Note: Labor MP Richard Marles and Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella are among our favourite contributors to The Punch, and we have asked them to write a piece every Friday during this five-week election campaign giving their take on events.
‘In the 70s, the Labor campaign director was well-liked, a fair dinkum Aussie larrikin, not a member of the detested caste of ruthless robotic machine men that run Labor’s campaigns today’. - John Della Bosca, former NSW State Labor Minister and General Secretary of the ALP for 9 years, writing in the Daily Telegraph last Saturday.
It is somewhat ironic that Labor stalwart John Della Bosca’s frank assessment (above) was published on the same day that Labor’s campaign seemed to go completely haywire.
In fact, the photo shoot with Rudd and confrontation with Latham last Saturday were so bizarre and outrageous that Della Bosca’s comments didn’t get much coverage.
Australians around the country were left shaking their heads on Sunday morning at images of the real Julia’s campaign being derailed by both the men she had campaigned fiercely for in the two previous elections. Both men she had unequivocally backed for the highest office in our nation and pledged her support for.
Her history with Rudd puts a big question mark over those recent declarations of loyalty, and her history in backing Latham as Leader just seriously brings into question her judgement!
But the irony comes that the low point reached last Saturday has actually been a catalyst for Labor to crank up it’s “ruthless robotic machine”. The campaign has turned decidedly nasty and, far from throwing out the rule book, Julia has let her ruthless robotic machine men off the leash.
Having not gained any real traction in their campaign so far, the Labor machine has now turned to a personal attack on Tony Abbott.
To suggest that a Rhodes Scholar with a degree in Economics has somehow limited capacity in understanding budgets is utterly laughable. Tony Abbott was a Minister for 9 years, ran one of the most important and largest Departments (Health), and never once had a stuff up that wasted billions of dollars like the Building the Education Revolution (BER).
Give me a break. Please spare us from an economics lecture by the Labor Government that has admitted it is clocking up$100 million every single day on our nation’s credit card!
Labor now seems to think that endless personal attacks on Tony Abbott’s intellectual capacity is good politics. And the sad thing is you can bet we’ll see more “smear and scare” tactics in the coming week. Labor’s machine men are desperate, they know how to play dirty, and they will say and do anything to scrape across the line.
I’m not pretending that negative campaigning doesn’t have any place in an election. But let’s base it on facts and on records and policies.
Julia Gillard is running a mile from her Government’s record, and she’s yet to put up any substantial policies - amazingly she won’t even launch her campaign until Monday, less than a week before the election.
I guess all the smokescreens are understandable when just seven weeks ago Julia declared Labor had “lost it’s way” - and the only direction they have been heading since then is at each other’s throats!
This was so clearly seen during the town hall meeting at Rooty Hill RSL in Sydney on Wednesday. The depth of concern that the Australian public has about the deep divisions within the ALP and their past policy failures was obvious. The public record shows that Labor makes big promises but doesn’t deliver.
Julia would much prefer we forget about the past 3 years and focus instead on her good intentions. It’s a strategy that worked for Labor’s machine men at a State level in Queensland, NSW, Tasmania and South Australia.
But real Julia needs to get into the real world.
It’s not about “wanting a world class education system” – it’s about whether you can deliver it. It’s not about “believing in a better public health system”, it’s about creating one and making sure you’ve got the money to fund it.
What Australians want is real action. (For a full list of Coalition policies go to www.liberal.org.au)
Julia promised to throw out the campaigning rule book. If she was serious she would call off the “smear and scare” campaign that her ruthless, robotic machine men are planning for the coming week.
But more importantly, she needs to articulate clear policies (instead of glib slogans) and also explain to Australians how she will actually deliver them and how she will pay for them. How will her approach differ from the “lost” Rudd-Gillard Government?
Because Labor’s record over the past term suggests that they simply can’t implement policy effectively and efficiently. There is example after example.
It’s no wonder Julia’s machine men will spend the next week attacking Tony Abbott.
Facebook Recommendations
Read all about it
Punch live
Up to the minute Twitter chatter
Ukraine song pinches chord progression from The Verve's Bittersweet Symphony. Fo real #sbseurovision
RT @GerardDaffy: @antsharwood all the talk over there is the grannies will win.they entered to get a church built,feelgood story
Recent posts
The latest and greatest
Abbott’s crass logic: trash the Parliament in order save it
An email was sent to almost every politician in Australia this week saying that someone should cut off…
Our special forces don’t always need special treatment
We admire them, but we’re not entirely sure why. We allow them to operate in the shadows; we rarely…
A good holiday is about unrest, not rest
Like a fat full-stop, it lay in my hand. A small orange – not exactly fresh, but purchased anyway…
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]Gentle jabs to the ribs
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
Most commented