John Brumby

Today’s open thread is brought to you by Punch regular, “Macca”:

With the Victorian State Election looming tomorrow, it’s probably a good time to examine one of John Brumby’s more interesting policies. The Premier has announced a $208 million education program where school children from the city will spend up to two weeks in the country, and school children from the country will spend a similar amount of time in the city. This comes not long after Top Gear host James May claimed that Modern Men are “useless”. 

And I’ve got to say that I agree with Captain Slow on this one.

I am prepared to admit that I have almost zero practical skills; I have only once ever changed the tyre on my car, I cannot unblock a sink and, to May’s disgust, I have no interest in shelving.

Brumby’s program is one of the more inspired in recent domestic politics, however, it does not go far enough. Teaching city-slickers how to pitch a tent and lasso a Kangaroo are admirable pursuits, as are teaching country bumpkins the horror of bus lanes. But let’s teach real-life skills. Teenagers should be able to change the oil in a car before they drive one, remove a burnt-out light globe and cementing their neighbour’s driveway before completing year ten.

So, do we like John Brumby’s concept? Does it go far enough? What other skills would you like teenagers to learn? And should it be the responsibility of high-school teachers, or do we have a generation of lazy parents?

Continue reading "Punch on: Open thread readers’ soapbox" »

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will be among the more nervous onlookers at Saturday night’s Victorian election count.

While not in the frame herself, the poll is another test for a tarnished Labor brand and the first since her own underwhelming result in August.

She will take comfort from the facts Federal Labor did quite well in Victoria and the State Government of Premier John Brumby is widely seen as competent.

Continue reading "Gillard’s got a lot riding on Saturday’s Victorian election" »

News this morning that NSW Premier Kristina Keneally will add points NSW residents’ licenses, apparently in a bid to give drivers “a fair go.”

One can’t help but think it’s an attempt to give Kristina Keneally’s Government a fair go, although she may need to do more than add one point to everyone’s license. More exciting bribes will be necessary to save the NSW Government, and perhaps the Victorian Government who faces re-election this weekend can get in a few last minute sweeteners in as well.

Here’s a few suggestions:

- F3 Housing development: The Government will build a new 20,000 home development along the side of the F3 freeway, the home of the nine hour traffic jam. This will allow people to sleep where they now spend most of their time, and allow long standing F3 relationships to blossom into what are becoming known as “F3 families.”

Continue reading "What would make you vote for state Labor?" »

While the world is held ransom by a volcano that looks like its name was invented by a process of fist mashing the keyboard, the future of the country’s health system is being held ransom to a similarly incomprehensible force of nature in Canberra: a meeting between state premiers and the Prime Minister.

In fact, to give volcanos credit they only erupt every 20 years or so, are relatively easy to understand and haven’t inconvenienced anyone on this level for quite a while. There seems to be a COAG meeting every three weeks under Kevin Rudd and this health debate has been the most torturous so far.

To say this is an important issue is an understatement - it is probably the most important policy issue for the Government to get right before the election, because of both the desire for action in the electorate and yet unfulfilled promises for that change.

Continue reading "Will we see an eruption out of Canberra today?" »

Christine Nixon’s testimony in front of the bushfire Royal Commission today could well spell the end of her role chair of the Victorian Bushfire Reconstruction taskforce, and stain a successful career in the police force.

Nixon’s testimony today has drawn a thundering afternoon editorial from Melbourne’s Herald Sun demanding that Ms Nixon be sacked.

The paper pointed out that Nixon has admitted (amongst other things) today that she did not use her phone at all between 6pm and 9pm that evening, did not speak to Assistant Commissioner Kieran Walshe once despite previously saying she had and had not told anyone she had gone to dinner.

Continue reading "We won’t have Nixon to kick around anymore" »

There’s a light at the end on John Brumby’s tunnel. And it ain’t no oncoming train because Melbourne’s train system is off the rails.

That’s one of the reasons the electors of Altona – one of the State’s safest ALP seats – gave the Brumby government as massive thumbs down in last Saturday’s by election by handing Ted Baillieu’s   Liberals a whopping 12.3% swing.

While the ALP stalwarts were licking their wounds Brumby caused a huge groan to emerge by referring to the swing as “fantastic” – a mate of “The Punch” asked “what IS that guy on?” It has to be remembered that all Big Ted Baillieu needs to form a government is an overall swing of 6.5%.

Continue reading "Brumby railroaded as Victoria turns into NSW" »

The debate over the abolition of the states is a non-debate. Aside from a few single-issue crazies who want to turn back the rivers to create an inland sea, or as a moot debating point for constitutional law enthusiasts, there is no clamour whatsoever to pursue such a complex and challenging reform.

Perhaps the argument should be recast, with a proposal that if we aren’t prepared to abolish the states, we should at least abolish New South Wales.

Under the baton-passing stewardship of NSW Labor, with the top job having been hand-balled from Morris Iemma to Nathan Rees to Kristina Keneally in just over 12 months, NSW has cemented itself as a failed state, if not a rogue state, on the national stage.

Continue reading "With friends like NSW who needs enemies" »

Victoria might well be the Garden State but the Premier, John Brumby lives is a state of denial and it’s becoming serious.

Not content with flying off to New Delhi to placate furious Indians who fear for the safety of their kids being educated in Melbourne, he managed to anger the Indian Government by cancelling a visit to Mumbai, citing security concerns, which it seems the Indians hadn’t heard about.

That was for starters.

Continue reading "King Brumby’s tin-pot Raj" »

Update 7:00am 2/09/09: The Herald Sun’s Padriac Murphy is reporting this morning that the plane is a secret anti-terror spy plane owned by the Australian Federal Police.

What type of plane was it that spotted Victorian Water Minister Tim Holding stranded in the Victorian Alps?

In a statement on their website this morning the Victorian Police stated that an Australian Federal Police plane had spotted a light from Holding’s makeshift camp.

Yet this afternoon Victorian police have contacted news organisations telling them to remove any reference to the plane being an AFP plane with the reference taken out of the media release . What is going on here and who owns this plane?

Continue reading "What kind of plane spied Tim Holding last night?" »