http://www.thepunch.com.au/tags/opposition/ 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 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +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/Robbos-no-yobbo-hes-all-guts-and-brains/ Call me brave, or even stupid, but after David Penberthy’s piece last week, I’ve decided to launch a defence of NSW Labor leader John Robertson on The Punch. I expect pundits are already commenting below, calling me a union hack – or worse – as often occurs when I contribute to this site. One of the reasons I feel compelled to launch this defence is because I find it curious that we endlessly search for people with convictions in politics, but end up bagging a bloke who was willing to stand up for his convictions. Unpopular as it appears to the Labor elite, his convictions were shared by the majority of people in the community and by the workers that he was paid to represent. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Robbos-no-yobbo-hes-all-guts-and-brains/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Robbos-no-yobbo-hes-all-guts-and-brains/#item5562 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Amid the furore of Cyclone Yasi, it largely escaped comment that Tony Abbott had begun a slow crab-walk away from his trademark “just say no’’ approach. In fact twice this week, he went all bi-partisan on us. Well, bi-partisan for him anyway. First he proposed sitting down with Julia Gillard to work through possible budget savings to be made in lieu of her proposed $1.8 billion flood levy. Then within days, he went further pledging to support Ms Gillard’s moves to get the long-term jobless, under-employed casuals, and people with disabilities, off welfare and into the full-time workforce. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mark-kenny-sat-feb-7/ Amid the furore of Cyclone Yasi, it largely escaped comment that Tony Abbott had begun a slow crab-walk away from his trademark “just say no’’ approach. In fact twice this week, he went all bi-partisan on us. Well, bi-partisan for him anyway. First he proposed sitting down with Julia Gillard to work through possible budget savings to be made in lieu of her proposed $1.8 billion flood levy. Then within days, he went further pledging to support Ms Gillard’s moves to get the long-term jobless, under-employed casuals, and people with disabilities, off welfare and into the full-time workforce. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mark-kenny-sat-feb-7/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/mark-kenny-sat-feb-7/#item5062 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Amid the furore of Cyclone Yasi, it largely escaped comment that Tony Abbott had begun a slow crab-walk away from his trademark “just say no’’ approach. In fact twice this week, he went all bi-partisan on us. Well, bi-partisan for him anyway. First he proposed sitting down with Julia Gillard to work through possible budget savings to be made in lieu of her proposed $1.8 billion flood levy. Then within days, he went further pledging to support Ms Gillard’s moves to get the long-term jobless, under-employed casuals, and people with disabilities, off welfare and into the full-time workforce. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-the-lot-of-the-opposition-leader-to-humiliate-oneself/ South Australian Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond, who’s first action when she won the post was to ban swearing in the party room, has today said she’d be happy to be tasered. So having 50,000 volts of electricity shot through your body might not be as embarrassing as say, sniffing a colleague’s chair, or being outed as having carried a teddy bear around in your uni days, but it’s pretty stupid. And it makes you wonder what we’ve done to deserve politicians who think we’re so easily bought with cheap stunts. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Antony McMullen) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-the-lot-of-the-opposition-leader-to-humiliate-oneself/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/its-the-lot-of-the-opposition-leader-to-humiliate-oneself/#item1534 Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:00:12 +0000 Amid the furore of Cyclone Yasi, it largely escaped comment that Tony Abbott had begun a slow crab-walk away from his trademark “just say no’’ approach. In fact twice this week, he went all bi-partisan on us. Well, bi-partisan for him anyway. First he proposed sitting down with Julia Gillard to work through possible budget savings to be made in lieu of her proposed $1.8 billion flood levy. Then within days, he went further pledging to support Ms Gillard’s moves to get the long-term jobless, under-employed casuals, and people with disabilities, off welfare and into the full-time workforce.