http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/elections/ Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reports-of-ron-pauls-death-are-greatly-exaggerated/ Reports of Ron Paul’s political demise have been greatly exaggerated and his tactical genius is becoming apparent as he gives Mitt Romney, the Republican Party’s presumptive presidential candidate, a serious fright. The curious Dr Paul, the only remaining challenger to Romney after Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich pulled out of the race, has been widely written off as a nuisance candidate after failing to win a single state in the caucus and primary race. That has changed. The elderly Texas congressman has won the majority of delegates in Romney’s home state of Massachusetts, as well Maine and Nevada, even though Mitt Romney had supposedly “won” these states months earlier. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reports-of-ron-pauls-death-are-greatly-exaggerated/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/reports-of-ron-pauls-death-are-greatly-exaggerated/#item8524 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-knock-compulsory-voting-its-fine-as-is/ Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-knock-compulsory-voting-its-fine-as-is/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/dont-knock-compulsory-voting-its-fine-as-is/#item8166 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fresh-elections-could-pave-pathway-to-PNG-prosperity/ The events of the last twelve months in Papua New Guinea have been extraordinary and unexpected – even by the standards of the ‘Land of the Unexpected’. The Prime Ministership has been declared vacant. The Governor-General has been suspended. The Chief Justice has been arrested. Governments have been declared invalid. The judiciary and the legislature have been in dispute. As startling as these events may be, in the midst of this turmoil, in many ways, PNG deserves considerable credit. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fresh-elections-could-pave-pathway-to-PNG-prosperity/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/fresh-elections-could-pave-pathway-to-PNG-prosperity/#item8007 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/ Over the past few years, the rivers of private donations to political parties have grown into a flood of Queensland proportions. In the the past five years, including the 2007 and 2010 elections, the two major parties have enjoyed donations of over $700 million. Under the Electoral Act, large donors, and the parties they supported, have to be publicly reported through the Electoral Commission. But there are too many loopholes which seriously erode the transparency. The Rudd/Gillard governments have admitted reform is necessary, but it has apparently been put on the back burner. However, NSW Liberal Premier Barry O’Farrell has come to the party. His proposed reforms will pass the parliament, as the Greens have promised to support them. When the legislation comes into force, the NSW law on private donations to political parties will be the toughest in Australia. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/donations-have-no-place-in-the-political-race/#item7833 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/biggest-moments-of-2011-23-marrickville-invades-israel/ Welcome to The Punch’s Biggest Moments of 2011. Each day until the Friday before Christmas, we’ll be counting the events which marked 2011. Our list contains moments from politics, popular culture, tragedy, sport and more. Some are frivolous. Others are deadly serious. These are the moments which had us talking in 2011. More to the point, they’re the moments that had YOU talking. What happened Fiona Byrne, the mayor of Marrickville in inner Sydney, backed a motion to support the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. This basically meant that no Israeli products would be sold within the boundaries of Marrickville Council. Tough luck, bagel-lovers. Good news for Vietnamese pork roll sellers. What happened next All hell broke loose. Some argued that councils should stick to local services like rubbish collection. Others pointed out that in a region which has nearly 200 ethnicities living cheek to jowl, there were plenty of evil repressive regimes much more worthy of attention than a democratic state fighting for its right to exist – even considering the ongoing claims for Palestinian statehood. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/biggest-moments-of-2011-23-marrickville-invades-israel/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/biggest-moments-of-2011-23-marrickville-invades-israel/#item7274 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/upper-houses-are-important-even-theyre-unrepresentative/ In his personal review of his legacy to South Australia, Premier Rann had two main regrets. The first was his inability to abolish the Legislative Council. This has been a key aim of the Labor party for over a hundred years. The passion flows from the fact that Labor has never won a majority of the seats in the Council. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/upper-houses-are-important-even-theyre-unrepresentative/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/upper-houses-are-important-even-theyre-unrepresentative/#item6856 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lifting-the-lid-on-lobbyists/ It is time Parliaments joined Governments to ensure all professional lobbyists are registered. All lobbyists should be required to adhere to a code of conduct. And interest groups and think tanks should be required to disclose who their members and donors are. Recent developments in the debate about plain packaging of tobacco and carbon pricing have in turn kicked off a debate about the role of lobbyists, interest groups and think tanks. In particular, who influences the influencers? Political parties have for many years been required to disclose significant donors. The current debate is about the threshold at which donations should be disclosed. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lifting-the-lid-on-lobbyists/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/lifting-the-lid-on-lobbyists/#item6033 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/I-cant-believe-I-almost-voted-for-the-greens/ I never thought I would fail to cast a vote in a Federal election, and I never thought I’d be relieved that I didn’t. But I did, and I am. In my defence, I was somewhere in the boondocks of Turkey when the election was under way, and had pretty much dropped the ball on sorting out my postal vote. It may or may not say something about the administration of our electoral system that I’ve never been queried on this failure to exercise my franchise, but I’ve got to say, not having to make a decision has relieved me of the burden of responsibility for doing so. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/I-cant-believe-I-almost-voted-for-the-greens/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/I-cant-believe-I-almost-voted-for-the-greens/#item5988 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/exclusive-donald-trumps-hair-to-run-for-president/ In this cynical age of focus groups and poll-driven policy, America has at last unearthed a presidential candidate who will not blow with the political wind, or any wind for that matter. A candidate who will hold true to his principles through thick and thicker. Meet Donald Trump’s hair, the frontrunner for next year’s republican nomination. While notoriously unreliable sources like The New York Times have mistakenly suggested that it is Mr Trump himself who will run for the White House, The Punch can exclusively reveal the candidate is in fact the rug atop his head. “I will comb over the thinning budget and plug any gaps,” the perfectly coiffed hairpiece told The Punch overnight. “And if you don’t like my policies, you’re fired.” penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/exclusive-donald-trumps-hair-to-run-for-president/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/exclusive-donald-trumps-hair-to-run-for-president/#item5669 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-bligh-be-the-next-domino-to-fall/ Queensland Premier Anna Bligh called it ``the New South Wales disease’’ where the leadership of the ALP, even in office, became a revolving door decided by faceless factional heavies. Last Saturday, the NSW branch of the party, the source of that ``disease’’ and the biggest single brick in the Labor wall, crashed to the ground. The 16-year-old government, led defiantly by Kristina Keneally, was not merely defeated, it was humiliated. The backlash was unprecedented in its ferocity with voters dishing out the worst defeat of any government in Australian electoral history. Facing a state election within a year, Anna Bligh, of course, is desperate to stop the rot at the Tweed River. But she may not be able to hold back the tide. Fear in Labor ranks is now giving way to panic just as conservatives are rubbing their hands. In a world of diminished party loyalty, instant information, social media, and a borderless 24-hour media cycle, Labor’s hardheads worry that the old boundaries between states, and even between levels of government are blurring. penberthyd@newsltd.com.au (David Penberthy) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-bligh-be-the-next-domino-to-fall/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/will-bligh-be-the-next-domino-to-fall/#item5500 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Lined up at the voting booths before the last federal election, a guy in front of me loudly announced to his mate: “I’m just going to draw a gigantic cock on the paper.” Opponents of compulsory voting tend to argue that’s not the only way people makes dicks of themselves with their ballot papers. You often hear people argue that compulsory voting forces people uninterested in politics to donkey vote or vote for who they like the most, rather than a party’s policies. People like Anders Holmdahl, a South Australian resident who took his quibble with compulsory voting to the SA Supreme Court yesterday, have a problem with the fact that voting is defined as both a right and a duty in different parts of Australian law.