Labor
Julia Gillard and her advisers believe they can see a narrow path to victory for Labor at the next federal election. They spent the Christmas break devising a political strategy aimed at taking the Government along that path.
Wednesday’s speech by the prime minister - titled `Building a new Australian economy together’ - was, in effect, a map of the route she plans to take.
Sadly for Gillard, it is almost certainly too late.
Continue reading "Gillard’s mapping a route but will probably still be routed" »
Let’s add some truth to the debate on the Fair Work Act: Here are the facts on labour market productivity, lost time from industrial disputes, real wage growth and profits from Australian corporations.
This year will be a big year for the Government and for Australia. One of our challenges will be the review of our Fair Work Act. This will be an examination of whether the Act is operating as intended and whether the legislation could be improved in order to achieve its objective.
The Opposition will no doubt be using this opportunity to soften the ground for a return to WorkChoices. The Liberal backbench are falling over each other to force Tony Abbott to move closer to the policy of the Howard government. The sensible question that people should be asking in this debate is – what makes an effective modern workplace relations system?
Continue reading "Just the facts on Labor’s workplace reforms" »
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Chris L says:
Thanks Tator. I’ve learned something here. Read more »
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Tator says:
ChrisL, it is a common enough practice for first offenders here in SA to be found guilty of a summary offence and no conviction recorded so no special privileges for politicians here. Read more »
I am extremely proud to be a member of the Australian Labor Party. A party that is committed to pricing carbon, that is increasing superannuation, and that will soon introduce Australia’s first National Disability Scheme.
I was proud when we started building the Education Revolution, apologised to our Indigenous brothers and sisters for the pain and suffering that previous Government’s have subjected them to, and when we introduced paid maternity leave.
November 24, 2007 was the day I will always remember as the day the people of Australia voted against inequality in the work place and, for as long as I live and breathe, I will fight against any party that tries to remove Australians’ rights at work. I am also pro-life.
Continue reading "I’m Labor, I’m pro-life and I’m no political hypocrite" »
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Maxi says:
, the diciinstton between inside the womb and outside is a label of covenience, but it also demonstrates the difference in the relationship between the unborn fetus and her mother and the living child and her mother. After the child is born, she is no longer dependent on her mother,… Read more »
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Paul P says:
@Kate Just because you believe a fetus “is not a life” does not make it so. You do NOT know for sure that a fetus is not a life. It’s just your belief. You have no proof. I happen to believe the opposite to you. I have no proof either… Read more »
It’s almost exactly a year since the Christmas Island tragedy, when dozens of asylum seekers died on Australia’s doorstep.
In an event which everyone predicted - but which no one managed to prevent - more boats came and sank. Now, there has been a tragedy on an even larger scale, with hundreds of asylum seekers feared dead after yet another overloaded, unsafe boat sank, killing people who were desperate for a better life.
Christmas Island, and the spectre of another mass drowning, should have been the crisis that broke the political impasse. But it didn’t. There is an eerie sense of rigid paralysis in our politics when it comes to this issue.
Continue reading "A year after Christmas Island, another tragedy at sea" »
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Claire says:
Actually people often don’t know what kind of boat they and their children will be on. They board up to three boats in the middle of the night before the one that sets off for Australia. They are told they will have life jackets etc- . the smugglers lie to… Read more »
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Paul Davis says:
How about some honesty here? The truth is neither side of politics is interested in refugees at all. Neither side care if they die trying to get here. They do and say nothing about the many that come here by air, just focus on “the boats”. An issue started by… Read more »
When Julia Gillard walked into a press conference on Monday to announce a new ministerial line-up, it was already being reported that she had been stared down by her own ministers.
Just weeks after the triumph of securing an extra number in parliament via Peter Slipper’s appointment as Speaker, her limited authority in the party, evident at National Conference, had been graphically laid bare.
Two ministers, the popular but factionally unaligned Peter Garrett, and the ultra-cautious Attorney General Robert McClelland, had simply refused to fall on their swords.
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sandra says:
patronising arrogent leftie freakish rubbish—and the worst thing is you trully believe this is intelligent writting. It is scary people like you vote!! Read more »
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dobbieb says:
I loathe and detest Gillard for all sorts of reasons not the least of which is that she has publicly trashed the morals and ethics with which I was raised. She has made a mockery of her position as Prime Minister and her behaviour when Obama was in town was… Read more »
If MPs want to argue they are worth $185,000 a year base pay they might first explain how Labor’s Craig Thomson spent 42 days overseas on a taxpayer ticket and couldn’t describe what he did in his own words.
He had to crib from the speeches of others – word for word. They might also explain how independent Speaker Peter Slipper, when a Liberal, could go through $7000 on overseas telephone calls using the mobile funded by taxpayers.
All up he spent $14,000 on telecommunications in six months. The man just isn’t that popular.
Continue reading "This is no good time to give MPs a payrise" »
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Utopia Boy says:
Taking lessons from Alan Joyce? Read more »
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Wilma J Craig says:
Those CEOs & other top managers get their money from the companies they work for. Mostly extremely well-managed, VERY profitable companies. If one of those companies goes to the wall so do those top executives. OK, they have lots in the bank so that doesn’t really matter. Our politicians are… Read more »
Revenge or reward? News broke this morning of the Prime Minister’s Cabinet reshuffle. Out with (some) of the old, and in with (some) of the new. It’s alleged that ministers who have expressed their support for Kevin Rudd, will fare the worst. Loyal supporters can expect a promotion. Small Business Minister Nick Sherry has already stepped down. Follow all of the action as it unfolds at News.com.au.
The Kevin Rudd hoo-doo will be linked to every appointment made by Prime Minister Julia Gillard. Each new minister, and the relocated ones, will be weighed on the Gillard-Rudd scales.
The ministerial overhaul is aimed at filling a vacancy and reinforcing the Government’s campaign to make jobs and economic stability the central theme for 2012.
Small Business Minister Nick Sherry provided the vacancy and few would question that the Government needs a sharper focus for the coming year.
Continue reading "Loyalty rewarded as Gillard shuffles Cabinet" »
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Labor is Toxic says:
Today it was announced that Australian Revenues would be affected by an expected recession in 2012 throughout Europe. Who would have thought??? Oh that’s right ..... I DID!!! Too bad Wong and Swan didn’t!!! Voting Labor is like poking yourself in theeye with a hot iron. The name says it… Read more »
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chuck says:
Hell hath no fury than a PM scorned!!!! Read more »
John Howard said it helped MPs “reflect upon their experiences, values”. Kim Beazley said it was “a wonderful thing” to do. The late John Button said, “Let the winds of principle blow through the House.”
They were talking about exercising a parliamentary conscience vote and were so enthusiastic for it you would imagine conscience votes happen all the time.
But they don’t, for reasons shared by leaders of all major parties. In fact they are rare. By my calculation there were 30 conscience votes in Federal Parliament between 1955 and now. (The always-splendid Parliamentary Library has this research paper.) Prime Minister Julia Gillard wants to make that tally 31 by tomorrow, asking the ALP national conference in Sydney for a conscience vote on gay marriage.
Continue reading "Conference turns to conscience on conjugality" »
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RyaN says:
@ATM: Yoh! Thats horrific! Read more »
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Christian Real says:
acotrel The LNP has made lying into an art form, they have perfected in such a way that their supporters and followers are blinded by their party’s lies and deceit,and continue to spread their party’s scare-mongering and fear campaign. Read more »
For SA Premier Mike Rann, “school” ends today, and from 9am tomorrow, he is on holidays. This is earlier than he wanted, but the right-wing “shoppies” union gave him no choice. No wonder he has spent much of his last days railing against factional influence in the Labor party.
Mr Rann has had a long innings since taking over the Premier’s job on March 5, 2002. Not a record, by a long way. The Liberal and Country League government of Tom Playford set the record, from 1938 to 1965, a longevity which will probably never be beaten. Of course, he did have a heavily biased election system in his favour.
That long Liberal reign was followed by a Labor domination. Of the 46 years from 1965 until now, Labor has been in office for 35. And that period has been dominated by three Labor Premiers: Don Dunstan (1967 – 79), John Bannon (1982 – 92), and Mike Rann (2002 – 11). In those data is one reason for the Rann angst at being pushed out of the job early – he could have achieved the record of being the longest serving Labor Premier.
Continue reading "In politics it’s all just a little bit of history repeating" »
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Sophie Rose says:
Mr Rudd tweeted that ‘history will be kind to Mike”, and if Rann writes it I have no doubt that it will. Rann has spent the last couple of weeks trying to make himself relevant, he came out in support of gay marriage, he has signed an agreement to expand… Read more »
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Graham S says:
Can somebody please enlighten me why we are getting so much about SA Parliament? Today this drivel, recently the SA Upper House. For goodness sake, take McLaren Vale, The Barossa and Maslins Beach district out of SA & what’s left over is a bogun rat-hole populated by Truro, Snowtown &… Read more »
So the Gillard government has now rammed its 19 carbon tax bills through the House of Representatives.
This is despite an emphatic pre-election promise that there would be no carbon tax under a Gillard led government, in defiance of strong public opposition to the tax and in spite of overwhelming evidence that a carbon tax is not in our national interest.
The bills will now move to the Senate.
Continue reading "The carbon tax: all economic pain, no environmental gain" »
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Daylight robbery says:
May the best UN security council candidate win. Oh, hang on, both of them? No wonder their selling off chunks of our butts to the UN with gay abandon.. Read more »
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Jodie says:
TChong, depends what you think of as necessities! There are many people struggling with everyday costs as it is. Here’s an article that you might want to read too: http://www.news-mail.com.au/story/2011/10/18/480000-living-poverty-qld/ Read more »
We’ve seen a lot of political oddity courtesy of this Labor crew – a first-term PM knifed and crying in the courtyard of Parliament House, his successor vowing to reveal “the real Julia” while never deviating from her robotic spin, and stunning and historic depths plumbed in the polls.
But last weekend, amid the circus that is Gillard’s embattled and high court rejected “Malaysia solution”, another surreal political moment occurred.
A bizarre cross between hostage negotiation, desperate plea and slap in the face – yes, I’m referring to Peter Beattie’s “Dear Kevin” letter.
Continue reading "The oddity of Beattie’s ruddy “Dear Kev” letter" »
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James says:
Intewresting how she hasn’t reponded to the SMH article this morning Read more »
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TomZ says:
Steve Putnam, Did you get your pommy shop steward chip on the shoulder living in the Eastern suburbs of Sydney? Please advise where the Tory party HQ is in Australia? Do you even know what the Tory party in UK is all about? Or do you mindless union robots just… Read more »
On Saturday night Kevin Rudd celebrated having one million followers on Twitter. “Thanks a million,” he tweeted.
But how many of those followers are members and senators of the Australian Labor Party?
Kevin Rudd can gathered all manner of tallies reflecting his popularity, but he has to get a majority in the federal Labor Caucus if he is to return to the job of Prime Minister. And Julia Gillard (67,131 Twitter followers) isn’t going to help him get it.
Continue reading "Kevin Rudd: One million followers and counting" »
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MP says:
Who cares Mohammud?? Rudd has done nothing but embrace China since he was a teenager. Not only learning Mandarin but also studying ancient Chinese poetry, history and calligraphy! I’ve read much of Rudd’s complimentary pieces on the success of modern China and how swiftly their middle class has grown over… Read more »
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James III says:
You do realise this is another Rudd con-job don’t you Malcolm? The vast majority of his followers are paid for, never activated accounts based OS. He or his team paid for these followers as a bizarre ego trip. Investigate it. Or is this just a publicity stunt article too? Just… Read more »
With significant diversions during Federal Parliament last week one of the more contemptible political back flips in recent memory might have escaped your notice.
Without a blush, Labor - supported by the Greens in the Senate - took $700 a year from 21,000 parents to fund its reform agenda for the childcare industry.
A little explanatory background is needed.
Continue reading "Labor, Greens take chainsaw to your childcare benefits" »
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Bruce says:
Nothing surprises me ! Yep ! They gotta cut money from somewhere to make up for lost money and cock up’s elsewhere ! Read more »
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Destry says:
@TChong: Many of your Greenie mates bat for the other team and don’t reproduce at all. Which might explain some things they do. Read more »
Like all moral upstanding citizens of Australia, I have been shocked by the revelations about Craig Thomson.
This is a man who, if the allegations are to be believed, ripped thousands of dollars off his employer so he could blow it all on hookers, booze and good times.
But despite all of this he is still being criticised.
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johny barebones says:
here here. Thats the beautiful. The pollies lie so much its confusing for themselves. I wish we had special federal court to play with these things. IF they caught out with 2 lies in a row. They are chucked out and we have a bi election. Id like that. Read more »
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johny barebones says:
Fred bloggs must work for the liberal party. No doubt in my mind. So much aggression little man Read more »
A “CT’” scan of the Gillard Government shows up the problems clearly enough.
Two of them actually: the Carbon Tax and Craig Thomson.
Two seemingly harmless initials that in this case spell disaster. But what to do about it?
Continue reading "Craig Thomson, carbon tax and a risky road to nowhere" »
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My political bubble recently burst when I realised this is a quintessential Labor government. I was convinced the Labor Party was just a microeconomic reform away from returning to its successful period of economic rationalism and bold reform between 1983 and 1996.
The delusion was abetted by the Prime Minister and her shallow rhetoric that she was reformist in the Hawke and Keating tradition.
I was lured into supporting the Labor Party by the Keating-inspired economic reforms that remade a moribund economy into an open and internationally competitive one.
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TomZ says:
acetrol, “What exactly is ‘project development’ ?” ... Err, can I commend the following quote to you for you future blogs particularly when it comes to NBN ... “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” Abraham Lincoln Read more »
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Dash says:
acotrel, good management is spending revenue wisely! that’s the point. Regardless of where the money came from, it was used to repay the debt left behind by the ALP. It could have been spent on an insulation fiasco, or allowed to be rorted by builders for example. But it was… Read more »
If Macquarie Bank was capitalism’s “Millionaires Factory,’’ the Labor equivalent, at least in SA, is the powerful Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association which turns out parliamentary careers.
Indeed, click on the party’s SA website where it says “Constitution and Rules’’ and the first thing that comes up is an ad for the shoppies’ union.
The socially-conservative SDA has been extraordinary in the degree to which it has dominated the party, colouring its policies, determining its leadership and personnel, and funding its political campaigns.
Continue reading "Swipe your way to a parliamentary career" »
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emel says:
Michael be careful. Your history is not one to be overly proud of, and throwing unsubstantiated comments out there just might backfire on you. Is it not understandable that many journalists who have a keen interest in politics have had various organisational memberships in their past? Kenny shows no anger… Read more »
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emel says:
Michael be careful. Your history is not one to be overly proud of, and throwing unsubstantiated comments out there just might backfire on you. Is it not understandable that many journalists who have a keen interest in politics have had various organisational memberships in their past? Kenny shows no anger… Read more »
APRIL 8,1974.
My darling Heather, I write to you at a time when I think I’ve never felt worse about politics. The idiots who now run the Liberal Party will drive me right round the bend. Their last move is to deny supply to the present government in the Senate. Now this is something that shocks me.
These words belong to former prime minister and founder of the Liberal Party, Sir RG (Bob) Menzies. History of course can provide a longer-run assessment of the bunker-busting tactics used to blast Gough Whitlam from office.
But whatever side you come down on, Malcolm Fraser was vindicated winning three subsequent elections (1975, 1977, and 1980, although not the double-D held just weeks after his 1974 missive under Billy Snedden’s leadership).
Continue reading "Retreat and withdraw: Gillard’s new strategy" »
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LON says:
Julia Gillard has two more years to impress her will apon the people. Even though her government contnues to strain indulgence with its scatter gun policy diversions it is a test of will, not just for the Labor government but also for that patient silent majority who will just shrug… Read more »
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Dobbo says:
Hermes…But what about Tony? http://www.news.com.au/national/tony-abbott-gives-up-carbon-debate-for-europe-after-attacking-julia-gillard-on-absences/story-e6frfkvr-1226105842612 Read more »
When the sun rose yesterday morning, optimistic Federal Labor MPs must have woken up thinking: “Monday morning – time for damage control”. Their more pessimistic comrades would probably have been thinking: “A new week, a new fiasco”.
The weekend announcement that some motor vehicle users will be exempt from a carbon tax on petrol proved to be yet another example of the Gillard’s Government shocking ineptitude and deviousness.
It rivals the desperate knee-jerk reactions that were the East Timor “solution” (now abandoned), the Malaysian “solution” (still not finalised), the ban on all live cattle exports (which is killing an industry vital to northern Australia), and indeed the carbon tax announcement itself.
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LC says:
They throw around the “per-capita” figure because it’s the ONLY way they can justify this abomination of a tax. NEWSFLASH: The planet does not care about what political jurisdiction of people emit more emissions, only that they are being made in the first place. Global Warming=GLOBAL. Not Australian. Global. The… Read more »
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Martin says:
Graham and Way its is. What a pair of mental giants. O’Farrell has been there for 100 days. Labor was there for 16 years and sold off most of the electricity providers for a cash grab to try and save their hides. Blame the price hikes on Labor you daft… Read more »
The COAG reform agenda, having stalled long ago under Labor’s chaotic governing style, is showing about the same signs of life as the US housing market, if the latest performance reports are anything to by.
The 2009-10 performance reports released in recent days did not make for pleasant reading. Almost two years after the deadline for Kevin Rudd’s promise to take over the hospital system if the states did not lift their game, we are still no closer to a solution.
Elective surgery waiting times rose nationally while “financial barriers” caused one million Australians to put off seeing a GP. No doubt these financial barriers will only worsen as the inflationary effects of Labor’s stimulus spending come home to roost through higher taxes and interest rate hikes.
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CapitalBoy says:
Persephone - Would I be mistaken if you were an English teacher of mine a few years back? Read more »
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Perseus Remus says:
There’s only one thing wrong with your analysis Marise; it’s a fraud! Labor got COAG going again after years of threats and intimidation by the Howard government. Over 96 separate tied funding agreements were streamlined down to something like eight. Incentive-based payments saw elective surgery waiting lists come down in… Read more »
I’ve always half-liked the Labor Government’s Malaysian solution on asylum seekers. I like the half that involves bringing an additional 4000 refugees from Malaysia to Australia. It’s a small additional burden that our rich little country is very capable of bearing.
It’s quite a clever strategy, too, in light of new research showing humanitarian arrivals are generally younger and more likely to live in regional areas, thereby helping to counter our rapidly ageing, urbanised population.
But I abhor the other half of the equation – the part that involves sending 800 asylum seekers to Kuala Lumpur, where 90,000 mostly Burmese are already rotting in a refugee quagmire in the hope of a better life they’ll never get.
Continue reading "Malaysia’s no dumping ground for our refugees" »
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Gav says:
@Marilyn - There is that old saying about an ounce of prevention being better than a pound of cure, since you seem to know everything, how about you travel to the countries that these “refugees” come from, fix the problems there and then they won’t have to leave. Problem solved. Read more »
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hot tub political machine says:
probably - in any case, it wouldn’t have improved things Read more »
It loomed like an end of year exam. Threatening. Dreary. Ominous. And completely necessary in order to proceed into the next year. As Labor MPs braced for the anniversary of the most tumultuous day in Australian politics since the dismissal of Gough Whitlam, they already knew it would be tough. But what really ate away at them was what Tony Abbott had been skilfully exploiting for months.
The switch to Julia Gillard had failed. The Government had spiralled downwards.Yes it had survived an election, but even that “win’‘, by way of backroom negotiation after the fact (hardly the Australian way) was a poison chalice.
At around 27 per cent, Labor’s primary vote is now at the lowest level for any federal government in the 39 years of Nielsen Poll and the first time one of the major parties had dipped below 30 per cent. Equally galling was that twice as many voters prefer the man Ms Gillard had displaced. If an election were held now, the ALP would have been decimated.
Continue reading "Doom! Gloom! Gillard celebrates one year" »
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Gail says:
I just read some of the coments from the fruit loops that are attacking each other in this collum,many of them would be happily at home in the loony bin.There is no doubt that Gillard has lied to us on many occasions and that she is distrusted by the Australian… Read more »
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JustMEinT says:
Trust NOT your elected politicains…... I hope you are all excited, waiting with ‘baited breath’ for the soon to be released Television Commercials you have paid for? Order in a Pizza and a 12 pack, plump up the cushions on the sofa, invite a few friends to come over and… Read more »
For all its flaws, there is one thing this Labor Government can be proud of – a cohesive ability to ignore the reality of its spending addiction.
I applaud every Labor Member of Parliament who has successfully stood in front of a camera and said with a straight face that Wayne Swan is a good economic manager.
It must be tough, because a close look at the Budget’s spending column clearly proves otherwise.
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Leopard says:
St. Michael “....the brightest boy on the blog…” This requires owner of same superior brain matter to be PLEASANT. St.M (Tarquinius Superbus) Vale She leopard Read more »
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St. Michael says:
You didn’t belt me, sunshine. Anonymous cowards on the Internet long ago ceased to provide any sort of meaningful punishment for any imagined sin you think I may have committed. But if it helps your self-esteem issues to think so, go right ahead. Read more »
Labor is frantically priming the electorate for a “tough Budget” and health and medical research has borne the brunt of the Government’s political posturing in recent weeks.
A strategic leak from the Gillard Government proposed a $400 million cut over three years only to be followed by unconfirmed reports of a back-flip.
It is likely the Government was preparing the sector for a worse-case scenario before delivering lesser cuts with the headline message that they had spared research from the worst. It remains a possibility.
Continue reading "Warning: Labor incompetence will damage your health" »
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Craig says:
Good article and it’s good to see the Coalition against these cutbacks. I have emailed you before Peter about a medicine I need to be listed on the PBS and you said essentially it is an independent process from Government. But this from the Gillard government completely shatters that excuse… Read more »
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jg says:
The Gillard government is out of it’s depth full stop. Witness the latest fiasco with Chris Bowen and the homemade incendiary device discovered at Villawood detention centre. Completely and utterly incompetent. Read more »
I was delighted to learn this week that in yet another display of moral courage, the Gillard Government has decided to crack down on unemployed old people.
After lamenting the lack of leadership and intellectual rigour in recent months, the news that the ALP was going to kick jobless senior citizens in the nuts made my heart swell with national pride.
Everyone knows there has long been a bunch of lazy semi-retirees who were just waiting to get themselves fired so they could rake in $227 a week. That’s why they staged the global financial crisis.
Continue reading "New ways for the Govt to screw you slowly" »
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James says:
About time someone made those old bludgers get their arses off the couch, all they do all day is take drugs (tea and lipitor) and garden, they are a menace to society, bring back national service I say, dad’s army regiment. Read more »
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charlotte says:
Dear Prime Minister, Let’s put the seniors in jail and the criminals in a nursing home. This way the seniors would have access to showers, hobbies and walks. They’d receive unlimited free prescriptions, dental and medical treatment, wheel chairs etc and they’d receive money instead of paying it out. They… Read more »
The Australian government is bent on making fat people slim in the most condescending way possible.
Last month, an incredibly juvenile media campaign was launched to encourage Australians to make healthier lifestyle choices.
The “Swap it, Don’t Stop it” campaign is a multimedia extravaganza, featuring television, print and radio ads, an iPhone app and Facebook page.
Continue reading "Big Government talking down to big Australians" »
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Liz I says:
I disagree, as a personal trainer I know how hard people find it to make even simple changes in their lives. With all the health and exercise information around people are overwhelmed. Providing clear and realistic ways for them to change their live to a healthier one can only be… Read more »
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Amy says:
I like the campaign, it’s less offensive than telling me to eat carrot sticks while power runningt. I thought the swap it idea was good, the less you shove hard dieting in overweight people’s faces, the more likely they are to give it a go. Trying to convince an obese… Read more »
Last night at a meeting of the Marrickville Council, the council voted eight to four to not pursue its boycott of Israel.
Marrickville Council’s abortive attempt to implement the Global Boycott Divestment and Sanctions (GBDS) campaign against Israel in Sydney’s Inner West should be a wake-up call. The moment to turn this objectionable campaign around should not be lost, else we will see more loopy home-grown forays into foreign policy. While this campaign may have been temporarily halted at a municipal level, it has gained considerable ground within Australia’s unions.
In moving her motion at Marrickville Council, Greens Councillor, Cathy Peters noted that the BDS campaign had the support of the Victorian Trades Hall Council, the South Coast Labour Council, and various state branches of the ASU, Teachers’ Union, LHMWU, CFMEU and MUA. In fact this is only half the list.
Continue reading "BDS BS: Labor’s infected and the Greens are gangrenous" »
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AllanJ says:
The term “semite” generally refers to a quite wide range of nationalities and ethnic groups of which Jews are but one. Strictly speaking, the label “Jew” refers very specifically to those who lay claim to having descended from the one they believe to be Israel’s fourth son, Judah. During the… Read more »
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Richard says:
Children of Israel?????? Quoting a clearly biased BBC writer does not actual stand as a reference or even a credible satirical point. Please review what a ‘semite’ is and note that particular silly ploy ahs long ago lost any bite. Read more »
It’s instructive to go back to the Kevin07 campaign advertisements, not least because the man himself seemed so confident and so damned chirpy.
The ads underline the fact it wasn’t long ago that many voters were prepared to place their trust in the abilities of the Labor Party.
Nielsen polling released Monday found Kevin Rudd was preferred leader of the Labor Party, 55 per cent to incumbent Julia Gillard’s 38 per cent. It was more a comment on Ms Gillard than a sign the mob wanted Kevin back, but the comparison was stark.
Even as Foreign Minister - even though he seems rarely in the country - Rudd retains the ability to connect that he mobilised so devastatingly against John Howard in 2007.
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Ben says:
Yep, Julia, Swan and cronies are moving forward. Moving forward to the exit door. The sooner the better. How on earth any sane person could have voted for Labor with the obvious riff raff that they are is way beyond me. Must be the mentality that believes Labor will look… Read more »
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badmr says:
........... and not have a boyfriend named Tim. Read more »
So the government is moving to “protect” errant toddlers in the suburbs from the naughty corner and spare them from harmful Easter Egg hunts.
Like a hovering, obsessive parent they’re imposing a new raft of regulations on childcare workers ostensibly aimed at the welfare of the child.
The implications for the childcare industry are huge – and it’s not just the politically correct psychobabble that’s a cultural and social threat.
Continue reading "Child protection - a tale of two Australias" »
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KirkSheri says:
I had a desire to make my own company, but I didn’t have got enough of cash to do it. Thank goodness my close colleague proposed to use the credit loans. Thus I received the credit loan and realized my dream. Read more »
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Seano says:
@ZSRenn Nice change of tact. The issue is not about aboriginal disadvantage that’s a strawman. Implementing changes to child care regulations does not stop efforts to address aboriginal disadvantage. I think it’s also fairly callous to be using aboriginal disadvantage to make a political point about “latte sippers in the… Read more »
There has been much bipartisan rejoicing, about the Greens inability to win seats in their latte-belt stomping ground. The glee on the Right is understandable, but the champagne-popping among Labor supporters may prove to be shortsighted.
As is frequently observed, the ALP finds itself in the seemingly untenable position of trying to simultaneously appeal to those who — to channel the increasingly Sarah Palinesque Julia Gillard — set their alarms early and lead purposeful, dignified lives driven by love of family and nation.
And those who sleep in until 11am, fire up the breakfast bong, then amble down to a café wallpapered with Bill Henson prints of spread-eagled 13-year-olds to fill in an application for yet another round of arts funding while their same-sex partner amuses the nose-ring-sporting barista with acid-tongued denunciations of the ANZAC spirit/the music of Barnesy/hard-yakka-loving brickies and their heroic working families/baby Jesus/Don Bradman.
Continue reading "Is it time the latte-sippers left the bogans’ party?" »
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Zac says:
persephone given that the Liberals haven’t functioned as a stand alone party for several decades, why would that be a problem?>>> Liberals doesn’t have to function as a stand alone party. LNP coalition is just two faces of the same coin and getting stronger. But you couldn’t say the same… Read more »
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Paul says:
The article makes a statement to the effect that Don Chipp joined the Democrats, how can you join something if you were indeed the founder!! Read more »
He’s jokey, he’s hokey, he’s contrite, he’s frank. He’s Kevin Rudd and he’s trying to convince you he has learned his lesson.
KR #2 last night used an ABC political chat show, Q&A, to suddenly start talking about some of those events of the past 12 months which are still shaping and plaguing the ALP and the government.
Rudd did so with a beguiling combination of Dad Jokes and aw-shucks language (in which Zimbabwe becomes Zim and Americans were Yanks, factional leaders were thugsters).
Continue reading "Chilled out Rudd is sticking the elbow in" »
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Kevs Got Spine. rare in a Politician. says:
Hes a Rebel…Rudd is our only chance..Could this Rebel usher in a New Age of TRUTH in Public Affairs..He speaks the Truth like no other Polly that I have heard…Give Back, What Is His..,Get KEV back he can tell the GREENS.. all DEALS OFF…Get rid of the NBN, Carbon Tax,,and… Read more »
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Jimbo says:
Haha, Murdoch hacks, so true. Good onya Marilyn Read more »
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.
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adam says:
people just don’t like liars and labor lies heres 5 Julia Gillard lies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCNYb3XWVTE Read more »
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Joombi O'Flaherty says:
Newman can’t win. His earnest demeanour will be more than enough to win the thoughtless voter who is won over by a “army boy buzzcut” and “isn’t he noice” gasp.! Read more »
Arriving at the Randwick Labor Club for Saturday night’s ALP election function, the staff at the desk were joking about having voted Liberal. This was obviously going to be a bad night for the Labor Party.
Like residents waiting for a massive cyclone, the Labor faithful knew when it was coming and where from; the only thing for it now was to buckle down together and wait. Needless to say, it was weird.
One benefit of this particular bunker was the open bar, which was probably the most useful bit of campaign spending the NSW ALP had made in the last six weeks.
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Anne_N says:
In the grand scheme, the Greens are a very young party, like a child really, and I regard their policies along the line of a child’s wishlist to Santa…they’ll ask for all manner of outrageous things but we all know they’ll get those things that are most achieveable and practical. … Read more »
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Robert Smissen, rural SA, God's own country says:
What’sthe bet that she couldn’t cook with a packet mix? Read more »
As Julia Gillard puts the finishing touches on a multimillion-dollar, taxpayer-funded ad campaign to sell her unpopular carbon tax, the Labor backbench has sent the Prime Minister a blunt warning.
Kevin Rudd once described government advertising as a “sick cancer within our system”.
Before the 2007 election he said: “I can guarantee that we will have a process in place, run by the Auditor General ... you have my absolute 100 per cent guarantee that that will occur - 100 per cent guarantee. And each one of you here can hold me accountable for that.”
Continue reading "Failed policies cost the taxpayer twice" »
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Tom says:
Andy W? .. ? Come in Andy W ... Are you there fella? Read more »
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Tator says:
Andy W, here are the dates for the GST campaign and costs, along with other campaigns and their costs and timing Program $m Defence Recruitment Campaigns (1991–2004) $166.8 A New Tax System (GST) (1998–2000) $118.7 Pharmaceutical Benefits Campaign (2003–) $26 Republic referendum (1998–99) $24.7 National Security Campaign (as at 30… Read more »
On the day in the August election campaign that Julia Gillard chose to announce the ``real Julia’’ would be on offer to voters, she also gave an insight into her political style, now being tested more than ever.
It came during a conversation with SMH journalist David Marr and me on a bus ride out of Sydney, and the impetus was a joke by me which neither found funny.
I had suggested that an old anti-Vietnam war chant be adapted for Labor’s campaign: ``One is right, one is wrong, Victory to Penny Wong.’’
Continue reading "Julia Gillard: A practically left-wing PM in every way" »
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LC says:
“unfortunately we live in a democracy” You know what the best thing about living in a democracy is? If you don’t like it, you have the freedom to LEAVE. (Although if you end up living in a place like, say, North Korea or China, you may not have that freedom… Read more »
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Steve Smith says:
Rick If you want to compare Julia Gillard with Stalin, then perhaps Tony Abbott could be compared with Hitler. Hitler was a right wing fanatic, and Tony Abbott is from the right wing also. Tony Abbott was part of the former Liberal Government that brought in Workchoices And Anti-terrorism laws… Read more »
There could be some quirky or even downright hostile fellow diners with the Liberals who are now preparing to feast on the ALP carcass at the NSW election.
So many, and so non-mainstream, that perhaps they will ruin Barry O’Farrell’s appetite.
Voters who are keen to dispatch the ALP might also be in a mind to prevent the election of a Coalition Government which for four years could do what it wanted. There has been a bit of this type of electoral insurance taken out in recent polls.
Continue reading "A motley crew will feast on NSW Labor’s corpse" »
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Ryan says:
@Reg: this government and the current federal Labor government makes him look like honest joe. Read more »
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Daniel says:
Tim, Part of your answer might be right but what about the lost conditions? Why do we have to get to this situation in the first place? The Liberals will drag us there believe me. It wont be good for the state. If you support the Liberals fine but dont… Read more »
Prime Minister Julia Gillard has been confronted by concerned members of the Labor Right over legislation that would restrict the ability of the Commonwealth to overturn territory laws.
Their fear is that it would allow the territories to introduce their own laws on same-sex marriage and euthanasia, and the Prime Minister has been forced to delay her support for the bill. Wayne Swan this morning has said the concerns are “legitimate.” It’s a statement of the obvious that Julia Gillard is squeezed from the left by her coalition with the Greens, and from the right by the Labor party’s right wing concerned it will lose touch with increasingly angry base.
Perhaps what is less clear is what the territories’ legislation will actually allow. Legally it doesn’t actually allow gay marriage or euthanasia, but there is a divergence between legal and political realities which would open up the door to their legalisation.
Continue reading "Gillard’s gay marriage and euthanasia minefield" »
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Alexander says:
I cant resist… History shows that your church definitely accepts ‘pedaphillia’ among it’s more important members. Does that mean they have already gone past the point of accepting gay marriage. As for your views on the IVF waiting list they are simply embaressing. IVF services are vastly overloaded, they always… Read more »
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Mat says:
Travelling through Asia is fine if you are a mature adult. But our youth are so impressionable! They must be protected. Read more »
First home buyers have just cause to feel betrayed by the Rudd-Gillard government as they struggle under the strain of seven consecutive interest rate rises which have been exacerbated by loose fiscal policy.
A disturbing new survey by Mortgage Choice has found that 10 per cent of first home buyers, who purchased their homes in the past two years, have either sold their homes or are considering selling because of financial hardship, caused by interest rate hikes.
The survey also found that another 6 per cent would sell if interest rates climbed a further one per cent, while another 14 per cent would sell if they rose another 1.5 per cent.
Continue reading "Labor lured then betrayed first home owners" »
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TyncTrity says:
Absolutamente con Ud es conforme. La idea bueno, es conforme con Ud. Read more »
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Rohan Chapman says:
Everyone including successive labor and liberal governments always look at the problem form the demand side of economics. Artificially low interest rates and credit easing by the banks in the noughties created a speculative rush and turned the mums and dads into speculators. Governments in Australia have been giving out… Read more »
Gillard is becoming a very good Prime Minister.
History doesn’t judge a Prime Minister by the quality of Australia’s education or health systems, their foreign policy achievements or empathy for flood victims but by economic management, including a capacity for tough economic reform.
In other words, economic policy makes or breaks a Prime Minister and everything else is just noise. By this measure, Julia Gillard is on the cusp of becoming a very good Prime Minister.
Continue reading "Gillard: From policy dud to economic hero" »
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Peter says:
To me, Gillard appears to have wanted the top job. Gave him poor advice so that his popularity went down. Excecuted the incumbent. Now she wants us to believe that she will do everything. I personaly doubt it. For what and how she did to Kevin Rudd I can’t trust… Read more »
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Matt says:
persephone, I’m gobsmacked that you think any “well-known facts” exist that you use to “critique” Ergas when no legislation or any real policy details actually exist! You keep saying how everyone is going to be compensated. Please, show me who will be compensated (not just low income earners), and exactly… Read more »
What was it that we women set out to achieve so long ago I can hardly remember the detail? Did we want to take over the world? Did we want to make men subservient to our will? Were we angry enough to march in the streets for our right for equality? No to the first two and yes, to the last.
I remember the US author Deidre Bair telling us at a Writers’ Week that what we wanted was equality, we all had men as friends, lovers, husbands, sons, brothers, we just wanted to have the same opportunities as they had and that bitterness had no place in a brave new world.
Well, for some it had, those most mistreated in some cultures, but for most of us women living in affluent Australia, it didn’t seem too hard to expect that we could easily settle for equality of opportunity. So, why now, in another century ,is it still so hard to achieve that equality?
Continue reading "SA Parliament: Where have all the women gone?" »
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Anggelo says:
Hmm, smehoow you've managed to condense the rantings of the many anti-censorship feminists (self included) into one little space. Congrats. It seems like in an effort to reclaim the Sacred Mother and Warrior Woman models, they forgot about the sacred slut, the crone (oh, just remembering that one), the lover… Read more »
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Markus says:
@Fi, Currently, it is entirely possible for women to account for 100% of seats on merit if there was such a number of qualified, experienced candidates. There is no similar mandate requiring men to account for a single seat. That the affirmative action rule exists at all is proof that… Read more »
Gillard’s recent decision to cut funding to renewable energy projects clashes with a growing consensus that carbon pricing alone will not move Australia towards a renewable energy future.
Senior finance columnist Ross Gittins is the most recent to take aim at the shambles that is Gillard’s climate strategy, writing that “imposing a price on carbon emissions won’t solve the problems most of the affected climate programs were intended to tackle.”
While it is revealing enough that a respected commentator with over 30 years’ experience disagrees with Gillard’s blinkered focus on carbon pricing, even more telling is the fact that his voice is just one of a choir.
Continue reading "Putting a price on carbon is just the beginning" »
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keypevernia says:
I’m sure the best for you <a >coach online store</a> and get big save for less Read more »
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Drernluella says:
look at with low price online shopping Read more »
The season’s latest campaign ads follow the same old tired plot of black and white attack hysteria, gloomy (or comical) music and an authoritative male voiceover reviling the failings of a tired old Government.
The latest from the NSW Liberals opens with a black and white scene of our lead character (the embattled NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally) admitting her failing only to be ear ambushed with a chorus of our ad’s tag line “same old Labor, same old tricks”. But we’re not left wondering for long what the plot is.
Our storyline of the sorry tale of NSW Labor’s leadership’s mistakes and failures becomes glaring apparent with the TV interview vox pops of our supporting characters Morris Iemma and Nathan Rees. And in case we didn’t get the ad’s message, we’re treated to a catchy jingle of “same old Labor, same old failure” on nauseous rhyming repeat.
Continue reading "Political ads: the good, the bad, and the really bad" »
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Naomi says:
Oh I have that well in mind, I am aware of the 4% threshold of votes, wouldn’t it be great if they got less than that in the electorate…... There are so many of the oppositions posters around, if they didn’t get their money back it would be an interesting… Read more »
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Edward James says:
@ Naomi I am considering some cash support for Gillian as an independent in the seat of Swansea. I have tried to support her for years with my published comments, and mentioning her fight with a corrupt labor party in paid ads i run in the Peninsula News. It is… Read more »
Last weekend - while you were taking the kids to the beach, buying those extra back-to-school necessities, or for many, still counting the toll of recent devastating floods – unleaded petrol prices in capital cities rose an average 15 cents a litre at Coles and Woolworths outlets to a massive 143.9 cents per litre. And those ridiculous rises were matched in part by the Independents and other chains.
So what’s the story?
On Saturday, the wholesale price of petrol actually dropped by more than half a cent, yet on the weekend we were hit with a massive 15 cent increase. The size of the hike was described as “staggering” by FUELtrac general manager Greg Trotter. He rightly pointed out that the prices we are now paying at the pump rival those records in 2008 when oil hit a peak of $US145 a barrel. The big difference is that the current price of oil is only around the $US90 mark.
Continue reading "Labor is turning a blind eye to price hikes" »
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Thommo says:
Why doesn’t the government just fix the price for petrol, diesel and lpg. It can adjust it or set it directly indexed to the cost of a barrel of oil. Starting price - Unleaded = $1.20 , Diesel = $1.25 , LPG = 55 cents. Petrol station automatically makes 10%.… Read more »
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Flexo says:
Mike T, you are right it isn’t just families who are struggling, everyone of us in this country is paying a price for having a pathetic ALP government in charge. Lets hope for the best mate and this Gillard bird and her cronies gets replaced before Easter. Read more »
On a crisp night in Jerusalem just over a week ago, Kevin Rudd hosted drinks for a small bunch of journalists at the famed King David Hotel.
The globe-trotting Foreign Minister had jetted into Israel from Egypt, punctuating the whistle-stop visit with meetings with Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu and President Shimon Peres.
As he sat nursing a whiskey - neat, on the rocks - Rudd was jovial enough but could barely keep his eyes open. He looked like he needed a week’s worth of sleep.
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Foreign Affair says:
But Rudd is still a Fruit Loop !!! Read more »
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Jon says:
What are you guys talking about? Rudd lost his balls long ago (rumour has it, that they were last seen somewhere in Mount Druitt). Gillard owns him and this egomaniac just has to wear it. Sorry ex-PM you have always been the weakest link! Read more »
Julia Gillard certainly got it right by returning from holidays to take charge, but things tailed away after that.
First, there was her botched announcement of an all-party committee to jointly gather the facts about the Christmas Island tragedy. She had phoned Tony Abbott in Tokyo to float the idea, reporters were told. Yet within hours the Opposition claimed the idea had not even been raised with Mr Abbott in the call.
So what was the point? Was it just a way of diverting pressure for an independent inquiry? If so it was an egregious error. If the deaths of at least 30 people because of systemic failure is not cause for an independent inquiry, what is?
Continue reading "Labor’s moral and political failure on boats" »
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dinkidi says:
How can you make decisions when you are watching out for the next political assassin creeping up to put a knife in YOUR back?She got there that way and she knows she will probably go out the same way. There is no stability in the ALP, none whater. Read more »
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thedon says:
You get the ignorance award Mark Kenny. If you can’t see that short of sending everyone in this world who would like to come to this country a plane ticket, the opposition could never measure up for you. Ask yourself, how do you know these people are more deserving of… Read more »
Julia Gillard says she for one was not surprised by the closeness of the August federal election result, maintaining with an `I-told-you-so’ tone that she’d always argued it would be close. But why? Had the Government not successfully steered Australia around a massive global crisis, keeping people in jobs and businesses trading?
Her ready resignation to a cliff-hanger result at best raises fundamental questions: What’s gone so wrong with the Australian Labor Party that voters are deserting it in droves. Why is that even competent governments (the pink batts fiasco notwithstanding) cannot seem to muster enough support and enthusiasm to form a majority?
Take the federal poll about which Ms Gillard proved correct. Despite the leadership change, (or perhaps because of it) Labor fell well short of the 76 seat minimum needed to govern in its own right.
Continue reading "Gillard’s long-term bid to overcome a damaged brand" »
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Sven Gali says:
That was fantastic, wasn’t it, Mattb ? Although we still have a few weeks left, barring an, ahem, miracle, there’s no chance of anyone touching “God made Julia Gillard Prime Minister in order to save Tony Abbott from the difficulty” for 2010 Punch Comment of the Year. Congratulations, Rosie. Read more »
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Seano says:
And exactly what have you offered to this debate Freeman? Read more »
The infamous ‘gang of four’, making all government decisions, came to symbolise the style of the first term of the Rudd-Gillard Government, and is reminiscent of the first chaotic days of the Whitlam years.
In 1972 Gough Whitlam and Lance Barnard were sworn in as an absurd two-man ministry making a raft of two-man decisions, which set the scene for three years of extraordinary incompetence and profligacy.
Today, marks the third anniversary of the election of the current government and it can be argued that Labor’s abandonment of cabinet government, and centralisation of power around a select few, similarly set it down the pathway to the mess it is now in.
Continue reading "Government’s third birthday nothing to celebrate" »
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Steve Putnam says:
That would be the parental leave scheme Abbott said, whilst health minister would be introduced only “over the Howard Government’s dead body’, to be funded by a great big new tax on Australia’s 3,200 biggest companies after claiming two weeks before that an Abbott government ‘would introduce no new taxes’. Read more »
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Sven Gali says:
Were, Tim ? Are. Alternative is of course implied, as you’re pretending not to know. Read more »
It seems boatpeople bashing has once again become a national sport.
Pauline Hanson must be proud of the continuing work of those purveyors of xenophobia, radio shock jocks and table thumping newspaper columnists.
Every day there’s a new scare campaign, accompanied by a terrifying toll of the number of “criminals”, “terrorists” and “queue jumpers” reaching our shores.
Continue reading "Boat people bashing has become a national sport" »
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Brodie says:
This is another example of Communists who hate Australia. Pauline Hanson is the best thing since Vegemite. Read more »
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Gerbil says:
Tracey, nice piece, except you blamed Pauline Hansen and forgot to mention Tony Abbott. You’re clearly living in the past. Read more »
Bob Brown should be first to chip in to Rob Oakeshott’s swear jar which the independent MP says needs topping up any time someone says the Labor government has a mandate.
The Greens leader appeared to contradict Oakeshott when he wrestled with the mandate question on Lateline last night. Asked what he thought of the member for Lyne’s view that the Gillard government shouldn’t be claiming to have a mandate, Brown replied:
Well it’s got - we got a proportional mandate, and it’s got the biggest mandate amongst the make-up of government, ah, and it’s certainly now got a stronger mandate than the Coalition.
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Northern Steve says:
Actually Jeffb, the LNP, running as a pre-election declared coalition did win more seats and more primary votes. You can split it up any way you want to prove a point, but comparing Labor to Liberal is not realistic because Labor stood in significantly more seats than the Liberals who… Read more »
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Seano says:
@Macon - Small means reasonable. I would have thought that was obvious. @MarK - I can’t personally name 5 people who have been in Afghanistan either but I would not deny their right to march on Anzac day. It’s a silly line of argument. @Wayne - Low income earners might… Read more »
Note: Labor MP Richard Marles and Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella are among our favourite contributors to The Punch, and we have asked them to write a piece every Friday during this five-week election campaign giving their take on events.
Julia Gillard speaks from the heart. She is the best performer in the federal parliament.
Through five weeks of controversies this is a proposition that is not controversial. The Liberals may quibble about how she uses notes, but for anybody who follows politics her ability to perform is beyond debate. Yet this is just one attribute of Julia Gillard.
Continue reading "Labor diary: the difference between Julia and Tony" »
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marie curtin says:
the difference is..She is a woman and he is a man…..she believes in nothing so falls for everything..and in so doing appeals to the masses..he believes firmly in something above himself..and creates distinctions…He has beliefs and she doesn’t.. Chesterton once said..“A dead thing goes with the stream..only a live thing… Read more »
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Katz says:
I will vote for the party that has a vision for the future that includes things we don’t even know about yet; that is sometimes prepared to take a bit of a risk because if you don’t try you always fail; that understands that the future of ...the country lies… Read more »
Divorce can be a bitter and messy affair. Political relationships are no different, especially when the break-up has hinged on a power play for the highest post in the land.
When Julia Gillard and Kevin Rudd met on Saturday for the first time since the Labor leadership coup they looked more like a divorced couple reluctantly brought together to iron out a settlement than a reunited team working together to win an election.
The body language between the pair in the pooled video and pictures from the closed-door meeting spoke plenty to many outside observers.
Continue reading "Body language: how readers saw the Rudd-Gillard photo" »
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Gerard says:
Maybe trying to figure out what Kristina Keneally’s “new direction for NSW” is. Read more »
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Seano says:
@Brad - Your weak excuses are most amusing, your assumption of “likely” based on no factual evidence whatsoever screams confirmation bias, you only believe those things support your point of view, and yet naaah when you do it’s all about being analytical….lol like I said funny, funny stuff. Also you… Read more »
Like many young Australians, I move house a lot. Since Kevin07, I have been located at four different addresses within four different electorates. So when Julia Gillard dressed up in pure white to call an election, I went online and started to update my details with the AEC. So did my girlfriend.
A couple of clicks and a signature and soon I was done. My girlfriend had a little more trouble. It seems she had disappeared from the electoral roll. Immediately I became suspicious. I castigated her for insulting our democratic privilege and never voting. I had already spent most of the weekend sulking because she refused to join me at the polls in August to hand out ‘how to vote’ cards. ‘You obviously don’t care about how much money we get given after you have a baby because the Government has pulled RU486 from the shelves,’ I said, slipping from my soap box as I wagged my finger at her.
‘I vote,’ she shrieked. ‘I voted for Kevin, I even voted at the Council elections’.
Continue reading "Voting ain’t easy when you’re a Russian spy" »
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vepZetSweed says:
I make you download best casino software for informal and some let up on today. Pokie Magic: Mega Hearts 2 Pokie Magic - Mega Hearts 2 is an Aussie style hollow simulation (kindest poker gismo). Take on the pokies at home base! With shattered festivity graphics and an agreeable multi… Read more »
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vepZetSweed says:
I make you download best casino software for informal and some let up on today. Pokie Magic: Mega Hearts 2 Pokie Magic - Mega Hearts 2 is an Aussie style hollow simulation (kindest poker gismo). Take on the pokies at home base! With shattered festivity graphics and an agreeable multi… Read more »
“Out, damned spot! out” moaned the sleepwalking Lady Macbeth after the murders committed to ensure that Kingship came to Macbeth. “What will these hands never be clean”.
“Here’s the smell of blood still. All the perfumes of Arabia will not sweeten this little hand”.
And yet the “spot” seemed to be worn as a badge of honour on Sunday morning TV with the newly anointed Prime Minister choosing Joan Kirner giant polka dot jacket to begin her reign.
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Seano says:
Megan Gale is the face of DJ’s and yet I don’t get upset when she’s not on the counter. Jokes aside. The pretence that voters feel cheated that Rudd got rolled is mostly coming from the right and is a beat up. Obviously people know they did not vote for… Read more »
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Blueberry Bagel says:
Where can I get the recipe for Bronwyn’s hair… Baker’s Delight? Read more »
New leadership speeches inevitably have a shiny freshness about them that kicks off the honeymoon.
All speeches must contain some homespun vision of where the leader wants to take the country, and tales of some lessons learnt in their normal background: I come from a hard working family raised on a suburban farm, I reward the hardest workers, I too, have a border collie called Harold.
But what was important to take from Julia Gillard’s opening press conference as Prime Minister is that it made sense again. This is not to further twist the knife into Kevin Rudd, but there hasn’t been a Prime Ministerial press conference that made that much sense for a while.
Continue reading "Gillard has let the Government make sense" »
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Christian Real says:
Doh, It doesn’t mean that allegiances to Kevin Rudd has been moved, it just means that we are more adult then Liberal supporters and are able to move on and support the new Leader. It is called unity, something that is unknown in the Liberal party, three Leaders of the… Read more »
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Christian Real says:
Steve_of Cornubria Tony Abbott has already proven himself - As a liar, and whether it is a written or unwritten speech, it would still be hard to tell if he was actually telling the truth for a change. Plus he breached the Parliamentary rules covering MP’s pucuniary interests by failing… Read more »
The numbers have been crunched, the stakeholders consulted; various other horrendous corporate jargon terms have been deployed, and now The Punch is ready to announce the results of a SWOT analysis of the Rudd government’s electoral standing.
With the SWOT being such a common feature of modern workplaces we decided to capture the findings and plot them on a range of horizontal and vertical scales, before looping them back into a synthesised range of go-forward options that would allow Kevin Rudd to build a sustainable advantage and capture sufficient political market share to gain the upper hand come polling day.
Or rather, here’s what Punch readers think Kevin Rudd needs to do: Push Julia Gillard to the forefront, focus on health and the economy, settle the row over the mining tax and run a scare campaign about a “son of WorkChoices” industrial regime.
Continue reading "Economy, Gillard, and fear: How you say Rudd can win" »
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Ross says:
Exactly. Who needs a puppet PM like Gillard? Rudd had the guts to stand against the rich and corrupt and paid the price, and unfortunately so have the Australian people. We’re victims of a gutless back room coup, so what are we going to do about it? Probably nothing, so… Read more »
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Alex H says:
The saddest day for all Australians. The ultimate betrayal. Think about it, Rudd was betrayed by a power hungry manipulating mover. He was betrayed by those closest to him. Gillard was a snake waiting in the dark. Gillard knows that she can never win an election, and moved fast into… Read more »
It’s said that all’s fair in love and war. But when it comes to elections in a democracy like Australia, you’re supposed to play by the rules.
Australian electoral law is intended to guarantee a level playing field; an open and transparent political system that will accurately reflect the will of the voting public.
Yet in last week’s state election in South Australia we saw Labor conducting a centrally orchestrated con job that assailed the very foundations of our democracy.
Continue reading "Labor’s nasty habit of polling booth rorts must end" »
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Utillofinnica says:
Backlinks And SEO is a part of what everyone needs for their websites! It’s like the trade of the internet you need to have it and it will always be there. You need to always have traffic coming in to your website and you need to have backlinking done just… Read more »
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Grace says:
I would hate to think that Labor would become a Minority Government as a result of the 2010 Elections. Why is it not possible for the Parties to Combine Forces as “Two heads are better than One” and “Many Hands make light Work”. These Parties are all working for a… Read more »
Few would dispute that Australia is in urgent need of a radioactive waste management facility. Over 50 years, some 4000 cubic metres of accumulated radioactive waste from hospitals and medical research facilities has stored up in hundreds lock-up sheds around the country. It is clearly an inadequate situation.
To make matters more pressing, Australia has an obligation to take back nuclear fuel from Sydney’s Lucas Heights research reactor, which was sent to Scotland and France for reprocessing and is due to return to Australia in 2015-16.
It makes sense to secure radioactive waste in one central, safe location. But because no one wants the thing in their backyard, the Northern Territory – which lacks the powers states have to fight off the federal government – is going to get it.
Continue reading "Labor close to fission over nuclear waste dump" »
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acker says:
@eye4aneye..re dumping waste and fish from the following article http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/johann-hari/johann-hari-you-are-being-lied-to-about-pirates-1225817.html Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, the UN envoy to Somalia, tells me: “Somebody is dumping nuclear material here. There is also lead, and heavy metals such as cadmium and mercury – you name it.” Much of it can be traced back to European… Read more »
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Carl Palmer says:
@AustraliaVotes says:03:09am | 26/02/10 The new generation of reactors don’t use water to cool the core. The new generation use gas i.e. Helium to cool the core or molten salt or liquid metal-cooled reactors.They are far more efficient and can generate more power from the same amount of uranium than… Read more »
It’s fairly clear to anyone who watched Kevin Rudd on the ABC’s Q & A this week that a group of young Australians very succinctly exposed the shallowness and symbolism that underpins much of Labor’s “policy” argument.
These young people displayed a healthy scepticism and an ability to see through polly-speak that many of our national journalists could learn a thing or two from. Indeed, in the aftermath, some journalists seem almost shocked by Rudd’s inability to clearly answer a question which isn’t scripted and for which he has not been briefed.
(Despite the embarrassing prelude of the “Ask the PM” Sunrise questions, which saw Rudd floundering.)
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ssi says:
What on earth for? Malcolm ‘goldman sachs’ Turnbull is nothing but a puppet for the banksters. Crossing the floor just shows what egomaniac he is. Rudd is quite enough ego and narcissism. Read more »
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Over Rudd-Speak says:
So you’re saying Krudd IS crap? I agree. Can’t wait for an unscripted debate between Abbott and Krudd. KRudd will have to brush up on his ‘Not being such a sh!t PM’ skills. Read more »
Spin doctors became infamous when, on September 11, 2001, during the horrific attacks on the World Trade Centre and Pentagon, British Labour staffer Jo Moore send out an email encouraging her press office colleagues to release bad news stories, in the hope that they would not get any attention.
“It is now a very good day to get out anything we want to bury” Moore wrote.
While spin doctors are not always so craven, a government’s desire to avoid bad publicity is acute.
Continue reading "The bad news stories buried during the holidays" »
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James says:
Trouble is its true Clark! Do your homework. Read more »
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Clark Kent says:
“And in spite of Kevin Rudd’s election commitment to increased transparency, we found that Labor refused more Freedom of Information requests than the Howard Government.” So, since Novenmber 2007, the Labor federal government has refused more Freedom of information requests than during the entire 11 1/2 years of ‘Howard’s Australia’? … Read more »
Summer’s not over yet but those of us lucky enough to have secured a decent break over Christmas/New Year are mostly filing back into work this week or next.
Joy!
So too our politicians where at the national level, a snap poll theoretically can be called at any time.
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Louise says:
persephone, you certainly reinforce what a “fake, false & forged” show pony Rudd is. Funny, I thought you were a Rudd supporter. It’s good to see genuine Labor voters are waking up to this neo-liberal tool in Peter Garrett stage gear. Read more »
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D'oh says:
@ persephone Funny how you casually dismiss the lists I produced and then go after E’s somewhat less comprehensive list. It was a long list (achieved in a record time of 2 years mind you) and I would expect a long response. Bring on the 5 pages I say, Rudd’s… Read more »
The recent significant rain event in the northern stretch of the Murray Darling Basin has not only given hope to suffering farmers and rural communities, it has also placed a spotlight firmly on the fraud being perpetrated by the Prime Minister and the cabal of Labor Premiers when it comes to water policy for the Murray Darling Basin.
Only 18 months ago this group of ‘leaders’ stood together and waved around a ‘historic’ agreement in Chamberlin like fashion claiming that it delivered a national system of water management.
Not only has this been shown to be a complete joke by the torrent of water now flowing down the Darling, it has also shown the Rudd Government’s failure to invest in the necessary infrastructure to deliver real water savings before the rain came.
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David Boyd says:
Jamie, The South Australian’s claim that the dreadful condition of the Lower Lakes is due to extractions and lack of fresh water from upstream. No mention of the fact that under natural conditions the Lower Lakes were sometimes salty and sometimes fresh depending on fresh water flows, or lack of… Read more »
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John A Neve says:
Persephone 20527hrs, yesterday. If those “silly people who think their lives are OK’ why do they whinge on these blogs? If people like you feel all is well with the world, what is there to debate? Unlike you, who defends a dying system, I believe change can take place, but… Read more »
Bob Hawke - like most public figures - always likes to get his picture in the paper.
But there was one time when I beat him at his own game.
It was the annual cricket match between the ACTU XI and the Press XI in Port Melbourne in the mid-70s.
Continue reading "Yes I love Bob Hawke and long may he reign" »
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almeister the destroyer says:
well bob - gregs parents probably had a job under frazer - so whilst it was hard - they could -pay bit hard to pay 16% when you dont have a job Read more »
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Greg says:
Well Bob, you see it is like this: A guy called Gough Whitlam from the ALP was elected as PM. Unfortunately in just a few short years he managed to rack up so much government debt that there was no money to pay the public servants. He had to be… Read more »
Research indicates that many lottery winners revert to their previous levels of happiness within a year of winning. Sometimes it’s a case of water finding its level and individuals returning to their normal state of contentment.
Other times, the money is blown on failed business ventures, opportunist gold digging relatives or the vulgar excesses that often accompany easy cash. In such circumstances, it’s not uncommon for winners to end up worse off than before they won.
Two years ago the Federal government had money in the bank. Howard and Costello had built up a massive buffer of savings to pay for an ageing population, retired the entire Commonwealth debt and budgeted for - if not already delivered - eight years of income tax cuts.
Continue reading "What will we do when the fastcash euphoria is over?" »
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Wayne says:
Spending with no business case to substantiate the benefits. An ETS that does nought to reduce any so-called man-made impact to climate change but only line the pockets of fat-cat brokers. A National Broadband programme with no business modelling. An apology to indigenous people with no subsequent action. A dilution… Read more »
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Helen says:
When I saw the title of this article I imagined it was addressing the very real problem of personal debt in this country. That is, the tendency of Australians to use their house as an ATM to pull out money for holidays, cars and other consumer items, plus the tendency… Read more »
UPDATE: Nathan Rees has sacked Joe Tripodi and Ian Macdonald from Cabinet.
In political terms the equivalent of a nuclear bomb has just gone off in Sydney. It has immediate ramifications for some of the most hated figures in the deeply unpopular NSW Government.
But it has massive national long-term implications, as it will determine whether Labor leaders have the right to choose their own ministry, rather than have their frontbench foisted upon them by the factions.
In a gutsy gamble, NSW Premier Nathan Rees has gone for the doomsday scenario revealed on The Punch some weeks ago by taking on the factions and winning rank-and-file party approval to form his own Cabinet by dumping unpopular or treacherous ministers. And Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard has just strongly backed Rees in her speech to the NSW ALP, and Kevin Rudd has done so in a press conference at APEC.
Continue reading "Rees’ gutsy gamble rewrites the rules of Labor politics" »
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Andrew Elder says:
Penbo, you can’t tell the difference between a nuclear explosion and a fart. Labor’s internal technicalities need not interest anyone outside that party. Rees has no authority to stamp because he makes an announcement and then reverses it within a week (but not within the same news cycle - that… Read more »
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Chris says:
As a rusted on Liberal voter (hey I live in Ku ring gai, Sartor destroyed the place) I cant help but like Nathan Rees he seems like a true blue westie in the what you see is what you get mould. NSW is stuffed beyond repair. Read more »
Can anyone help me out? I’m looking for the fat bloke in braces who was meant to be running the country after Labor got elected.
Surely you’ve seen him, the Union Boss who was meant to be terrorising the nation’s taffeta dress shops. Maybe he is hiding in an ante-room off the PM’s office.
There’s nothing like a healthy dose of reality to blunt most political scare campaigns, but even by the Punch’s Scary Creatures Benchmark (PSCB*), the Liberals effort at the least election was up the with the best of them.
Continue reading "Still waiting for the invasion of the scary union overlords" »
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Lech Jones says:
And who caused this Global Financial Crisis? Not the Unions but all the suits at the top of the foodchain. And who are still getting away with it - the suits at the top of the food chain.They did not lose thier jobs or their fat bonuses. It is so… Read more »
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DJG says:
Nice to see Sparrow being picked up for the absolute rubbish he contributed to this blog. I note he failed to refute my observation that if the tale about his daddy was true, his pop should have seen some jail time. It is simply bizzare that he calls Unionists thugs,… Read more »
LIKE most Australians I couldn’t give a rat’s bottom if Kevin Rudd swears or not.
What interests me is the gap between his frequently foul-mouthed private persona and the popular image of the PM as a civil-minded nerd who’s more likely to be heard reciting poetry in Mandarin than telling factional hacks to get the f… out of his office.
Not only am I not bothered by the fact that Rudd used bad language, I’m kind of thrilled that he aimed his insults at a bunch of Senate no-names who thought nothing of wasting the Prime Minister’s time to complain personally about a 25 per cent cut to their entitlements. Rudd had every right to be indignant at their impertinence in dragging him into such a trifling affair.
Continue reading "Will the real Kevin Rudd please stand up" »
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Donna Kebab says:
The “vocalising one view publicly and another in private” scenario is a bit rich coming from an Australia media which completely failed to inform readers over AWB, WMD,Tampa ect - the public knew something was rotten, but the Australian media just kept spewing it out rather than going out after… Read more »
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Jessie says:
...I do not understand? Are all people supposed to be so simple? Without multiple layers. I am what may be labeled as a mind mannered geek . . . but I have blow ups too. I don’t see any conflict in the man here, just someone with multiple layers. Read more »
Over the last couple of weeks the Deputy Prime Minister has been plugging two developing holes in a massive dam wall.
The first has been caused by the waste and mismanagement associated with the Julia Gillard memorial halls debacle. A programme wasting so much money that a school in Sydney is going to refuse free money.
The second hole in the dam wall is growing quickly and relates to her changes to the industrial award system and her promise that neither workers nor small business would be worse off with her changes to the industrial award system. A promise she knew couldn’t be kept.
Continue reading "Julia: full-time worker or part time spinner?" »
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cat says:
delperro, the liberal government had an annual grant that schools could apply for, for anything they wanted. When labour came into power they shut down this grant in order to pay for those laptops all school children were to receive. Where are those laptops now? Read more »
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RD says:
What is funny is that it would appear that Kevin Rudd thinks Julia Gillard can perform both jobs better herself than to assign her a single portfolio, and pass the other one to another member. This government is going to suffer greatly as it is relying on popularity to promote… Read more »
Here’s a quiz for your readers. How many green jobs did Kevin Rudd announce at the Labor Party Conference and how many of them were new?
Many readers of the Punch could be forgiven for thinking they heard the Prime Minister promise to deliver 50 000 new green jobs.
Unfortunately like so many of the Government’s announcements about a large array of job creation and training programmes it pays to read the fine print.
Continue reading "Labor’s green jobs promise is a huge lie" »
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Okoro says:
[...] flnoowilg the President’s visit, the United States will establish a Marine Air-Ground Task Force at Darwin’s Robertson Barracks, [...] Read more »
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johnv_au says:
This is called in political circles spin we will create jobs fix the hospital system its what we in the real world do when the wife askes to fix some thing around the house we say yes dear but have no intentions of doing it Or we will patch it… Read more »
There’s been a lot of talk recently about so-called “green shoots” springing up in our ravaged economy.
Some commentators have grasped a recent bounce in the stock market, a few surprisingly strong profit results overseas, and a benign sense of business confidence as evidence that the economy is on the path to recovery.
Well, it is time for a reality check.
Continue reading "Why unions will remain the voice of workers in Labor" »
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acai weightloss pills says:
Decide Appeal,reduce shop hard word natural himself theatre face derive shut carry primary leaf current generate finally least blue policy control except right attend used expenditure he ground status hall page whole free become fee nearly wash capital around second location remind marry welcome widely hold bridge much still very… Read more »
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Greg says:
My beef with Sharan Burrow isn’t that she’s some “union bully” running into dress shops & turning out the lights. That’s just a Liberal fantasy. Nobody bought it at the last election & no-one’s going to buy it now. Instead, I think she’s missing a terrific opportunity to advance the… Read more »
This week’s ALP National Conferences bears scant resemblance to the hey days of the seventies in Terrigal, when then-ACTU chief Bob Hawke cut deals in his budgie smugglers.
There is not even the gauntlet of the fields of pokies that provided the surreal backdrop to proceedings for most of the nineties when the Conference called the Hobart casino home.
This week’s affair at Darling Harbour in Sydney will involve a lot less flesh and a lot less vice, but the dynamic tension between the political and industrial wings of the ALP will be on display for all to witness.
Continue reading "There will be blood: A guide to the ALP conference" »
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Alex White says:
Hi Peter, Given the bloodless nature of the conference, do you think your comments were warranted? Read more »
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Michael says:
The problem with union control of the ALP is that it is undemocratic. The unions affiliated to the ALP represent 12% of the workforce. Yet these unions claim 50% of the votes at ALP Conferences. Do the union members decide who represents them at the Conference or how they will… Read more »
There aren’t many things that are more important than making sure someone has a job. If you want to fix inequality and social disadvantage in a community, if you want to give someone a leg-up in life, you find them a decent job.
For the Labor Party, jobs are in our DNA and that’s why it is such an honour to be sworn in today as the Federal Minister for Employment Participation.
Sadly we are confronted with the reality that this week a new set of unemployment figures will come out and they will probably show more Australians are out of work.
Continue reading "How the new jobs minister will help keep you employed" »
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Elizabeth Jarvis says:
I for one think Howard and Costello’s massive surpluses were economic vandalism on a grand scale. We go on about debts, but building up massive surpluses means the Government is not spending the money they’re collecting on the things they should be providing for us - better health facilities, education,… Read more »
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Bob Simpson says:
Mark, you’re living in ideological dreamland! And, if you’re one of the Prime Minister’s favourites, we should be really worried. Have you ever created a job by taking a personal and financial risk, developing an idea, planning and executing a marketing strategy, selling the product or service at a loss,… Read more »
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From: City vs country: What would you change your life for?
Dieter Moeckel says:
We made the tree change from Darwin to Wonbah more than 15 years ago. After fencing, a road, and couple of dams our money was gone. Super is enough to live comfortably. We have geese growing old and stringy the only one that made it to the pot committed Kamakazi by flying into a tree; the chooks are… [read more]From: I’d rather have a piece of toast than listen to crap lyrics
Erick says:
Led Zeppelin are responsible for my all-time favourite mixed metaphor: "There you sit, sit and stare, like a book on a shelf rusting." (Misty Mountain Hop) I laugh every time I hear it. Hmmm, I believe I've decided what to play on the way to work today. [read more]Gentle jabs to the ribs
No wuckin forries. These nuckin futs are tuckin fops
Well, puck me with a fitchfork. The F-word is apparently an acceptable part of Australian speech. That’s… Read more
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