower income taxes. But to make up for a revenue shortfall instead puts up GST. Are you now paying for someone’s ‘lifestyle choice’ of working?

      Revenue streams are tinkered with all the time. Claiming that one group is now paying for another group is erroneous. These things should be looked at in isolation, not erroneuosly linked as you have done.

      Especially because you can’t actually tell me WHAT people are actually paying for when they have to cough up Stamp Duty. Why exactly SHOULD people be charged a small fortune to move? What exactly do you think you’re subsidizing?

      The only cost to the government of anyone moving house is updating some records. This is not worth thousands of dollars.

    • Tony of Poorakistan says:

      01:19pm | 18/10/12

      Ye Gods. Next you’ll be trumpeting how many ALP staffers won positions on the Port Adelaide Council ....
       
      small beer, Mal.

      BTW, if you’re that bored, how about finding out what Gillard is doing about the boats, about the childcare places, about the promise that there’ll be no carbon tax and most of all - where the missing file is that shows her part in the money removed from that union slush fund?

      Reply

    • glenm says:

      01:52pm | 18/10/12

      I am waiting for Farrs article on why Roxon choose to keep silent for weeks about Slippers text messages, while her leader stood up and defended him. He must be still trying to find the right angle to blame Abbott.

    • Gianna says:

      05:20pm | 18/10/12

      Also, how come all Labor MPs voted to retain Slipper, within minutes of the ‘anti misogyny’ rant.
      And why no tsunami of outrage at an obscene joke about a high ranking female Liberal person.

    • PPD says:

      01:28pm | 18/10/12

      Do you think this might mean Julia will win the next election Mal? How exciting.

      Reply

    • ronny jonny says:

      01:29pm | 18/10/12

      ha ha, good one, politics in the ACT having anything to do with the real world… sorry Malcom you are so far off the mark with this one that I don’t think I’ll bother reading anything you write again, even for a laugh. Zero credibilty, goodbye.

      Reply

    • Joe201 says:

      01:30pm | 18/10/12

      “Is this woman about to become a Labor hero?”

      In… Canberra? Canberra?

      I mean, just so that we’re clear, we’re talking about… Canberra.

      You mean to say, people actually live there?

      Reply

    • Squirrel ! says:

      02:16pm | 18/10/12

      @Joe201

      Yes, we do. And none of us are voting for Gallagher.

      Mind you “Zero Personality Zed” ‘aint much of an alternative.

      My money’s on the Bullet Train Party. Then I can hop on a train to Melbourne for a decent morning coffee and be back by nightfall.

    • Richard says:

      01:33pm | 18/10/12

      Will Katy Gallagher need the support of the Greens and if yes then you can’t call it a win as any coalition with the Greens isn’t really a win. Look at Federal Labour, would they have been better off in 2010 to have just said “Stuff getting in bed with the Greens and the Independents , lets just have another election in 2 weeks time.” The other option could have been OK Tony you win which will possibly happen in 2013.

      Reply

    • Colmac says:

      03:10pm | 18/10/12

      There is no ‘U’ in Labor. An easy way to remember is, “The Labor Party is all about them, not about ‘U’ ’”

    • Damian says:

      01:34pm | 18/10/12

      The media about a Labor landslide is rather overblown.  It seems to be bsed on preferred leader polls, which are even less relevant in the ACT than federally due to the (more or less) proportional representation.

      Word is we’ll get 7/6/4 (ie status quo) or 7/7/3 Labor/Liberal/Greens, which once again it being too far a leap for either Greens or Liberals for the Greens to ‘support’ (not form a coalition) with the Liberals.

      Economist picks up a pretty important point about Canberra politicians, and that is that across of the three major parties they are pretty moderate; on the other side of the coin, we Canberrans are a pretty conservative bunch too, in our own ways, so wild ideas tend not to get a lot of traction.

      Reply

    • lower_case_andrew says:

      01:37pm | 18/10/12

      “However, Canberra is not like other places. “

      Indeed. It’s full of the Canberra Press Pack, for starters.

      i.e. people who are generally insulated from the realities of normal Australia life.

      Also, Canberra is a public service town.  For every non-public servant, there are other people directly or indirectly dependent on big government for their livelihoods and ambitions.  Everything from contractors to suppliers to lobbyists to catering.

      The biggest surprise would be that a non-Labor side could even be in the running.

      The only comparable place is South Australia and our dependence on governmental welfare/propping. (The government is the major employer here, the biggest source of business contracts, the biggest developer.) And even here, Labor is doing very poorly in the polls. (And if Labor can’t win in SA, they can’t win anywhere.)

      Reply

    • Ted says:

      02:36pm | 18/10/12

      people who are generally insulated from the realities of normal Australia life.

      Not under a system of direct democracy because we are all equal with the same democratic rights.

    • Kippo says:

      01:37pm | 18/10/12

      “The Gillard Government, keen for any positive sign visible from the depths of the polling tables, would will hail her as a strong woman who takes no nonsense and is devoted to implementing good policy. Sound familiar?”
      errr yeh they all bloody say that! Men and women Mal. I don’t believe she deserves extra stars for being female.

      Reply

    • Esteban says:

      01:38pm | 18/10/12

      Canberra has a massive concentration of public servants. Federally the 2 ACT seats are amongst the very safest ALP seats.

      If public servants start voting Liberal then you can be sure that the ALP is in massive trouble nationally.

      What I am really curious about is why does Mr Farr makes so much of the candidate’s gender and so little of policy differences. Is he a sexist?

      Why even raise the issue of gender?

      Reply

    • JoniM says:

      04:11pm | 18/10/12

      “Is he a sexist?”

      Not just that !
      He is probably now more misogynist, based on the new Macquarie Dictionary update ! So it depends now how much you reallty like him, as too what is the more appropriate term !

    • Webster says:

      01:45pm | 18/10/12

      “Hero is a big call”

      Quick! Get the Macquarie Dictionary on the blower - a new defintion just came in!

      Reply

    • Rosie says:

      01:51pm | 18/10/12

      Like Rudd said in the war of smear “it takes two to tango” Best wishes to the two contestants and may the least in their smear campaign and more in what good they will do for those that will vote for them Win.

      It’s not hard to guess who Mr Farr will be wishing over the line.

      Reply

    • Kerry says:

      01:54pm | 18/10/12

      Go MAL! A good news story for Labor. Oh hang on, she hasn’t won yet.

      Reply

    • Steve of QBN says:

      02:41pm | 18/10/12

      Mal, news flash mate, Federally, no one cares.  Outside of the ACT boarders, even less people care.  Canberra isn’t even recognised as being “metropolitan” by Optus and Telstra when they plug their wares.

      To put it into perspective, every one knows who lives in the White House but who is the Mayor of Washington DC?  Same thing but on a smaller scale.

      The end result will be another Lab/Green alliance…..

      Reply

    • Doc says:

      02:46pm | 18/10/12

      Oh Malcolm.

      The Liberal party will win the majority of seats, my expectation is 8.  the Labor party will win 7, the Greens will win 2, and we’ll return to the status quo of a minority government who can’t build a 16km road in less than 8 years and who seem to think that spending millions on public art is a better option than trying to improve public transport or reduce hospital waiting times.

      Reply

    • Damian says:

      03:11pm | 18/10/12

      Of course they can build a road in less than 8 years!

      (it just that they have to build every road twice, to add a second lane to major arterial roads that should have been built as multi-lane roads in the first instance wink).

    • hand2mouth says:

      02:53pm | 18/10/12

      “You’ve got your hand on it” might be ascribed to this article.
      “Pumpin the trooops [my words] ” might be more accurate.
      Is Mal able to simply stand aside (at this late time) and let it happen.
      I doubt it
      God save us all from the rusted on supporters of any political party.

      Reply

    • evelyn creeton says:

      03:07pm | 18/10/12

      There is a new breed of man evolving. They see power and advantage in the increasing power of feminist women, especially those in high political office, and think they can slide and slither into power themselves by simply coasting along in the slipstream by espousing false feminism. Corpulent, lazy - but there it is. Whether this article and its author exemplifies this phenomenon, and which ALP Cabinet members may fit this profile, is a matter for personal reflection and decision. These ersatz SNAGs risk being exposed by men and women of conviction on both sides of politics and tossed aside. The sooner the better.

      Reply

    • Nikki says:

      03:13pm | 18/10/12

      She will become a Labor hero if she bangs on about how hard it is being a woman in politics and peppers every sentence with the M word. Gratuitous mention of her background as a female of the species will help.

      Reply

    • Kathy says:

      03:30pm | 18/10/12

      The greatest Labor hero is Tony Abbott who is about to lose the 2013 election.

      Reply

    • John says:

      04:16pm | 18/10/12

      He already has that title for losing the last one, and for somehow managing to maintain his unpopularity since.

    • TimB says:

      04:49pm | 18/10/12

      Little Olive and AASQ egging each other on .

      How cute.

    • JM says:

      04:18pm | 18/10/12

      Australia doesn’t care

      Reply
 
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