http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/julia-gillard/ 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 2013 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +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/the-west-wasnt-won-but-at-least-there-was-no-disaster/ Julia Gillard will return to Canberra at the weekend convinced her week in Sydney’s west was a roaring success. And so she should. The PM’s ventures are now measured by the absence of disaster rather than the appearance of achievement. The greatest criticism of her visit was that it was a stage-managed stunt. But the mere fact it didn’t descend into the shambolic epithet of her declining leadership was a significant accomplishment. And, to that end, it served the intended purpose. The PM may not have won the west, but this adventure was not only about the election in September - or the real needs of western Sydney’s 1.6 million residents. It was all about the next two weeks. It was all about Kevin Rudd. And it was about shoring up support in caucus. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-west-wasnt-won-but-at-least-there-was-no-disaster/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-west-wasnt-won-but-at-least-there-was-no-disaster/#item10733 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/anti-immigrant-troglodytes-ignore-our-rich-history/ The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/anti-immigrant-troglodytes-ignore-our-rich-history/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/anti-immigrant-troglodytes-ignore-our-rich-history/#item10728 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/julia-and-tony-are-just-fighting-over-the-remote/ TODAY is International Women’s Day. It was supposed to be tomorrow but the organisers changed their minds. Oh well, I suppose that’s their prerogative. I’m going to be on shaky ground for the next 700 words, so may I start by saying that I think women are wonderful. Totally and utterly wonderful. And that wonderment is everywhere. Universal. Like a halo above their heads. Which is just as well because if they had to direct us to its precise location we’d never bloody find it. Women would say that’s because we men can’t see things that are right in front of our eyes. While we men would suggest it’s because women have no sense of direction, unless they’re heading for the shops, in which case they have no trouble finding the most direct route, with perhaps a detour via the bank. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/julia-and-tony-are-just-fighting-over-the-remote/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/julia-and-tony-are-just-fighting-over-the-remote/#item10730 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-subtle-art-of-politicking-western-Sydney-style/ People who were not born in Australia will feature significantly in the lead-up to the September 14 election, and this means there are plenty of traps for two of them, Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott. The expeditions into western Sydney by the Prime Minister and the Opposition Leader this week have been accompanied by mention of the wide ethnic spread in the local demographics. But there was a key difference in how the two handled the issue. “This is the most socially and ethnically diverse region in the nation, in a century when we must know the languages and cultures of our customers and competitors like never before,” the Prime Minister said on Sunday. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-subtle-art-of-politicking-western-Sydney-style/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-subtle-art-of-politicking-western-Sydney-style/#item10714 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-more-to-the-cost-of-living-race-than-flinging-money/ With the cost of living continuing to spiral out of control you have to ask who has the guts at the Federal level to tackle the issue. We all know that Julia is in Western Sydney this week, but we have to ask if she will feel the full impact of the cost of living pressure faced by families across western Sydney every day. Living in a hotel is a luxury that many western Sydney families simply can’t afford. And living in a hotel room means that Julia doesn’t have to experience the full pain that those in Western Sydney endure when they travel hundreds of kilometres each week traversing the traffic nightmare that Sydney has become. Julia won’t have to pay for the tolls out of her pocket when travelling on the motorways in western Sydney. And what about the electricity, water or gas bills and other household expenses which families in western Sydney and across Australia have to deal with? feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-more-to-the-cost-of-living-race-than-flinging-money/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/theres-more-to-the-cost-of-living-race-than-flinging-money/#item10718 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ten-political-promises-that-will-never-be-fulfilled-/ Just to save readers’ time in this year of endless and often meaningless election promises, here are 10 things you can skim over because they’ll probably never happen. 1. High-speed rail link between Sydney and Melbourne (or anywhere). 2. Second Sydney Airport (at least until the current one virtually stops). feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ten-political-promises-that-will-never-be-fulfilled-/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/ten-political-promises-that-will-never-be-fulfilled-/#item10711 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/shaken-and-stirred-labor-goes-after-abbott-bond-style/ A recent poll found that one in four Australians thought Tony Abbott would be well cast as the villain in a James Bond film. When told about that during a recent interview with the Herald Sun, Abbott gave one of his trademark hearty laughs and quipped: “I’m just disappointed that no one saw my resemblance to Daniel Craig.” One of the strategic election battles in the countdown to September 14 is about framing Abbott’s public image. Many voters may have made up their mind about Julia Gillard, but are still deciding about the Opposition Leader. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/shaken-and-stirred-labor-goes-after-abbott-bond-style/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/shaken-and-stirred-labor-goes-after-abbott-bond-style/#item10695 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-could-lose-more-than-an-election-in-sydneys-west/ Labor isn’t just afraid of losing valuable political real estate in western Sydney. It also fears the loss of a generation of its best talent. The casualty list of a Labor wipe-out in Sydney’s west would include the names of some MPs credited with the potential to become Prime Minister. They include Environment Minister Tony Burke (Watson), Tertiary Education Minister Chris Bowen (McMahon), Home Affairs Minister Jason Clare (Blaxland) and Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury (Lindsay). feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-could-lose-more-than-an-election-in-sydneys-west/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/labor-could-lose-more-than-an-election-in-sydneys-west/#item10680 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-labor-to-plan-what-to-do-when-they-lose/ The federal election might still be seven months away, but things are so grim for the Labor Party that minds are almost certainly being turned to a 2013 version of The Embassy Rooftop Strategy. “It’s time to start wheeling the choppers out of their hangars,” an ALP veteran said yesterday, in reference to an operation mounted by a handful of MPs, party officials and government staffers before the 1996 election. There is very little doubt now that Julia Gillard’s government is going to lose on September 14, and lose badly. Labor realists predict privately that the result will be worse than Paul Keating’s 1996 defeat; worse even than the anti-Whitlam routs of 1975 and 1977. feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-labor-to-plan-what-to-do-when-they-lose/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/time-for-labor-to-plan-what-to-do-when-they-lose/#item10661 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-guts-of-the-matter-is-that-we-want-policy-not-politics/ Labor has disembowelled itself and we’re all standing around trying to divine the future from its spilled entrails. The Opposition capers about in the background, pointing to spots on the liver. But most of the real world pays this voodoo little mind - they’re focussed on their families, kids, jobs, their problems, their worries, their lives. Has there ever been a bigger disconnect between what matters in people’s lives and what the political chatter is about? feedback@thepunch.com.au (The Punch Team) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-guts-of-the-matter-is-that-we-want-policy-not-politics/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/The-guts-of-the-matter-is-that-we-want-policy-not-politics/#item10658 Thu, 14 Mar 2013 19:00:10 +0000 The government’s attack on Australia’s temporary skilled immigration program this week risks undermining confidence in one of the tenets of Australia’s prosperity. Its claims that skilled temporary immigrants are elbowing Australians out of jobs and dragging down local wages and rest on primitive economic fallacies and display blithe disregard for the facts. Far from “taking our jobs”, new workers add both to the productive capacity of an economy and to its demand for goods and services too, ensuring no net loss of economic opportunities for existing residents. Once foreign workers arrive, they need haircuts, clothes, and food, spurring demand for workers in other parts of the economy. And free market absorbs new workers quickly, as the sudden return of millions of troops en masse to Western economies after the Second World War without so much as a hiccough in national unemployment rates clearly demonstrated.