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Roll up, roll up, for a peek inside the Labor circus

Mark Kenny

by Mark Kenny

28 Sep 06:00am

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Filed under: Julia Gillard, Lindsay Tanner, Media, Policy, Politics, Tony Abbott

77 comments

It is no secret that former Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and current Prime Minister Julia Gillard are not close.

Giddy up, showpony. Pic: Craig Borrow

Tanner of course, announced he was quitting politics on the very day Ms Gillard became prime minister.

If that gesture rubbed some the wrong way, it was nothing compared to the abrasions caused by his new book.

As well as rehearsing a well-worn critique of the ALP as in thrall to careerists and lacking a wider purpose, it provides an inside account of his time in the “gang of four,’’ or the Strategic Priorities and Budget Committee.

This, you will remember, was Rudd’s tactical response team comprising the then Deputy Prime Minister Ms Gillard, Treasurer Wayne Swan, and Mr Tanner.

While it pre-dated the GFC, its prime task was to steer the economy through the crisis once it hit in 2008.

The four senior ministers were able to meet at short notice and for extremely long sessions.

While it worked well, it also became a focal point of frustrations over decision-making under Mr Rudd.

Low-level grumbling that cabinet and caucus had been sidelined became both the foundation for the leadership dissatisfaction and publicly at least, an after-the-fact justification for the change-over.

In a bid to limit the damage, Ms Gillard initially said “a good government had lost its way’’ - an inadequate explanation that was subsequently turbo-charged in February this year to kill off a Rudd challenge. Senior ministers unloaded describing a government mired in chaos, utterly dysfunctional, and beholden to a thousand unlandable ideas.

Mr Tanner kept his own counsel during that challenge but his book - and a slew of interviews to promote it - has brought it all back with a vengeance.

His thesis is that Ms Gillard’s supporters exaggerated Mr Rudd’s shortcomings to justify the unjustifiable.

He says that process in turn seriously damaged the government by robbing it of its successful sandbagging operation against the GFC. Further he says that Mr Rudd would have won the 2010 election had the Caucus not panicked.

Of course, that is unknowable but if you think Government members are not happy with all this being revisited right now, just when those polls are finally looking up, well, you don’t know the half of it.

A senior Labor figure intimately involved in the “kitchen cabinet’’ says it is Mr Tanner who has re-written history.

“Look Lindsay was probably the least influential of the gang of four,” said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Ministers and officials learned early on not to tell him everything.

“He was as critical of the chaotic process as anyone, but from time to time, Kevin would tickle his tummy and get him back on-side.

“The fact Lindsay can simultaneously say ‘don’t bag the former leader because it reflects badly on the party’ and, that Labor has no remaining purpose, speaks volumes about his preference for attention over consistency.”

No room for ambiguity there.

Mr Tanner dismisses the criticisms as both wrong and predictable.

“If I was as critical of Kevin Rudd as the conspirators, why didn’t they seek my support for their move against him?’” he asks.

All of this is a gift for Tony Abbott whose one-track anti-carbon tax campaign has flagged recently leaving him just a little exposed.

He did not need to be invited twice.

“Lindsay Tanner knew from day one that he couldn’t trust Julia Gillard - unfortunately the rest of us have had to learn the hard way,” he said.

The extent to which these tensions show up in the polls in coming months is difficult to estimate.

Obviously this is largely “inside the beltway” stuff. Voters will not be reading Mr Tanner’s book in sufficient numbers to make any impact there but the return of disunity over Kevin Rudd cannot help the Government.

The former leader and foreign minister was back in the news again this week doing a Radio National interview from Beijing to remind people it was his idea to seek an Australian seat on the UN Security Council.

That tells us two things. First, that the numbers in the UN may indeed be tipping Australia’s way to deliver an unlikely success.

And second, that Julia Gillard will be forced to share any credit for that success should it happen.

The reverberations of the June 2010 coup show no signs of disappearing.

Comments on this post will close at 8pm AEST.

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77 comments

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    • Terry2 says:

      06:18am | 28/09/12

      It’s a toss-up as to who has drummed up more promotion on a new book,  J K Rowling or Lindsay Tanner. I know which one I would prefer to read.
      I think our media outlets need to get their priorities in order.

      Reply

    • T-rev says:

      07:21am | 28/09/12

      Articles about JK’s new book?

    • nihonin says:

      07:31am | 28/09/12

      I’d buy Tanner’s book, more for the curiosity factor on the inner workings of this Labor government and the thought processes (or lack) thereof.

    • Gregg says:

      06:59am | 28/09/12

      ” His thesis is that Ms Gillard’s supporters exaggerated Mr Rudd’s shortcomings to justify the unjustifiable. “
      And Gillard was there hovering like a vulture, her office having been working on a succession speech for up to two weeks beforehand, something she first claimed no knowledge of and then flipped to ” I did not direct them! “
      That’s a bit reminescent of ” I did not have sex with that woman. “

      And ain’t it laughable:
      ”  “Look Lindsay was probably the least influential of the gang of four,” said the source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

      “Ministers and officials learned early on not to tell him everything. “

      As for credibility and commonsense, Lindsay Tanner stood head and shoulders above the pack.

      Reply

    • Two Sugars says:

      08:18am | 28/09/12

      That’s the thing, Gregg.
      Kevin Rudd was the greatest PM Australia ever had (according the the press corps and the ALP), right up until the moment they pulled the rug from underneath him. Similarly, Tanner was variously described as sensible, a statesman, a man of integrity, etc. right up until the moment he dared speak about Rudd’s treatment by his own parliamentary colleagues.
      Most people would be aware of Rudd’s vengeful white-anting tactics from the front and back bench.
      More interested in settling old scores than responsibly governing the country, this mob have traversed government with the help of cheerleaders like Grog, the Canberra press gallery, and their ABC without the proper scrutiny and accountability that they should.
       
      I think it hilarious that people front up here every day (alcotrel style), blithely ignoring the bleeding obvious, to make excuses for the worst, most unaccountable government this country has ever seen.

    • Aghast says:

      09:04am | 28/09/12

      Closer to home Gregg…its reminescent of ....did you visit Cardinal Pell.??? You have not read the BHP report have you.???..All from sad “get it in writing “Tony

    • P. Walker says:

      09:08am | 28/09/12

      @Two Sugars, “I think it hilarious that people front up here every day (alcotrel style), blithely ignoring the bleeding obvious, to make excuses for the worst, most unaccountable government this country has ever seen.”

      But then again these are the people with the same mentality, that is, more about the politics, union deals etc, than focusing on policies.  Policies that are invented with zero risk factors taken into account.  Open slather, slash and burn politics.
      It’s exciting to them.  The country?  Who cares what’s good, they see it as entertainment, part of the Logies along with the “stars”.  Aint it cute the way they turn to celebs and actors for support?
      Aint it cute the way the other side, actors, theyarts etc are always aligned to them for handouts, a most necessary industry that none of us could do without, pffttt!

    • Mack says:

      11:10am | 28/09/12

      Kevin Rudd was just the Trojan Horse to get Labor into government. There was no way the Union heavies were going to tolerate him a moment longer than they had to, and just used his popularity to suck in the gullible electorate. And Julia was party to this, despite her denials. After all, we know that honesty is not her strong point.

    • JoniM says:

      01:25pm | 28/09/12

      @Mack

      So spot on sir !
      The greatest con job in modern politics !
      From the construction of the Rudd childhood narrative to the Sunday morning Church door stops….....surely this “Howard lite” would be safe to trust for an apathetic electorate !
      Super ALP strategy ! That grabbed the government and all looked well until the machine realised just how awful this guy was and just how difficult it was going to be to move him on ! He would never go quietly like a normal ALP true believer offering himself up for the good of the machine !
      In the end they were looking for any excuse to dump him and were happy to see the eventual drop in the polls that gave them the green light to get rid of him and return rightfull power to the machine !  Tanner was one of the machine men for many years, until he found himself out of step with the career path mapped out for him by the machine. That damn Gillard buggered it all up for Tanner and he sought a hasty retreat to his writers garret !
      The irony is that they are all tarred with the one ALP brush where personal power and control is the focal point of all their strategies, and the dressing up of policies for palatable acceptance by the numbers, is simply a means to the main ends !

    • Lance says:

      02:00pm | 28/09/12

      Agreed, It is clearly obvious to anyone who has been paying attention the last couple of years that Gillard was hovering like a vulture, and things were definitely in motion well before she claims.  Good on Tanner for putting it all out there.  I would trust his version of events well before trusting any of JuLiar’s cronies.

    • Babylon says:

      03:38pm | 28/09/12

      The Rudd Assassinations are a sad indictment of the Australian political character.

      And more specifically the Australian Labor Party moral code, which has suffered further with Slipper and Thomson and the HSU East scandal.

    • Craig says:

      07:13am | 28/09/12

      If News Ltd is so against Tanner’s book, which harms Labor, it does raise the question of why News Ltd outlets are spending so much time talking about it…

      I note that News Ltd boycotted any mention of Grog’s book ‘The rise of the fifth estate’ - which critiqued the media and politicians in the wake of Grog being publicly outed and extensively written about by News Ltd papers (claiming public interest).

      Reply

    • Two Sugars says:

      07:59am | 28/09/12

      That’s because Grog is not a credible commentator.
      He is/was a public servant, highly critical of the coalition and simultaneously oblivious to any ALP shortcomings mostly under the protection of anonymity. Sound familiar?
       
      A regular, one man ABC.

    • youdy beaudy says:

      07:20am | 28/09/12

      What’s in the past is finished, that’s what i think. You can spend a lot of time going back over things but for Gods sake why don’t people look at the positive aspects that are there, if one is not biased and really looks.

      It seems to me that much that is on the punch and in particular as regarding the Gillard Government is always put mostly in the negative so that the Government which is not hated by everybody by the way, can be put in the used up basket.

      This constant running down of the Government just gets some people confused on issues and definately interferes with the running of the country. Most Australians are not political animals and couldn’t really care i am sure, but as we see the negative is always fed to the chooks not the positive. Gillard has done some good things too while PM, why not focus on them for a change.

      With all this it seems to me that die hards think that the Liberal National Party is the only alternative and of course this makes one think that because of that Liberal are the only ones to vote for and that are capable, when we know that the truth is that they aren’t, of running the country. They had over 10 years under Howard and did nothing except rape and plunder the pensioners and unemployed and gave it all to the upper crusters. They did nothing to further the nation. Howard spent most of his time kissing the backside of Bush and co and got us involved in wars that we didn’t need to be involved in. Do we want more of that, well, i don’t think we do. Can the country be run only by a Liberal type of dictatorship because as far as they are concerned no one else is good enough.

      As far as Lindsay Tanner goes well i know nothing about him but he certainly suffers from sour grapes on issues. Everyone has to write a book so they can make some retirement money. So, they didn’t include him in all decisions, well maybe he wasn’t trusted. Maybe he is right. Well, who cares, we are now where we are and according to economists who know it’s not as bad as it seems or is projected.

      Well, if they want Kevin Rudd back well let him run a challenge if he thinks he has the numbers. But he wasn’t popular because of his bad temper, many left when he was there. He ran a challenge recently, threw in his portfolio to do so, and was not successful. Maybe they have problems within the Labor party but so do the Liberals within their lot. When you have strong opinions coming there is always going to be some argument within ranks of either side, so instead of sticking it to labor all the time why not look into the others as well and make opinions more balanced. That’s what the people who pay their salaries want i am sure, and we all know who they are. Yes, it is us out here, the taxpayers who should be making the decisions. I think that Julia should be given a better go and people should let her govern without going on all the time. It’s quite boring, i’m sure others would feel the same way. A bit of positivity would be good for a change.

      Reply

    • nihonin says:

      08:05am | 28/09/12

      ‘What’s in the past is finished, that’s what i think. You can spend a lot of time going back over things but for Gods sake why don’t people look at the positive aspects that are there, if one is not biased and really looks.’

      I really had to laugh at this comment youdy, sorry but if we can’t look at Labor’s past, does that mean Labor sycophants should then not look at the Liberals past and keep dragging it up as well.  Thanks for a great laugh as a lead in to a long weekend.  Cheers

    • dovif says:

      08:25am | 28/09/12

      Complete rubbish

      If you cannot see all the failure of this incompetant government, you need to pay more attention to politics, which you do not seem to be following
      Take border protection and the 10 solution stuffed up by Gillard, or that was illegal, it was a complete show of incompetency never before seen
      Take the mismanagement of the budget, with the 4 biggest budget deficits in Australian history and an accumulation of debt at a rate higher then the likes of Greece, Spain, Ireland and Portugal. Yet our incompetant PM thinks she can lecture the EU on cutting spending, a few weeks before announcing another $20 billion of extra spending
      Take the lies of the Carbon tax, apart from the “no carbon tax under a government I led”, there was the setting up of a “citizen’s assembly” to ensure Australian wants a carbon tax and the promise that Australian will get a vote on the carbon tax.
      Take the mismanagement of the BER, which was mismanaged and way over budget
      Take the NBN, already mismanaged and over budget


      “They had over 10 years under Howard and did nothing except rape and plunder the pensioners and unemployed and gave it all to the upper crusters”

      LOL, completely clueless, During Howard’s PMship 844,000 jobs were created, a greater rate then under the Hawke, Keating, Rudd or Gillard government, I am going to assume the “Unemployed” were actually quite found of Howard during that time.

      Also during Howard, the lowerest tax rate, the low income rebate were both raised significantly (unlike during Keating, Hawke, Rudd or Gillard) so that the poor paid less tax. So you are actually completely wrong in the lack of facts you provided

    • Hugo says:

      08:43am | 28/09/12

      Youdy, what a ridiculous, contradictory diatribe you spout. “What’s in the past is finished…” and then you revert to criticising the performance of the Howard government…wow, there’s some consistency…do as I say not as I do…sounds just like Gillard.

      Still, if we take your position we could save a fortune on pursuing criminals, investigating fraud, and, of course, looking into the murky past of our PM.

    • Alfie says:

      09:37am | 28/09/12

      “What’s in the past is finished.”

      Tell that to David Marr. lol

    • Hank says:

      10:27am | 28/09/12

      “It seems to me that much that is on the punch and in particular as regarding the Gillard Government is always put mostly in the negative so that the Government which is not hated by everybody by the way, can be put in the used up basket.”
      Are you serious?
      Have you ever read any of Farrs or Oaks’ Labor propaganda?

    • Lita says:

      11:24am | 28/09/12

      “They had over 10 years under Howard and did nothing except rape and plunder the pensioners and unemployed and gave it all to the upper crusters. They did nothing to further the nation”  The most important thing Howard and the Coalition did was pay the $96billion debt created by Labor.  They had budget surpluses which helped Labor during the GFC, however, Labor wasted the cash in the bank by sending $900 to dead people and to immigrants who left the country, splurged on the ill fated batt insulation program and the most expensive school halls and libraries when most schools already had them.
      And what about Julia???? Well .........just the unthnkable ones…..“there will be no carbon tax under the government I lead”  then proceeded to legislate a carbon tax raising electricy costs for every Australian consumer and business and disadvantage businesses against their international competitors .  “I was young and naive” at 30+ years old working as a partner in Slater & Gordon and creating a slush fund for her boy friend Wilson.  No Union officials are taken to court for misappropriating members money including her boy friend Wilson and Craig Thomson.

    • Mahhrat says:

      07:29am | 28/09/12

      While I am actually a fan of government transparecy in all things, the reality right now is that we do have “faceless” people in power and all sorts of behind-closed-doors shenanigans.

      If this article is true, then Lindsay is throwing a tantrum in writing.

      If any politician reads this, know something:  We understand that sort of behaviour to be the utterly ridiculous crap that it is.  We do not care what you think; we care what you do.

      We expect better behaviour than we’ve seen in the last 8-10 years.  Improve or be gone.

      Reply

    • I hate pies says:

      09:31am | 28/09/12

      Hear hear Mahhrat.
      The first step to improving things would be to exclude anyone who doesn’t have an alternate profession to fall back on - no career politicians.
      The second step is to de-couple the Labor party from the union movement - the nepotism and pork barrelling is deplorable.
      The third step is to ban political donations from corporations and unions.
      The fourth step is to ban political commentary in the media - facts only. Let the people make up their own minds.
      The last, and crucial step, is to form a third centrist party. One that actually represents the nations interests, and forms policies that allow people to live their lives uninterrupted, provide opportunities for people, and allow business to ply their trade without onerous restrictions.

    • Babylon says:

      10:35am | 28/09/12

      Transparency? With this Gillard Government?

      You may as well whistle Dixie!!!

    • TChong says:

      07:30am | 28/09/12

      I dont think Tanners book will make any difference.
      Its appeal is going to be fairly limited ( no competition to KRDs latest granny porn).
      Tanners audience will mainly be people who take their politics seriosly, and would therefore be pretty sue about who they will vote for.

      Reply

    • Alfie says:

      08:15am | 28/09/12

      @TChong
      “Tanners audience will mainly be people who take their politics seriosly.”

      Chongy won’t buy it - supporting Labor, you can’t be taken seriously.

    • Arthurdad says:

      08:20am | 28/09/12

      Spot on.  I think the vast majority who read and comment on these types of articles have already locked in their vote.  The handful of swinging voters who decide elections often decide on a whim, or perhaps a positive/negative political story close to polling day.

    • TChong says:

      08:31am | 28/09/12

      alfie
      the ALP, the party has devolved to Liberal Lites.
      Us fabians will bide our time, and will return triumphant, once hell starts to freeze over.
      Che ! lives while ever 1 poster remains blu tacked to an undergrads share house bedrooms wall.
      (Now, back to the turnip soup, before it gets colder.)

    • Hank says:

      10:32am | 28/09/12

      I don’t think it will make any difference either.  Labor will still loose the election.

    • Babylon says:

      10:37am | 28/09/12

      The book cannot compete with:

      - $150 million spending to control media
      - a 1600 strong PR team
      - $10 million spend on watching you watching them
      - Carbon compensation to buy votes
      - Carbon compensation to silence Industry
      - the Pom McTernan’s thought control expertise
      - best liars in the business
      - voters impervious to whether a pollie fulfils a promise or not, giving them a license to Lie.

      No the book wont make a difference.

    • Tubesteak says:

      07:56am | 28/09/12

      What Tanner said the other night is an insight into how much of a megalomaniac Rudd was. The Gang of Four became highly dysfunctional because meetings were delayed and constantly rescheduled. No-one could get in to see them. This was Rudd’s style of leadership where everything had to go through him. He couldn’t delegate.

      I also saw Tanner really laying the boot in the other night. His criticisms of Labor and politics in general are spot on.

      Reply

    • Alfie says:

      08:09am | 28/09/12

      Did anyone see the Leigh Sales interview on 7.30 the other night? She nearly had a brain explosion trying to get to the ‘real’ point:
      “...how is it helpful for you to do this now when Labor’s finally been recovering in the polls and getting some focus on their policy agenda.”

      It was great entertainment.

      Reply

    • HappyG says:

      08:31am | 28/09/12

      Cool. I reckon this Tanner thing will die down just in time for Maxine McKew’s book to hit the headlines. By all accounts it really tips the bucket on dear Julia and her involvement in the ousting of Rudd. Ah, you gotta love how Labor eat their own.

    • Two Sugars says:

      08:36am | 28/09/12

      Yeah, Alfie. Sales looked for all the world like a cross between a junior ALP staffer and a petulant schoolgirl. Most unedifying for a program that promotes itself as THE flagship ABC current affairs unit. 
      She made Red Kerry look like a measure of objectivity.

    • Knemon says:

      09:13am | 28/09/12

      What struck me about that interview was the way Tanner handled lightweight Leigh, it was in stark contrast as to how Abbott recently was unable to do the same, I hope Abbott was watching as he may have learnt a thing or two!

    • Mack says:

      11:22am | 28/09/12

      Leigh Sales relies on asking the same question over and over and then getting petulant and flustered unless she gets the answer she wants. What else can you expect from a Lefty drone from ‘our ABC’?

    • Mayday says:

      11:47am | 28/09/12

      Knemon there is no comparison.

      Tanner couldn’t give a flying fox about his future in politics so he stood to his guns and outclassed the shrill Sales who was defending the ALP like a paid up member!

      Abbott is the future PM and knows “our ABC” is bias against the side he leads, the contempt from Sales was palpable because of her bias and I think he knew he was wasting his time.

    • RANK FRANK says:

      08:05am | 28/09/12

      What an amazing insight into the runnings of Government with cells of
      power within. And those wonderful Unions pulling the strings for whatever they want.  Hate and distrust runslong and deep.
      How good would Australia be minus this ‘Crock of a Government’

      Reply

    • Black Dynamite says:

      08:19am | 28/09/12

      Paging Acotrel….

      BD

      Reply

    • Mack says:

      03:42pm | 28/09/12

      He must have fallen off his bike….

    • P. Walker says:

      09:00am | 28/09/12

      Cast your memories back to the KRudd days.  There was Gillard always over his shoulder in Parliamentary shoots, nodding, looking him up and down at the back.  He was always swanning overseas (abusing RAAF staff in flight) and generally being the big hero that his Foreign Affairs Minister should have been doing. 

      And all his time and duties was handed over to her as Deputy PM.  I expect she thought that if she was good enough to handle the job for the always absent PM, she could toss a knife in his back and “take” it.

      The rest is history ;-(

      Reply

    • C says:

      09:01am | 28/09/12

      So Rudd giving interviews from Beijing means the votes for SC are tipping Australia’s way? I sincerely hope not. It would be an international relations disaster for Australia. Why on earth has Australia spent so much on the bid - and not just in financial terms but in the loss of good will and the capacity to speak out? It would mean two years trying not to upset one or other of the major powers and not being able to do what needs to be done. The SC (like the rest of the UN) is powerless. This was Rudd seeking to be a major player on the world stage.  Obama wants Gillard there because he believes she is a malleable female who will do his bidding…China thinks Gillard will do as she is told by them because of economic interests. What a howling mess it all is.

      Reply

    • Gutfeelings says:

      09:01am | 28/09/12

      Never felt Rudd was the person to head the ALP Just as Abbott is not the one needed for the LNP.

      Reply

    • Anna C says:

      09:35am | 28/09/12

      Yes I agree. Sometimes I wonder whether we are living in an alterate universe.  But what are the alternatives?

    • Sick of the negativity says:

      09:50am | 28/09/12

      Gutfeelings I think Tony Abbott is doing a fantastic job.  He is a great leader, a compassionate man, ready and able to perform community tasks, humble, good considerate husband, doting father - Did you know that when he was 19 he pulled bars from the window o a burning house and rescued children who were trapped inside.  Of course you didn’t because he didn’t seek any publicity for it.  Why don’t you check out what he was doing two weekends ago - after performing duties for the bushfire brigade he then helped a blind boy finish a marathon.  Didn’t read about that either did you.  We need a good strong decent person to run this country and my gut feeling says Tony Abbott fills the bill.

    • josh says:

      10:12am | 28/09/12

      All well and good, SotN. But as an opposition leader he is rubbish. If this government is as bad as he reckons. Where are is alternative policies? No, instead he’‘l rather play the “I’ll just bag the government’s policies”.

      And for such an educated man, his ability to think on the fly is horrendous.

    • james says:

      10:25am | 28/09/12

      Makes me sick alright.

      Tony A:
      -Hates women
      -hates abortions
      -hates contraception
      -hates walls

      If he was such an angel his past would not have been so colourful.

      He is just a relic from the past who has no place leading the liberal party, Joe or Malcom please!!!

    • Gutfeelings says:

      10:45am | 28/09/12

      @sotn Tony may be all those things and more but it dose not make him an outstanding leader for the NLP someone is needed who can speak clearly with conviction without spluttering and choking though an interview and no amount of continuous mantra and photo opps will cut it SORRY

    • glenm says:

      01:47pm | 28/09/12

      @ Gutfeelings, Rudd is in your words someone “who can speak clearly with conviction without spluttering and choking though an interview”
      yet we all know now as articulated clearly from the Labor party itself that he was a useless leader. Maybe its time to put aside the misconception that you need to be a great orator to be able to manage an economy. Rather than looking at Abbott’s speech patterns look at what he   does for the community. Then compare this to the lack of effort that GIllard has made in this area and her history of poor personal life choices.

    • Bomb78 says:

      09:27am | 28/09/12

      So let me get this straight - it was ok for current cabinet ministers to publicly air their thoughts on the Rudd prime ministership in February, but its not ok for a former senior cabinet minister to air his now?
      As long as they all think the same they can justify their actions to themselves.

      Reply

    • Anna C says:

      09:42am | 28/09/12

      I don’t blame Lindsay Tanner for his comments.  It must be galling seeing two Labor lightweights like Swanny and Julia running the show.  Tanner’s own leadership ambitions were thwarted when Julia stabbed Rudd in the back so it is only natural for him to be bitter.

      Reply

    • Anjuli says:

      10:12am | 28/09/12

      Just for once a politician maybe telling it how it is or was .

      Reply

    • Jon says:

      10:24am | 28/09/12

      Why does anyone keep buying the BS from Pollies? The UN is a dog and pony show and even if we do get a seat on the Security Council, it will have minimal influence. This in no way justifies giving away our rights and money to get it.

      Only difference between both major parties is Labor seems to get more star struck by the useless UN.

      Reply

    • emel says:

      10:40am | 28/09/12

      Tanner has shown his colours by releasing this book at this time.
      Gillard is finally cutting through the tsunami of negativity and blatant lies from the opposition only to again face another round of ‘friendly fire’ from her own kind.
      History will show that regardless of how she got there, Gillard’s govternment has overseen one of Austraia’s greatest periods of reform and investment in the country’s future.
      Tanner should show some loyalty to his party and get over the fact that in politics, the prize goes to the sharpest operative - Gillard.

      Reply

    • I hate pies says:

      11:09am | 28/09/12

      And what great reforms are those? Bear in mind they need to actually be an improvement, not just change for change sake.
      Also, which investment into our future have they done? The NBN? That won’t be finished for 20 years, at which time people will be able to do their 10 transactions a day a bit quicker - hardly a great investment. The internet only facilitates the real economy - goods and services. Both of these have been let down terribly by the current govenment.
      I’m not sure if you’re a sycophant, a student or you don’t understand the real world. Any which way you’re wrong.

    • Greg says:

      11:13am | 28/09/12

      Is that you Julia? This would have to be the biggest crock of shit I’ve read on the punch in a long, long time. Emel, if your comment wasn’t SO stupid, it would be funny. Anyway, haven’t you got union dues to collect?

    • emel says:

      11:53am | 28/09/12

      @Ihp :education reforms for a start. early childhood reforms, the NBN, taxation reform, marine park reform, and the list goes on. remember she is presiding over a minority government in the midst of global financial turmoil, and she has to contend with the media and it’s influence over public perception which largely influences the likes of you.
      sure she has made mistakes, but her integrity and conviction is remarkable.
      No I am neither a sycophant or a student whatever that suggests. i am simply an observant and independant person that gives credit where due.

    • emel says:

      12:02pm | 28/09/12

      @Greg. Great work. Mature, thoughtful and fair-minded. A real testament to the ideology you subscribe to.

    • I hate pies says:

      12:49pm | 28/09/12

      Emel:
      Education reforms - our kids can’t read and write; how well are they really doing? We have an education system that values rights over responsibilities and teaches our children ideology, not fact…how is that good reform?
      NBN - as mentioned, the internet merely aids the real economy; it’s far overpriced and unnecessary in most places it’s going.
      Taxation reform - a heap of new taxes is a good reform? Sparing your ideology against big business, the new taxes don’t promote business, they hinder it. Government would collect more money from taxation if they promoted business growth. The carbon tax is legislation based on ideology, not practicality. It achieves nothing and hinders business. Are you comfortable with the majority of Australians relying, at least in part, on government handouts to get by?
      Marine parks - nothing more than a political ploy to attract green voters. Most of the new park area is so far off the coast that very few people will ever go there.
      Got any more “great reforms”? And I’m not influenced by the media - I’m influenced by fact, and the fact is this government has wasted billions of dollars and attacks the very people who enable this country to prosper.

    • emel says:

      01:26pm | 28/09/12

      @Ihp: Where do I begin?
      your spurious analysis of education standards possibly sheds light on the remainder of your comment.
      the internet provides opportunity for areas where it may be under utilised now, but will benefit from it’s speed and capability in the near future.
      big business is doing very well under the ALP’s tax reforms. (did the man on the radio tell you differently?) as for your assertion that the govt’s taxation reforms attack those that would otherwise make the country prosper; are you serious? the ‘job-creators’ as you and Romney call them, are also better off today than anytime in the past decade.
      marine parks are not created so people can visit them. they are created to protect life on the planet from being destroyed entirely by shortsighted people like you who also see no value in placing pressure on the highest polluting industries.
      How about the national disabilty insurance scheme? reform? I would say so.

    • I hate pies says:

      01:52pm | 28/09/12

      Emel, I base my opinion of education standards on empirical observations of young people I encounter. What do you base your opinion on?
      Exactly how will these areas benefit from faster internet? As I keep saying, the internet itself isn’t a product or service; it doesn’t create demand, it merely aids it. Without the product or service the internet is useless - transaction speed doesn’t drive demand.
      What do you base your opinion of big business doing well under the government’s tax reforms? I base my opinion on slowing demand, hand-braked capital spend and empirical observations of the big business I work for.
      I couldn’t give a shit what Romney says; American politics has no bearing whatsoever on the Australian economy. I will add this though - when job-creators are doing well so are job holders. Without wealth creation in the private sector government has no wealth to spend on social policies. Is it that hard to comprehend? Capitalism is what has made the standard of living in the western world the highest we’ve ever seen - it has enabled the social policies make Australia great.
      Which high polluting industries are polluting 200km off the coast? No-one is wrecking anything out there.
      Yes, the NDIS is a reform; however, it again relies on wealth created by the private sector to be a success, and isn’t funded. If it isn’t funded it can’t be classed as a policy; it is merely an aspiration.

    • ZSM says:

      02:21pm | 28/09/12

      Good grief emel. You sure you aren’t an ALP staffer. Let’s pick through some of your gems.

      “Big business is doing very well under the ALP’s tax reforms”. Really? How so? Simply repeating the bile you hear from Gillard, Swan et al.

      Please educate me how the “job creators” are better off now than at any other time in the past decade. <This one I can’t wait for>

      “How about the national disability insurance scheme”? You mean the scheme Julia announced and then passed most of the bill on to the states to manage? That one? Must be nice to be so generous with other people’s money.

      Peddle your propaganda elsewhere. The student lounge at the Uni you attend would be a good starting point. I’m sure you’ll find the audience most receptive.

    • Mack says:

      03:55pm | 28/09/12

      Hey emel, Julia sure is big on announcements but she’s bloody short on delivery.  They’re not a reform until they’re actually delivered, baby. Otherwise they are just bullshit. And just how is getting us into $200billion of DEBT ‘an investment in the country’s future’? You moron.

    • emel says:

      05:28pm | 28/09/12

      Ihp : young people you encounter? jesus wept. just because you can see no value in faster communication speeds does not really matter. I just hope you are not behind the wheel of any business or organisation that expects to remain viable in the future.
      thanks for the lecture on capitalism. and you say that you don’t care about american politics!
      i never said that industry was polluting 200 kms off the coast. all of our fisheries as they are called, are in danger of exploitation and marine parks ensure the continuation of some species and the biodiversity required for thr the food-chain to operate (to quote you ” is it that hard to comprehend?”
      @ZSM : discussions do not have to involve name calling or pigeon holing.
      BTW, have you been to a university in the past 10 years?
      Left wing they are not.
      Christian conservative they surely are.
      personally, I have not been inside a uni lounge since 1984.
      Big reforms like the NDIS, have to start somewhere, or maybe you would suggest that we leave it to the states to formulate policy if they are the ones that fund it.
      @Mack: your understanding of economics is juvenile. calling me a moron really helped your argument.

    • Rick says:

      10:57am | 28/09/12

      It is no secret that former Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner and current Prime Minister Julia Gillard are not close.

      Under a direct democracy , direct democracy would stimulate government to do the job it was elected to do and be closed to the people and not reduced them to be irrelevant as we are.

      Direct democracy has been shown to improve people’s engagement with the political process.

      The Swiss have been using referendums for centuries. Their system is unique; they can vote on virtually anything. They can amend the constitution, accept or reject government foreign or domestic policy and introduce their own laws.

      No room for ambiguity there.

      Reply

    • Mark says:

      11:11am | 28/09/12

      More than $200 billion in debt in just five years of Labor, our farmland being hocked off to any foreign country who wants it thereby reducing any future competitive advantage we had in agriculture and biofuels, no plan for R & D to develop the industries and employers of the future. That’s Rudd/Gillard. That’s the ALP.

      Reply

    • maria says:

      11:54am | 28/09/12

      He shoul have written a book about the structure of a mafiacracy and how close our system of governance is with it and how far we are from a democracy.

      Reply

    • fedup labourvoter says:

      11:57am | 28/09/12

      Every one in labour is talking the truth, but then none of them trust each other and accuse each other of lying.  Tanners book is more than just an attempt to rewrite labour history, it is to expose the liars.  Bottom line is everyone in labour lies and cannot be trusted, just like juliar!

      Reply

    • john Gouganovski says:

      01:26pm | 28/09/12

      Why this bunch of loosers are allowed to run our country is mad, the big problem is the media is very left slanted today even that punce Kelly who had the opportunity to take on a dishonest woman. I totally agree with good social policies and need to help the fellow man but where does that money come from. As Peter Garret constantly mentioned we are a good government with plenty of ideas, what that wimp Spears ( I dont know why he is so regarded ) should have asked if you are such a good government where is the money going to come from to pay for your promises. Wake up Australia no opposition releases policy prior to an election even these criminals in power.

      Reply

    • The Badger says:

      02:36pm | 28/09/12

      “I totally agree with good social policies “

      Many people consider the things that government does for them to be social progress but they regard the things government does for others as socialism.
      U.S. Chief Justice Earl Warren
      April 1952

    • Bear says:

      01:50pm | 28/09/12

      At least no one you know or love has been abducted and killed. How about just one day of silence from your pretty pro Liberal bitching out of respect? Maybe acknowledge the world doesn’t orbit you!?

      Reply

    • The New Economist says:

      01:52pm | 28/09/12

      Ahhh!!! Labor Labor Labor!!!

      Until Australians start looking at budget releases they will not realise that Labor and Economics is like water and oil, they simply do not mix.

      Only a few days ago Swan stood on his platform at told Australians how great a job he is doing. It is quite apparent that most media outlets believe him because I have heard no critisism at all.

      I wonder how many Australians realise that the National Debt rose by over $60B last year, which means that last year debt rose at higher rate than during the peak of the GFC and approximately $40B more than what was in the original budget.

      I wonder how many Australians realise that when the the 2012-13 Budget was released, Net Financial Worth was expected to be -$251B. Other than the fact that when the budget was first released the country’s Net Financial Worth was expected to be -$201B, does anyone know what the Australia’s Net Financial Worth is now?

      It’s -$358B. Yep ..... they only missed by $100B.

      Great job Labor.

      Reply

    • Trevor A says:

      02:57pm | 28/09/12

      Fascinating that all the Murdoch press concentrates on what the ALP backbenchers are saying and not reporting anything from the Coalition.

      The Coalition is rife with rumours as to whom they will support when not if, the time arrives, sooner than a lot expect.

      Why not a fair and balanced reporting of National politics?

      Reply

    • Tim Kent says:

      03:45pm | 28/09/12

      For the New Economist I would like to see some honest reporting as to what percentage of our National Debt the outstanding really is.What countries in the world have a lower figure and what percentage are countries are Italy,Greece,Spain Ireland UK and USA?

      Be honest , give us the actual figures as a percentage of out National Income, and the other countries that have a AAA

      Reply

    • new economist, same old shite says:

      05:10pm | 28/09/12

      Don’t expect an answer from the “new economist” who is either an understudy to babble-on a rather lackluster teller of porkies or babble-on herself trying to create a pseudonym without the baggage of having been exposed as a liar many times on this site.

      The 10 Countries Deepest in Debt
      Feb 2012
      1. Japan
      Debt as a percentage of GDP: 233.1 percent
      General government debt: $13.7 trillion
      2. Greece
      Debt as a percentage of GDP: 168.2 percent
      General government debt: $489 billion
      3. Italy
      Debt as a percentage of GDP: 120.5 percent
      General government debt: $2.54 trillion
      4. Ireland
      Debt as a percentage of GDP: 108.1 percent
      General government debt: $225 billion
      5. Portugal
      Debt as a percentage of GDP: 101.6 percent
      General government debt: $257 billion
      6. Belgium
      Debt as a pct. of GDP: 97.2%
      General government debt: $479 billion
      7. United States
      Debt as a pct. of GDP: 85.5%
      General government debt: $12.8 trillion
      8. France
      Debt as a pct. of GDP: 85.4%
      General government debt: $2.26 trillion
      9. Germany
      Debt as a pct. of GDP: 81.8%
      General government debt: $2.79 trillion
      10. United Kingdom
      Debt as a pct. of GDP: 80.9%
      General government debt: $1.99 trillion

      Australia less than 18%
      Ranks around 140 places below this mob of the ten worst.

    • Robert S McCormick says:

      05:05pm | 28/09/12

      Whether the ALP likes it or not Tanner has only written what the vast majority have thought about Gillard’s usurption of the Prime Ministership in June 2010. She did so solely to satisfy her own over-riding personal ambition. She was determine to become PM no matter what she had to do to get it. Her problem was that she had to move before Kevin Rudd called the 2010 Federal Election for should, as many commentators had been suggesting, he had led the ALP into a 2nd Term her prospects of becoming PM would disappear & she would have had to wait until the ALP got tossed out (NOT Guaranteed) in 2013 before she got a crack at being elected Parliamentary Leader of the ALP and then hope the ALP won the 2016 Election (NOT Guaranteed either) when she would, if they allowed her to remain Leader, have a chance of becoming PM.
      This Gillard could not tolerate for also at the back of her mind there would have been the thought that the ALP might be on the Opposition Benches for 2, 3 or even 4 Terms.If she did not lead the ALP to victory after 2 Terms in Opposition she most certainly would have been dumped along with her dream of becoming PM. This she could not tolerate.
      As it was the result of the 2010 Federal Election, & solely as a result of her wheeling & dealing with the Independents & Greens, was a Pyrrhic Victory.
      It was she & she alone who was responsible for the ALP losing the entire 18-seat Majority Kevin Rudd achieved in 2007.
      Gillard became Australia’s First “Grace & Favour Prime Minister”.
      She is not PM in her own right as a result of having won a Majority in the House of Representatives for she has no such majority.
      She should remember that old adage “As ye sow, so shall ye reap”.

      Reply

    • Swamp Thing says:

      06:07pm | 28/09/12

      Must be time for that nutcase emmerson to give us another tune….
      How about this for a reform: mandatory psychological testing for all aspirants for public office, +regular mental health checks for all elected officials.
      Never happen will it? Any ideas why they can’t be held to the same medical standards as the rest of us?
      Try not applying the above to airline pilots or soldiers - but if you hold the reigns of power, automatic exemption is okey dokey.

      Reply
 
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