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The readers: What you’ve said about Election 2010

Lucy Kippist

by Lucy Kippist

20 Aug 05:55am

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Filed under: Election 2010, Readers, The Punch

63 comments

If Election 2010 has confirmed anything for us it’s that you Punchers love a good political stoush.

Wake me up when it's over…Warren Brown in The Tele.

You’ve been loud, passionate, well-informed and with a great sense of humour to boot, so thanks for your input over the past five weeks.

We’ve spent a bit of time listening to what you had to say, so here’s our take on the campaign according to our readers:

Issues at stake

Punch readers have been at odds from day one about what really matters this election. Divided on the issues of gay marriage, treatment of asylum seekers, the national broadband network and health, but on the other hand are united in issues they’ve felt the campaign has ignored. Housing affordability, mental health, industrial relations, disability services, the elderly, rural/ regional Australia and young voters made the top of this list.

non-technology-challenged says: Excuse me, As a 20-something, I can tell you that it’s not a burden to do it - it’s simply inconvienent. Collecting a form, completing it and then posting it is not hard - but the fact many of us are at work or school whilst the post office is open makes it difficult. And if we get it sent to us or ask our parents to collect us one whilst they are out and about, thats great. The main problem comes with returning it. I dont know about you, but as a person who does all of my banking, communcation, applications and general tasks asides from groceries online, where it is quicker than the post office (it frequently takes a week for the odd letter from my mother to travel between 2 capital cities) it would be better for everyone if you could enrol online. Plus, I never have stamps. Why would I? Hell, you can book a driving test online these days, apply for a credit card, do practicallly anything, why not this? Also, the Census next year apparently has an online option, so why not the voting itself? More people would do it if it could be done from the comfort of their own living room. Instead we have to line up with a thousand other people in some dinky little school or town hall being harassed by demonstrators telling us to vote for one person or another, to fill in a form and drop it in a box.  And I do take it seriously, I just wish this country would step up and start to cater to this century. People over 40 aren’t the only people in Australia.

There was strong distrust in the early weeks of the campaign for the duplicitous personalities “fake Julia”, “the real Julia” and “fake Tony” and “the real Tony” but this has worn off recently. And while most people liked the campaign cameos by Hawke and Howard, they were divided on the launch campaigns themselves.  Almost 50 per cent of readers saw them as a good stage for leaders to flex their muscles while the other 50 per cent considered them just a big waste of money and time.

Jason says: It’s very sad that in a country of such successful and brilliant people - where we turn out brilliant sportspeople, actors, lawyers, pilots, businesspeople etc who go on to excel on a global level - we just can’t seem to find ANYONE who can step up and be a strong visionary leader with a connection to reality.  Gillard was smooth and controlled in a nicely sterilized environment, but like Abbott, she is certainly not an inspiring person.  Australia needs somebody who all of us can look to with confidence that they will balance all our needs and help us to work harder and smarter, and become a better country as a whole. Sadly, there is nothing like that available this time around.  This election will be decided by how many of us preferred the Howard years to the Rudd years.

There have been few arguments about the role of the media throughout this campaign because they’ve been generally criticised by everyone.

steve says: Mark Latham’s conversion from former politician to amateur journalist is nothing. I’ve got a better idea. Given that the media and especially high-profile journalists determine the direction of elections and, hence, the result, they do wield enormous powers of influence upon the viewing, reading and listening electorate. Shouldn’t we be entitled, then, to have at least some reverse interviews with politicians asking personal and probing questions of journalists? Some questions might include: What political party do you support?, Have you ever been offered favours for comment from any political party or vested political interests?, Have you ever failed in business?, Do you believe in God?, Why aren’t you married? etc.
Seriously, I think it would make for riveting television and radio. And it would also expose the personal, moral, social, political and business credentials of big names in the media. After all, they can make or break leaders and governments. That’s a lot of power. Imagine Julia Gillard, for example, grilling ruthless commentators with cameras honing in on their eyes, their eyebrow movements, their facial expressions and their general body language, with nowhere to hide. I think it’s a very legitimate concept. I use Gillard as an example because there are no Labor-supporting journalists or media networks in this campaign. We’ve still got two weeks to go to the elections. Give both leaders a go at a journalist. Yes, journalists are not elected by the people but they sure have plenty of sway in a democracy such as ours.

While the issue of funding and how much each party has spent on their campaigns (except for the campaign launches) hasn’t been a big talking point at all.

How you’re calling the election
With only one day to go, support is still almost equal among Punchers for both parties but leadership is a different story altogether. Tony Abbott appears to be an integral part of why Punch readers like the Coalition however there is very little support for Julia herself. Similarly, most comments from pro-Labor Punchers appear to be in support of Labor as an alternative to Tony Abbott and the Coalition generally rather than being “fully behind” Gillard.

Rosie says:Tony Abbott is what you see is what you get. He has moulded himself into the position he doesn’t take for granted. Good Luck Tony! If you don’t win this time we are still very proud of you and your team and yours will be 2013. We never thought you would get this far, you knocked off Rudd and now Julia Gillard is so scared out of her wits of losing because she only has one thing on her mind and that is not to be an appointed 3 month wonder PM.

pete says:I spend a big part of each year overseas because of work- when I come homes to Australia I realize just how brilliant it is here. The fact that this country never hit recession is exceptional. You think about that when you call into a Kmart in America at midday on a Saturday and you are the only person in the store, or you drive through a neighbourhood and every second house someone is trying to sell.  Give me a Gillard Australia any day.  One look at Abbott and you know you can’t trust him.

The Conversation
Unless they’ve been very quiet about it, there really hasn’t been too much indication among readers about a change in voting preferences. The loudest voices have stuck to their guns on issues they’ve had with either party from the beginning. But general expression and the tone of readers’ comments has changed dramatically.

The melodrama of the first few days, when Shakespearean references to the Rudd “knifing” were common, has been replaced in recent weeks with equal parts anger and humour.

Laura says: As a Victorian, I am deeply ashamed of the woman called Julia Gillard. I turn off the radio every time the voice comes on. I change channels every time she appears on the TV screen. Whatever she touches it turns to dust and she tells us it is gold. She has made lying an art form. With the help of a fawning media, Gillard has re-written the book on politics. She is Machiavelli meets the snake in the garden of Eden. The polls are showing a close election with a probable Labor victory but the airwaves are full of anti-Labor and anti-Gillard hate and it is on the rise. So on Sunday morning if we wake up to Gillard as our PM, I ask where will all that hate and anger go? And in the next 3 years as Gillard and her crew further trash Australia what then? For a start, maybe the idiot journalists who told us to vote for Kevin in 2007 and then repeated their sin by telling us to vote for Julia in 2010, ought to be named and shamed.

Start the nation says: I can’t wait for Sunday when this will be over and those annoying ads stop. All the lies, propaganda and hyperbole from both sides will stop. I don’t care about boat people. I’m sick of the vote-buying pork-barrelling and middle-class welfare handed out by both sides. Let families deal with how much they live on and down-size if necessary. Don’t just hand them cash to buy their vote. It’s sickening. I want a free internet. I want a government that will continually invest in infrastructure. Better telecommunications. More roads. Wider roads. More trains. More train lines. More train stations. More buses. Better living standards and better town planning to cope with population growth (we can’t stop people breeding and we can’t stop people moving from the bush to the city).

There’s been lots (more) fighting between people on specific campaign issues, such as the national broadband network and the role of the Greens,  with some readers deliberately seeking each other out. And while there has been some exasperation with the length of the campaign, most Punchers have been up for the long haul with a great deal of enthusiasm.

Robert Smissen, rural SA, God’s own country says:I’m not sure if I can stand another fotrnight of this, I haven’t laughed so hard since I attended Melbourne comedy festival.

Gregg says:Make sure you get tickets for next years festival and they may even put on an extra special few with the material they have. I hear a number of scripts are already on the way for the secret texting of Kev and Julia, even talk of a shakes and spearing production! I could even see a survivor style reality show being a hit, Politically Moving Forward and then of course Mark Latham already has a board game coming out called Snakes and Liars.

What will we talk about on Monday?

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Most commented

431Australia, you have nothing to fear but fear itself
390There's no one Thomson won't burn to save his skin
336Animal experiments won't cure me from cancer
313Thomson didn't answer the question everyone is asking
266Who murdered the Arts degree?
246A big day for Thomson, who thus far is guilty of nothing...
231South Australia. It's the middle bottom bit.
231Craig Thomson speaks. Meanwhile, in Australia...

63 comments

Show oldest | newest first

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      06:27am | 20/08/10

      Monday morning. Whoever wins, nothing has changed. Same old middle class welfare and pork barrelling. Inept politicians without vision will still be in charge. Australia will slowly decline into the same political dysfunction that afflicts the United States…

      Reply

    • Adam Diver says:

      08:29am | 20/08/10

      If you want vision look no further than K Rudd an Obama. The issue with vision though, is that it is a much easier to envisage something than to implement it.

      Personally I would like a competant government that does its core responsibilities well.

    • acotrel says:

      09:14am | 20/08/10

      So it’s OK to lead without ‘vision’ as long as you’re competent?  Is ‘visionless leadership’ an oxymoron, at least we’ve got the second part of that word with Tony Abbott?:

    • Adam Diver says:

      11:07am | 20/08/10

      @ Acetrol, being competent can be a “vision”. However it doesn’t sell as many votes as massive scale changes that can’t, shouldn’t and won’t be implemented.

      Of course I would love my leader to have a 100 billion infrastructure vision, a vision improve indigenous living standards, a vision to provide first class health and education, but I know that these same visions require a lot of management and competence to be achieved and in some cases are impossible to achieve effectively.

    • shane says:

      03:17pm | 20/08/10

      Truly great leadership in Politics is impossible now. True leadership comes from a lifetime of experiences, good, bad, painful, and harrowing.

      I think a necessary part of becoming a great leader is that of doing things that you probably shouldn’t have, learn from the mistake, and improve yourself accordingly.

      Its all the dirty nitty gritty of life that makes a great leader. People with the kind of experience I’m talking about would never win pre-selection these days due to the negatives in their past which will be exploited by both the media and any political opposition.

      Its political staffers and boring nobodies from here on in.

      People who’ve spent their entire working lives working for/with politicians and carefully avoiding anything that could be construed as negative.

      It’s a strange fact of our current society (first world) that we’re lead by a bunch of risk-adverse dullards, most of which wouldn’t be able to function in society or a work place by themselves.

      The mediocre have inherited the Earth, and will take us all down with them eventually with policies designed for re-election, not functionality.

      Promises to limit boats to 3 a year. Promises about interest rates and surpluses and economics. Promises that can’t be kept, are impossible to keep. The idiots leading us make these impossible promises, the media swallow them whole without any discussion as to the rationality of such things, and the masses vote accordingly.

    • Against the Man says:

      07:13am | 20/08/10

      Why I don’t support Gillard is because I associate the following with her: Back stabbing, untrustworthy, ‘unreal’, poor policies, waste of money, doesn’t believe in God, pensioners/families be damned, fake, look at what she did to Rudd, etc.

      If Kevin Rudd can’t trust her how can we?

      Reply

    • KH says:

      08:08am | 20/08/10

      Abbott backstabbed Turnbull - you can be assured of that.  A belief in imaginary supernatural beings has no bearing on a persons character or lack thereof. How many peodophiles are also priests?  The selective memories of the religious is the most hilarious thing about them.  Someone who doesn’t think the answer to everything is welfare is pretty good in my book - why shouldn’t she question huge expenditure?  ‘families’ get more than enough from the public purse.  Name one good policy from the Liberals? HA…...... remember, if it isn’t written down, Abbott doesn’t mean it.  I wouldn’t trust that misogynist, narrow minded backward looking Howard suck up in a million years.

    • Joan says:

      09:37am | 20/08/10

      Add to Gillards list,  hypocrite.  since June 23 Gillard has shown that behind the fake, airbrushed madeup dolled up face,Julia at heart is a hypocrite and a manipulator.  Gillard urges Australians - not to look at her track record while saying you better look at Abbotts track record before you vote. The scariest thing for Australia on Sunday is to wake up to have a souless, hypocrite Gillard as PM

    • Against the Man says:

      09:57am | 20/08/10

      I ran into a New Zealander who said everyone in NZ was hoping Gillard would win. I asked him why. He said Australia having a bogan, unmarried PM living in the Lodge with her drink driving boyfriend means we wouldn’t be able to make fun of them anymore. Suddenly sheep seem more respectable.

    • Steve says:

      10:20am | 20/08/10

      @ against the Man : lib-speak central .... try to think for yourself..Howard was PM for over a decade because of the economy he inherited! I know like all good lemmings and graduates of the Dumbing down of the nation programme and the Pavlov’s dog process that comes with that, right now your going to jump into some rant and rave about the labour debt ect ect:  Please don’t as it is not true you were the bull with the rings in your noses and lead around to suit. For ten years plus Howard and Costello did a really good job of educating the Australian public to think that the kinds of things they’ve pushed through have been responsible for the boom ( it did cost us about $3mil a week in advertising to do so) Australia’s prosperity was the result of reforms made by labour governments claims by Howard and treasurer Peter Costello that their economic management skills were superior are misleading. They’ve argued that the surpluses they’ve presided over generated the boom. They’ve argued that paying down Australia’s public debt is very important for the boom. But the budget surplus is a consequence of a strong economy, not the cause of it. The reforms of the Hawke/Keating years- floating the currency, overhauling tariffs, liberalising the financial system, managing industrial relations through the Accord and enterprise bargaining – were massive economic changes that transformed our economy. So like now as then the treasurers role is not as significant as it use to be in the days when John Howard completely wrecked the economy for the first time as treasurer no great waves of cash then to cover the holes… ah the seventies great reform days of Johnny, sold countless government business with soaring interest rates of 22% oh yeah deepest recess this country as ever know..  Does anyone still think Costello and friends were the great debt busters after reading the following? Interestingly Labor’s stimulus package comes in at about 1% of the total, enjoy: “‘Tony might happily forget that while his former government colleagues were steering the good ship Australia, the nation’s total debt soared from a mere $700 billion in 1997 up to $3.2 trillion by the close of their term. An increase of 387%’‘. Deregulation brought growth all right. But there is a yin for every yang. The Opposition may well brag that it left office with zero debt - zero government debt that is - as the upshot of policy was to lump it onto the consumer. The first home buyer grant that artificially inflated house prices out of everyone’s reach sold every profitable publicly owned enterprise to get a very short sighted budget surplus pushed out the credit systems where people were actually given one two and three credit cards And we wonder how and why the GFC happened! Now there’s a thought
      The link below is to one plus one on Joseph Stiglitz noble prize for economics and his take on our situation most importantly our countries assets in the ground.

      http://www.abc.net.au/iview/#/view/613694

    • KH says:

      10:40am | 20/08/10

      Steve - thanks for putting that up.  Its long, but absolutely correct.
      The most worrying part about Abbott is his assertion that the GFC was a foreign problem.  (Just like global warming ‘doesn’t exist’)  It’s very easy to dismiss the effort to avoid something by claiming it ‘probably wouldn’t have happened anyway’ - his lack of knowledge about global economics is alarming.  I wonder what he would have done had the liberals still been at the helm - closed up shop to protect their precious surplus and let unemployment go out of control and see people lose their homes?  Really?  The government did the right thing by spending - it was exactly the right policy under the circumstances, and as I still have my job and my home - like most people -  I am totally OK with it.

    • Adam DIver says:

      11:42am | 20/08/10

      @ steve, I wil see your rise in consumer debt and inflated house prices (which limitied land in the major factor i.e. states) and raise you 16 billion on BER with up to half wasted and at least 60% spent after the GFC and 1 billion on insulation which needs to be replaced and artificially created a boom and bust for a once stable industry.

    • Gregg says:

      12:28pm | 20/08/10

      A much shorter version for you KH is that both parties have been involved in selling assetts and a lot of it started under Hawke/Keating both directly and indirectly via policies which had states privatising services, electricity authorities for instance.
      Growth of national debt is collectively a decision for people deciding to live on credit and banks being prepared to loan the money.
      Small businesses can suffer because of higher interest rates when governments are borrowing to fund deficit budgetting, something Whitlam/Cairns, Hawke/Keating, Krudd/Dillard/Swann know all about even if they cannot work through to the outcome.

    • Tristan says:

      12:32pm | 20/08/10

      @ Adam Diver: And I will raise you further. In the US, Spain, Japan and other OECD nations, unemployment rose about 7% on average. Millions of people lost their jobs.

      Would you prefer to pay a little bit more at the supermarket, or not have groceries at all?

    • Gregg says:

      12:41pm | 20/08/10

      I think there’s something of a little guilt syndrome you’‘re trying to work out of your system there KH.
      First of all, Turnbull and Abbott represented a difference of opinion within the Liberal Party [ and yes that is allowed to happen thetre, it being called democracy ] and the party parliamentarians held an open leadership vote, the result being Abbott becoming leader.

      There have in fact been leadership changes for the Labor Party when they have been in opposition but not so much on policy issues but more the populist approach, The Drovers Dog of note, Crean and Beasley also casulaties.

      I feel you may be a tad bitter towards Tony because he caused the Kevolemon to go sour on the greatest moral challenge of his time.
      Now it is true that Julia did not back stab Kev but she certainly sliced him up to allow juices to run free.

      It will probably help you no end to take a brighter new look and welcome in Sunday the freshness of a new dawn and a new leader so you can start afresh and retrieve your faith in humanity without having to go near a church.
      I’ll actually be starting Saturday Night and look if we have Julia for a while, maybe it’ll be the next version of Julia and so that’ll also be kind of new too.

    • Adam Diver says:

      02:07pm | 20/08/10

      @ Tristan, I will see your unemployment figures and raise you financial reform by Labor, a robust and strong banking sector (thanks labor), a surplus position left by the libs, chinas stimulus package and throw in our mining industry as well.

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      07:59am | 20/08/10

      How about the 1st sitting of Parliament and Question Time….who will be sitting where…...
      Will the boats stop under a Labor Gov…..242 people have arrived since the calling of the election.

      Reply

    • fehowarth says:

      08:20am | 20/08/10

      There are many more important issues than the boat people.  I am more interested tn the future of this country’s economy and where the country is going.  I do not see a hyperactive PM being a safe bet.

    • BobM says:

      08:29am | 20/08/10

      Another three boats this week alone…...

    • Fred says:

      09:33am | 20/08/10

      And if most of those boat arrivals turn out to have well founded fear of further persecution, our Navy etc will have saved their lives! Good on us, I say. The numbers risking all to make that journey are piffling small , and I’f read the courage ans skill it takes to escape as a great character reference. They surely will love freedom and democracy.

      I have not heard Tony or the car salesman Morrison who misrepresents what detention on Nauru was like, on what they think should and will happen to the people on the boats he insists must be turned back to I’m not sure where, Indonesia I believe…Having stopped their journey to Australia’s protection, does he not require a detailled plan and program for their humane and dignified treatment? and the fair assessment of their claims of persecution?  In law, are we not responsible for what happens to those men women and little children who we turn away?.

    • Gregg says:

      12:54pm | 20/08/10

      Freddie, there’s a UN program for refugees and they have centres all throughout the region where boat people originate from and yet they bypass these centres because they have the money to do so.
      In doing so, it is not just their own lives they put at risk but they also displace the true refugees.
      Have a look at the UNHCR reports on global refugee figures and I am sure you have seen many starving women and children on numerous news coverage and meanwhile the bulk of the boat people appear to be relatively young fit and healthy men!
      Does that seem all okey dokey to you?
      Using Nauru will again be a temporary arrangement as it was before Christmas Island was constructed.
      Bring back in TPVs will again send the message that using finances to have people smugglers get you to Australia will be no picnic and neither should it be.
      The government is already using an ex mining camp at Leonora, have leased a motel in Brisbane and next it could be using military staff accommodation.
      There is something called running out of resources to handle this uncontrolled influx and you need a government prepared to take tougher decisions if it is to be halted.
      Pucker up Red, ” Life wasn’t meant to be easy ”

    • James1 says:

      01:28pm | 20/08/10

      Oh no!  242 people in five weeks?  Its time to panic, people.  Quick, start eating each others’ brains before the boat people do!

    • Gregg says:

      03:17pm | 20/08/10

      No James, it is not about panicking at all but addressing a situation that has been allowed to develop, one that not only causes injury and death to people but also undermines our support for the UNHCR including the chances of true refugees being considered for receiving a helping hand.
      I support doing what we do for true refugees and a stronger country may ultimately be able to increase that.
      Meanwhile the people smuggling is not only causing increased costs of processing and onshore support but fee paying skilled and family visa applicants are having their visa processing delayed.
      It all ultimately is not adding to the strength/wellbeing of this country.

      Would you like to see the true refugees helped James?
      Are you content in the knowledge that policies applied are encouraging more people smuggling and in effect seeing people die!

    • James1 says:

      04:50pm | 20/08/10

      Relax Gregg, it was a joke.  A joke at the expense of those scared of boat people.  Don’t rob my of my fun.

    • Holly says:

      08:16am | 20/08/10

      Tony Abbott is prepared to reduce our miniscule debt by attacking the weakest in our society.  Not content with attacking the homeless by calling “homelessness” a lifestyle choice, now he has promised to withdraw funding from programs which would have supported the most disadvantaged students e.g. - the scheme to support our most disadvantaged schools and the program to assist low income students to gain entry to university.  He is going to scrap the $950 million apprenticeship scheme showing that he has no real desire to improve employment prospects for our young people.  He has also announced a further $1.5 billion in cuts to education added to the $3 billion in cuts already flagged.  Finally he is going to cut a further $1 billion from the pharmaceutical benefits scheme. 

      Meanwhile he is going to spend $4 billion topping up the parental leave scheme for the rich.

      I find this very difficult to understand when both Tony and Joe claim to be guided by their religion.  It shows that Christianity is no determinant of truth, egalitarianism or compassion.

      Reply

    • Tails says:

      09:02am | 20/08/10

      How effective has this $950 million apprenticeship scheme been Holly?
      How many apprentices has it developed?
      10,000 would equate to a cost of $95,000 each.
      That sounds like a great way to spend money.
      With all that funding, you’d think they’d have a much nicer website: http://www.australianapprenticeships.gov.au/

      Some things are broken. They need fixing.
      Not Bleeeeaaating!

    • The Scarlet Pimpernel says:

      09:19am | 20/08/10

      Holly

      I see you are following your leader in spouting untruths. You should read up on Abbot’s proposal for trade training and compare it to Joolya’s effort plus the money Labor have wasted in this area for little result.

      Abbott has stated that no PBS medicine will become more expensive, end of story.

      As for the parental leave scheme, I do accept that there is an ideological divide. Some of us think that we need the intelligent wealthy to breed and populate our country rather than those who can least afford large families. We have to find a way to make it attractive for the smarter, more achieving among us to have children, because when those kids grow they will not be sticking their hands out, expecting something for nothing and bludging off the taxpayer.

      In any case, as I mentioned elsewhere, I expect Joolya to get in, so enjoy your internet filter and your 200 extra childcare places and a laptop for every child. And of course, we will be back in surplus by 2013.

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      09:56am | 20/08/10

      You’re obviously someone who loves to flog the credit card and couldn’t care less about the repayments.
      The wasted 100 million a day in interest payments could be used to assist students…it could be used for education…it could be used for the pharmaceutical benefits scheme.
      Labor has just shown it can’t implement any of it’s policies…they have wasted millions.
      All they can do is lie to the electorate….every second word is work choices which has nothing to do with this election.
      Julia Gillard is a flat out liar…proven fact….when she said she didn’t want to be PM.
      She said there was more chance of her playing full forward for the Bulldogs…5 minutes later she back stabs K-Rudd.

      How can anyone have faith in her when atheist Julia has no faith.
      How can we have faith in someone who has no faith.
      Everything you have said Holly is a flat out LIE.

    • Duff says:

      10:01am | 20/08/10

      @Scarlett Pimpernel - “Some of us think that we need the intelligent wealthy to breed and populate our country rather than those who can least afford large families.  We have to find a way to make it attractive for the smarter, more achieving among us to have children, because when those kids grow they will not be sticking their hands out, expecting something for nothing and bludging off the taxpayer. “
      SP - I certainly hope that is not the ideological basis for Tony Abbott’s parental leave scheme as what you have just written could easily have come straight off the pages of Mein Kampf.

    • MarK says:

      10:28am | 20/08/10

      I am confused holly,

      Hasn’t Abbott been attacked for spending too much in the election? And you are now attacking him for cutting too much?

      I get confused. Please consult with HQ and get the spin sorted out so the negative campaign comes from the one angle. Looks so much better that way.

    • fehowarth says:

      08:16am | 20/08/10

      In addition, the Coalition voters that yearn for the so-called golden Howard years will find they have been hoodwink.  Mr. Abbott might be rebirthing Howard’s policies, he is not a Howard.  He was Howard’s enforcer and shit digger, nothing more.

      Reply

    • acotrel says:

      09:08am | 20/08/10

      Yet people are still thinking of voting for him - makes you wonder? They might think differently after he’s caused a mortgage collapse and a revolution!

    • Stewart Henstock says:

      10:00am | 20/08/10

      The only party capable of leading this country into a recession through waste and mismanagement is the Labor Party.

    • AJ says:

      11:59am | 20/08/10

      I love it how readily the ALP take the credit for saving Australia by spending the Libs surplus and pulling out the Government credit card so quickly when that all went. Heaven help us if we follow the Northern Hemisphere and GFC Mark II arrives on a boat. What are we going to do then? Cash in our frequent flyer points to “buy” jobs?

    • James1 says:

      01:30pm | 20/08/10

      AJ,

      Are you saying that the boat people are bringing financial crises with them too now?  Oh.  My.  God.  The boat people have just gone from scary to terrifying…

    • Jimmy Letham says:

      08:16am | 20/08/10

      I would have loved to have heard Kym Richardson’s reaction to the plot to re-engage Rudd in the election ploy after what he and many of his comrades said abut the former PM after he was stabbed in the back.

      Reply

    • Mattj says:

      08:32am | 20/08/10

      The use of refugees as a political football is disgusting and we should all be ashamed of ourselves and our pollies for allowing it. Hardly a word about VISA overstayers, about 50,000 of them I believe.  Perhaps this is because the Anglo Saxon VISA overstayer is acceptable? Nobody minds Jock because he’ll eat a meat pie and drink a beer like the rest of us.  He’ll also get that cash laborers job.

      Yeah I know I’m generalising but the point is valid.  It’s the people who fly in and stay that are more of a problem.  The checks done on these people are virtually not existent when compared to the grilling a refugee goes through.

      Wake up Australia and stop being so bloody selfish.

      Reply

    • sal says:

      09:09am | 20/08/10

      If Abbott is elected, I hope he does stop the boats.  We can then pay billions to process these people offshore, out of sight and out of mind.  The irony will be not one thing will change or improve for the ordinary Australian.  Western Sydney and the like will still be lacking in infrastructure, overcrowded, filled with welfare recipients, a criminal element and aspirationalists paying off flat screens, McMansions and generally living beyond their means.  The only difference will be the hunt for a new scapegoat to blame for their woes.

    • Denny Crane says:

      09:20am | 20/08/10

      Mattj, they are not refugees as you like to try and point out, they are illegals, refugees go into camps run by the United Nations and await there turn, the people on the boats attempt to jump the queue and come here first.

      A genuine refugee from Afghanisatn has many countries they could go to first, but instead they pay $$$$ to come to Australia.

      The ones from Sri Lanka are not refugees, but they are Tamil Tigers who lost the war in Sri Lanka, they should be working to build the country instead they want to come here and work on destablising thier country from here.

      As an Australian it is our right to determine who and when people come to this country, currently our infrastucture cannot cope with the every increasing influx of people here, where only have a finite ability to handle this.

      And why do they get check these illegals because they throw away documentation, that tactic is normally done if you are a criminial or have something to hide.

    • James1 says:

      01:48pm | 20/08/10

      According to generally accepted usage, at least among people who know what they are talking about - ei, not bogans - it is you who is incorrect, Denny.  Sorry mate, but that is just the way it is, according to Australian law, at least. 

      But you know what they say - if you don’t want to respect Australian law and values, you can always leave.

    • Mattj says:

      01:54pm | 20/08/10

      @Denny Crane

      I’ll say it another way then; they are claiming refugee status and are assessed on that claim.

      I also think you are doing quite a bit more generalising than I did (all of them are Tamil Tigers?) and are still missing my point.  The “boat people” are a tiny problem in comparison to the VISA overstayers. There are a hell of a lot more of them.

    • Chris says:

      09:29am | 20/08/10

      Australians are living way beyond their means. We need to cut back and lower our standard of living to something we can afford. Labor is saying we can have our cake and eat it too.  Well, I have never believed that.  They deserve to be thrown out and I am just immensely depressed by the fact that they will get another undeserved term in office and make it that much harder for young Australians to get to grips with reality.
      Nothing I say now will change anyone’s mind. See you all Monday if you are not too depressed.

      Reply

    • The Scarlet Pimpernel says:

      09:29am | 20/08/10

      I suspect Abbott will use at least part of that money to help our own disadvantaged, particularly the indigenous, for whom he has a great deal of sympathy.

      I haven’t seen any ALP candidates working as volunteer aboriginal teachers aides….

      And personally, I’d rather see my tax dollars go to needy Australians, thanks.

      Reply

    • sal says:

      10:25am | 20/08/10

      “I suspect Abbott will use at least part of that money to help our own disadvantaged, particularly the indigenous….....And personally, I’d rather see my tax dollars go to needy Australians, thanks.” 
      So noble SP, works really well with “Some of us think that we need the intelligent wealthy to breed and populate our country rather than those who can least afford large families.”

    • The Scarlet Pimpernel says:

      02:17pm | 20/08/10

      Sally

      there is nothing mutually exclusive about those statements.

      Aboriginals need health coverage in particular. A majority of aboriginal children in certain areas of Australia have ear problems, for example, but simply getting medical attention or even education on the issue is difficult due to lack of funds. I’d like to see those funds supplied straight out of our immigration budget.

      As for the breeding, that is simply common sense. If you keep shovelling money at third generation welfare recipients, they are simply going to pump out a fourth generation. Meantime, the corporate couple are staying childless because they take such a huge hit to the wallet if they leave the workforce, because hitherto, they got next to nothing for all the tax they’ve been paying. Yet, once they’re over the first few years; with both of them back in the workforce, they won’t need constant handouts - they’ll support their own kids. Let’s get them over that initial hurdle and then let them shoulder the burden.

    • James1 says:

      02:28pm | 20/08/10

      Sorry, SP, but there is a slight inconsistency in saying that you would prefer your taxpayer money go to the needy, as well as saying that you want your taxpayer money to subsidise the needs of higher income earners. 

      In any case, if needing to live on less money is holding you back from having children, you must ask whether you are in fact fit to have children to begin with.

    • The Scarlet Pimpernel says:

      03:08pm | 20/08/10

      James

      read it again. I’ll even rephrase it.

      I would rather that the billion dollars in direct processing costs for welfare shopping foreign boat people was spent on our needy. I’m also aware that the real costs are much higher since they also bring in their relatives. I’d like that money to go to Australians as well.

    • James1 says:

      04:52pm | 20/08/10

      Once an asylum seeker is granted refugee status, they are an Australian SP.  What is your point again?  Would you prefer it only went to Australians of certain colours and ethnicities, perhaps?

      Also, that does not even touch on the inconsistency I raised.

    • James1 says:

      04:55pm | 20/08/10

      Also, we should not pour more money into the black hole that is Aboriginal affairs.  The reasons for the ear problems are not to do with immigration - they are to do with lax parental standards of care and hygiene.  Punishing migrants is hardly going to help.  Personally, I find that contention offensive as my own father is a migrant.  If he had not had access to a subsidised immigration scheme in the 1960s, I would not even be in this great country.

    • Phil says:

      09:46am | 20/08/10

      I will be happy when its over so we dont have to suffer through any more of the media circus that is covering the election and the lies each party say they will do for us all.
      It will be nice to not be assaulted by the constant drone about abbot or gillard on TV, radio, online etc ..

      Reply

    • iansand says:

      11:32am | 20/08/10

      No matter who you vote for a -politician always getsd i.

      That’s all folks.  Seeya.

      Reply

    • One Little Person says:

      12:06pm | 20/08/10

      Jason’s comments in the article are spot on for me.  The two structures Coalition and Labor have become useless having protected themselves from any alternatives options on the way.  Because of their high position in the food chain they will only get worse, they have battened down the hatches so that no other parties can play, and that’s the way both parties like it.  We end up with party careerists, people very good at office politics, collecting their wages and just going through the motions but devoid of ideas and with no other purpose than to get elected.  Leaders they are not, how can you be inspired by someone that spends more time filling in expense forms than dealing with constituents.  Reading MBA w@nk from autocue does not make a Leader. 
      Oh well ... I suppose I’d better get back to work as I have to be sucked dry like most others to pay for their schoolyard nonsense

      Reply

    • hot tub political machine says:

      12:11pm | 20/08/10

      In all honesty I doubt there’s much to say at this late juncture that will change anyone’s mind but I will lay my final voting intentions down on paper.

      This year I will be voting green, even though I oppose 90% of their policies. The only reason for this is I find it almost impossible to vote for any party that treats human beings without the dignitiy that belongs to——human beings.

      The Liberal red arrows add, and Labor’s cowardice in following them ruled both out for my vote. I’m normally a below the line voter in the senate likely to put Labor ahead of Libs but this year - bugger them both. Vote 1 for neither of them, I’ve got the bats out for both of you.

      On the plus side the polling booth is in my old primary school this year, so I know I can go there, vote and pick up a $1 sausage sizzle which will help pay for a new soccer goal or some such for the school. Fair thee well punchers, and just hope when you vote you don’t vote against your conscience

      Reply

    • James Darby says:

      12:55pm | 20/08/10

      In 1949 1000’s of Baltics fled Stalin’s socialism. Hungarians in ‘56, Slovaks & Cheks in 1968. Unfortunately amongst these wonderful new arrivals came the socialist moles to assist in the pursuit of One World Socialist Govt. Again, OWG socialists and Labor and Green voters come as 300,000 a year pour in. Many of these new arrivals openly admit to coming to change our laws & customs.
      More of Greens and Labor means more of this flood of people poisonous to the prosperity of Australia and will result in more intense security requirements at airports and centres of Judeo/Christian education and worship. 
      Population increase to protect our Constitution & prosperity will come as married couples are financially able to have the children that they desire and by planning a highly selective immigration policy to ensure that prosperity and security of our Sovereign Nation for the benefit of our descendents.
      The GetUp campaign is perfectly attuned to the soft brains of those schooled to be politically nonchalant electors who are going to vote on Saturday. 2007 gave the Greens $13m in Electoral Funding.  GetUp funds, to seed the soft brains of the younger generations, comes from where?

      Reply

    • hot tub political machine says:

      01:10pm | 20/08/10

      Just cuz, you don’t like how other vote - doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be able to. They have to live here too.

    • iamnsand says:

      01:18pm | 20/08/10

      Such nostalgia.  I just checked under my bed.

    • James1 says:

      01:39pm | 20/08/10

      I just thought of a great solution for you James D!  We could find out who it is that is voting for these one world commie bastards, and round them all up.  Then we can put them in a special place, a place where only the commies and non-Christians are allowed, and we can fence them in, place guards all around so they can’t vote communist or non-Christian, and force them to work for the good of Australia.  If only someone had done this before, maybe we could learn from their efforts somehow…

    • A Bob says:

      02:16pm | 20/08/10

      This is the real reason for the airport scanners. The only way to detect the Reptilians behind the OWG conspiracy is by X-ray. James D is onto them but nobody will listen!

      (Just look at Julia’s eyes, how beady they are and the way she blinks. Clearly Reptilian!)

    • Ronald Kitching says:

      02:52pm | 20/08/10

      The big danger is the Bureaucracy.

      Dr. Grim (Henry), said: “Big government arrived with Whitlam and big government is here to stay.”

      See Ludwig von Mises’s book titled “Bureaucracy” . It is available OnLine and as a hard copy from <Mises.org>

      http://mises.org/resources/875/Bureaucracy

      Reply

    • Shane From Melbourne says:

      07:28pm | 20/08/10

      Yeah, we don’t need bureaucracy to regulate against oil spills and a GFC from derivatives. Those crises can happen perfectly well on their own….

    • James Darby says:

      08:54pm | 20/08/10

      MattJ:  Wrong Matt it is like it has been since robbery under arms began. Now it is robbery by Govt and by Greens. I don’t like the video you recommended. So I give you the truth

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qJ30f9OfuFs

      Reply

    • MattJ says:

      12:31pm | 23/08/10

      James Darby: Mine was way funnier.

 
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