So much ground to make up, so little time to do it

Erick says:

02:12pm | 30/01/12

There’s no focus on a “Liberal leadership battle” because there is no such battle.

Tony Abbott has done a brilliant job. If an election were held today, or any time in the last twelve months, he would win easily.

The only people trying to push the idea of a leadership challenge in the Coalition are Labor supporters, who see it as their last desperate hope.

Bomb78 says:

02:25pm | 30/01/12

ShamWow - I mentioned the odds last week on The Punch - The Coalition is $1.32 to win the election. We’re not going to see a change in the Liberal leadership as long both the polls and the punters keep them this short. And if the ALP get the same smacking federally that they got in NSW, and are about to get in Queensland, it won’t matter who’s in charge, they won’t waste a good majority the way Rudd did.

neil says:

02:31pm | 30/01/12

What leadership battle? Nobody in the Liberal party takes Turnbull seriously anymore and nobody else is putting their hand up.

Abbott will win the election and Turnbull will most likely resign soon after.

Seriously... says:

03:49pm | 30/01/12

There won’t be a challenge because the Liberal party president is married to Abbotts chief of staff. Together with Abbott, they dominate and control the Liberal caucas. Only a crash in opnion polls would stop Abbott now.

Turnbull wants Abbott to win the next election… after 2 years of Abbott’s bungling ‘decisions’ in Government the Liberals will dive in the opnion polls, like the ALP did under Gillard, and Turnbull will be able to mount an easy challenge to take over the leadership.

TM says:

04:56pm | 30/01/12

Turnbull a future PM??? A lefties delusional wet dream. The Liberal supporters would move their support in droves. Stupid comment!

funky monkey says:

05:27pm | 30/01/12

I agree wholeheartedly with TM. Turnbull had his chance and he blew it.If was a bit smarter politican then I have no doubt he would be PM today but siding with Rudd over carbon trading and continuing to undermine Abbott means his chance has gone.

It would be hard to run a campaign witout any grass roots support.

Dan says:

06:08pm | 30/01/12

Actually an interesting point. The Coalition has the next election wrapped up - they’d win it with Fred Flinstone at the helm.

But shouldn’t they make the most of it? All available polling on the Liberal leadership has Turnbull far in front of Abbott. He’s more moderate, more collected, and widely regarded as more intelligent (true or not).

With Abbott in charge, it’ll be a landslide. With Turnbull, a bloodbath. Why isn’t the Coalition maximising the opportunity?

RBarron says:

08:24pm | 30/01/12

I can tell you that I have been a labor voter all my life and that last election was the 1st time that I voted for the liberal party in both houses of parliment. And in the last nsw state was the 1st time the libs ever won the set of Granville. If me and my mate are going to vote for the liberals again it will on;y be if Tony is leading the party.
Gillard and Labor in western sydney are beyond repair. It is time to burn the place down.

Snoopy says:

10:08pm | 30/01/12

@Rbarron

It was in Western Sydney that the Coalition lost the last election. You are right, however. It is time to burn the place down, starting with Granville.

james says:

09:11am | 31/01/12

Dan

Spot on, it would seem the libs are rusted on to Tony even though he is not the preferred leader judging by opinion polls. Interesting year indeed for the LNP leadership if 2PP numbers get closer and some heat is directed towards them,

Stephen says:

12:39pm | 31/01/12

In all honesty Gillard’s problems are all of her own making, if she and her henchmen focused more on running the country and less on trying to denigrate Tony Abbott they would probably not be in the position where they now find themselves.  They have an appalling history of failed attempts to fit Abbot up in many cases aided and abetted by sympathetic media, cast your minds back to the furore surrounding Abbots supposed refusal to visit the troops in Afghanistan, he was lambasted over it even though he had informed Gillard regarding his schedule relating to the visit, then we have the selective misquoting of the conversation he had while there.  But for these and several other incidents the latest bungle could possibly be written off.  As it stands Gillard and her cronies have form when it comes to dirty tricks, despite the best efforts of the Labor machine or perhaps because of them they continue to dig a hole from which they will have difficulty escaping.

Karen from Qld says:

12:00am | 31/01/12

Bev Julia is an atheist - she couldn’t possibly believe in miracles. So that leaves that avenue out.

nihonin says:

05:20pm | 30/01/12

Rick of the Dustbowl, doesn’t matter, nothing would work for Julia Gillard though, somehow she has managed to be struck by the Maxwell Smart Syndrome.  I heard she was asked about her last trip, she said it was all good, only a sprained ankle.

Denny Crane says:

05:31pm | 30/01/12

I understand that its really hard but there is a difference between relaying what the Navy has told you and making a promise to the electorate, or to Andrew Wilkie. Most on the left cannot comprehend or they dont want to. Big mal is a perfect example. He is quick to forgive Gillard for her lies but he was quicker to condenm Tony Abbott for his Red Kerry gottya about politicians telling the truth.

Gregg says:

03:14pm | 30/01/12

Certainly game set and match AtM but lets not load it all on Julia when she has had such support with the likes of the faceless ones that do have names, a former PM, a former would be PM and a few more like her leader of government business, not to mention the one supposedly thinking about finances nor some greens and independents.
What a motley crew very ably led by a motley leader.

RyaN says:

02:19pm | 30/01/12

@AdamC: Yes but Adam you are taking your view from a position of integrity and honour, she has none of these and you can guarantee that yellow bellied snake is never going to act in a manner you describe.

Gregg says:

03:17pm | 30/01/12

Does she have the power to stand Craigy baby down?
A PM is not judge and jury and yet that is another of Gillard’s problems.
And strength you say!

AdamC says:

03:37pm | 30/01/12

@RyaN, maybe, but it is also the best approach pragmatically. You couldn’t write JuLiar off from winning an election from encumbency, but she’s toast if the government falls before an election. That, and who wants to be the PM who loses office in a corruption scandal?

@Gregg, I assume she does, at least in theory. And, seriously, the guy isn’t doing the ALP any favours by sitting there with such big stormclouds hanging over him.

thatmosis says:

06:15pm | 30/01/12

“from a position of strength as the incumbent government” bloody hell that was funny, I had to read it several times, one to make sure that I’d read it correctly and two, because i kept rolling around on the floor laughing to split my sides.
  They may be the “almost” imcumbent government but a position of power, whoops there I go again falling off my chair.
  Lets face it the only thing this government position shows is a complete and utter disaster from start to finish, it actually started the day Rudd took office and hasnt let up since and is slowly going downhill. The polls may have shown a slight rise but thats before this fiasco at the Australia Day ceremonies had been widely reproted and the almost certain feeling amongst most people that the orders came from the top. Once that hits the polls will go back to where they were and Joolia will once again be the butt of jokes within and without the Labor party.
By the way, thanks to all those thinking people who added to my list of Labor Policy failures which have now reached over 67, well done team.

Tom says:

03:26pm | 31/01/12

AdamC, when all else fails, try acting with integrity? It is such a left-field idea for Labor, it would wrong foot a lot of people.

GB says:

02:19pm | 30/01/12

Yes. Somebody decided to take a leak in the shallow end and this is what we ended up with. A bunch of self-serving career pollies without a shread of an idea of what the real world is about. Their constituents are way down the list in order of priority, behind themselves, their families and mates, the unions (where applicable)  their lobbyists and other interest groups. Pass the chlorine!

Sarah says:

03:09pm | 30/01/12

Couldn’t agree more @Blind Freddy & @GB.

The two primary parties and their leadership offerings are all miserable. Yet so are the greens and the Independents.

Every single one of them should be thrown out the window.

We really need new laws passed to prevent career politicians. If someone wants to become a MP or Senator, they should have the relevant life experience first.

And I’m not talking about the endless cycle of lawyers that we’re seeing either.

Super D says:

05:20pm | 30/01/12

Next thing ou know Mal will be writing that the carbon tax wasn’t such a clever move after all….

Against the Man says:

06:47pm | 30/01/12

Well 1st they had Rudd and next it was Gillard and being the same ol’ Labor it was really a recipe for disaster. The problem is that when Labor got into power they really weren’t up to governing. No game plan, no short term or long term goals. They were just winging it

PsychoHyena says:

09:07pm | 30/01/12

@AtM no long term plan? Actually they did, hence the CPS and other policies. No short term plan? They did have one there too, avoid the GFC. The thing with Labor’s policies is that the effects don’t get seen until further down the track, this was the case with floating the dollar. We didn’t really see the benefits until the GFC, if we had of remained at a set conversion we wouldn’t be seeing increases against the US$ in fact we’d be seeing a weaker AUD.

ian hart says:

09:15pm | 30/01/12

through design..

Ryan says:

09:30pm | 30/01/12

@AtM

And yet they won the last election, and the one before. How bad must the Opposition be?

Brian Taylor says:

10:11pm | 30/01/12

@Against the Man you wrote “They were just winging it ” thats right only thing is, they’re like a headless chook running around the chook pen”

Joan says:

01:19pm | 31/01/12

@Ryan

You’ve made your bed with the Independents. Lay in it.

Pro-tip: Calling them names won’t help.

Joan says:

02:27pm | 31/01/12

@GG

My apologies. Wrong reply button. That’s for Ryan @10:56am below.

GB says:

03:18pm | 30/01/12

Wilkie has now come out and stated he’ll support a “no-confidence” motion. I’m sure when she f’d him over on the pokies legislation she didn’t think the chickens would come home to roost so quickly. You reap what you sow Julia.

RyaN says:

04:44pm | 30/01/12

@GB: Yep she isn’t too smart is she. What did she expect, that Wilkie would continue to support her?
Now the chooks are coming home to roost, Slipper may or may not support her, should be an interesting opening of parliament.

PsychoHyena says:

09:14pm | 30/01/12

@GB uhm no he stated that he would consider a no-confidence motion, two different things. Does a CEO saying they would consider a takeover bid mean that they would support it no matter what? No, it means they would consider whether it was appropriate or not and then make a decision.

Joan says:

09:47pm | 30/01/12

@GB   As if. Here’s what he actually said ... “If the opposition was to move a no-confidence motion over this, I would probably support a suspension of standing orders to debate the matter, subject of course to the exact wording of the motion.”

However, he said he continued to believe that the parliament should run its full term and he would only support motions of no confidence “in the event of serious misconduct and not support politically opportunistic motions”.

You seriously think Wilkie’s gonna side with Abbott? The Noalition and their supporters are indeed reaping what they’ve sown with the Independents.

GB says:

11:21pm | 30/01/12

@Psycho Hyena & Joan. Fair enough, I only caught a snippet on the radio in the car earlier. But let me ask you a question. Do you honestly think Wilkie will pass up an opportunity to stick it to Gillard at the first opportunity?

Joan says:

08:42am | 31/01/12

@GB No, but that doesn’t mean he’ll waste his time with Abbott. The Noalition and their supporters have made their bed with the Independents. They’ll lay in it until the next election.

RyaN says:

09:56am | 31/01/12

@Joan: Its the Coalition, don’t let me embarrass you by exposing the actual details on the fallacy you scummy Labor dropkicks have been clinging to.

Joan says:

11:19am | 31/01/12

@Ryan

Thanks for your admission that you’ve got nothing but NO.

You’ve made your bed with the Independents. Lay in it.

RyaN says:

12:25pm | 31/01/12

@Joan:  http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opinion/tony-abbott-knows-he-is-landing-the-blows/story-e6frezz0-1226236795196

In particular and most embarrassing for you lot:
“So far in this parliament, the Abbott-led opposition has only voted against 13 per cent of the government’s legislative proposals. “Dr No” has actually been “Dr Yes” 87 per cent of the time.”

Now most would hope that a smart person would not continue to bang on the same lie once it has been exposed but the mere fact that you still support Labor considering the absolute contempt this government holds for the people, I am hedging my bets you will continue to make a fool of yourself.

Three Score and Ten says:

02:12pm | 31/01/12

@Joan you naughty girl, you were having a bit of fun.

subotic says:

02:46pm | 30/01/12

Yes, we need more benevolent dictators and military styled leaders like those in Asian and Middle Eastern countries.

Rulers with balls.

Phil says:

02:59pm | 30/01/12

Maybe bring back Costello?

Gregg says:

03:23pm | 30/01/12

I’m not too sure how broad your research would be re Tony Abbott pretty widely regarded as not being up to the top job.
There’re heaps of critcs out there, probably most being rusted on Labor supporters and Labor is running scared of Tony, hence the attempts with baited questions and others in the wings prepared to follow the Labor slogan ” whatever it takes “

Have a closer look at who Tony Abbott is and what he stands for, quite possibly not too distant from what Howard stood for and then any person able to take the shit thrown in his direction and get on with life has something going for him.

subotic says:

03:40pm | 30/01/12

@Phil, I said balls…. ^

TM says:

04:52pm | 30/01/12

Oh dear, break out the tissues!

We get exactly what we deserve.

Brad Coward says:

02:44pm | 30/01/12

And so say all of us !

Hip, hip, hooray !

Andrew says:

08:41pm | 30/01/12

She wont lose her seat, her seat in victoria is as safe labor as they come, victorians are a funny lot, they know how terrible she is, but hey shes victorian so that enough reason to vote for her.

Kev says:

09:53pm | 30/01/12

@Anubis

Why? Are all women the same?

Does that mean that if a male PM loses an election then we won’t see another male PM for decades?

Borderer says:

08:28am | 31/01/12

@ Andrew
She’s actually Welsh and migrated to South Australia at age 5. She only came to Victoria at age 21

Anubis says:

08:34am | 31/01/12

@ Kev - No not all women are the same - I have no doubt there are some excellent women in the Australian community that would do a fine job as PM - BUT - I doubt very much that any political party would be prepared to go to an election with a female leader for quite a while after Julia is finished. The “Gillard Effect” will have a very negative effect upon the electorate when a female leader is put forward.

Kev says:

09:11am | 31/01/12

@Anubis

It still looks like you reckon all women are the same.

Does the “Howard/Keating/Hawke/Fraser/etc Effect” have a very negative effect upon the electorate when a male leader is put forward?

Tom says:

03:48pm | 31/01/12

Andrew,  ...  “hey shes victorian so that enough reason to vote for her”.

Are you saying that her opponent for the seat will not be also living in Victoria?

Seriously... says:

03:55pm | 30/01/12

Can’t see a challenge from Rudd… he’d be a fool to want the top job again. Biggest part of the gig is keeping the unions happy… need a union sycophant for that… Shorten is far more likely to challenge… if he’s smart he’ll promote Rudd to Deputy PM to heel the rift in the party.

Against the Man says:

05:19pm | 30/01/12

With Rudd’s ego do you think he would be happy with 2nd place? I agree Shorten would be a likely choice but he would still lead them to an election loss. Gillard has tainted every ALP politician currently at Federal level. The the next time the ALP get back power at Federal level it will be a whole new batch of politicians we never heard of and not associated with the current Gillard bunch.

Chris says:

07:33pm | 30/01/12

I think Ms Gillard has earnt the right to face the electorate in the next election in the top job.

Wouldn’t be surprised if she does a runner before it, tho. You know she doesn’t wear blame well.

Besides, who in their right mind would want to be the head of the ALP in the next federal election? Whoever it is will be lining up at Centrelink the day after, never to be welcomed in Canberra again.

James says:

05:42am | 31/01/12

The way things are going, Gillard will be lucky to survive to the end of March.

John says:

08:50am | 31/01/12

@James   First the Prime Minister wasn’t going to form Government, then she wasn’t going to last a week, then until Xmas, then a month, then a few, then the middle of the year, then Xmas (again), and now the end of March, apparently. Any tips for the Melbourne Cup?

TM says:

05:33pm | 30/01/12

What’s left to destroy? You lefties never cease to amaze me!

Mark says:

10:03pm | 30/01/12

@TM   Record investment, record wealth, record employment, low interest rates and low inflation.

Mack says:

09:29pm | 30/01/12

‘What we are witnessing is the ALP disappearing up its own arse.’

And what a beautiful sight it is…...

colroe says:

11:25am | 31/01/12

No thank you, the sight of Gillards sycophants scrabbling to enter her arse would be too much!

GB says:

07:30pm | 30/01/12

Keep telling yourself that Dave. Whatever helps you sleep at night. Here’s a crystal ball prediction for you. Queen Fanta pants will be lucky if she makes it to easter. Book it.

Giles says:

07:56pm | 30/01/12

you don’t need a crystal ball!

Northern Steve says:

08:37pm | 30/01/12

No one expected Howard to win, and for most of the last election campaign Labor was predicted to win.

And ‘Parrot’s’ doesn’t need an apostrophe as it’s a plural.

Idiot

jg says:

08:47am | 31/01/12

The ALP is toxic.

Simple as that.

Get used to Abbott fanboy because he will be next PM whether you like it not.

Guess you’d better start looking at house prices in Canada.

By the way, parrots don’t own shrieking.

jg says:

07:22am | 31/01/12

I voted ALP, and even green as a young bloke fresh out of school and at uni. And I continued to do so until Keating showed his true colours, ie, being an arrogant bastard who couldn’t give a stuff about anyone except himself. Latham was just about the final straw. Still, even then I still voted ALP.

However, after the debacle that was Rudd and the complete failure that is Gillard, the tories have my vote sewn up for a long time.