Opposition
Tony Abbott’s initial explanation for dumping his parliamentary secretary Cory Bernardi was revealing for how far it did not go.
“I was concerned about what Cory said in the Senate last night and then when he compounded that by going unnecessarily on to radio this morning to repeat the matter, I swiftly concluded that that was one mistake too many,’’ he said.
It suggested Bernardi’s bestiality reference was not so much wrong in principle as in quantity. Further, it revealed that the outspoken South Australian would have survived had he not gone on radio – especially as sworn enemy Christopher Pyne was already on air on that station doing his regular Wednesday morning spot.
Continue reading "How Team Abbott is shaping up post-Bernardi" »
Fear can be a powerful motivator but it eventually wanes, unless you can find a new bogeyman.
Take Australia’s retail sector, where it is fast becoming clear that we have a case of too many shops and not enough customers.
Despite our solid growth, there’s been a structural shift in behaviour away from debt-fuelled demand towards frugalism. The change has exposed a lot of small and medium businesses and if RBA Governor Glenn Stevens is right, the old days will not be back.
Continue reading "The Opposition wants you to be afraid. Be very afraid." »
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Rubyred says:
Yes, but she has lied before! “There will be no carbon tax under a Government I lead”. Why should anyone believe her now? Read more »
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Redmond says:
The best weapon the Labor party has, is Barry O’Farrell. Look at how he has broken every promise to win power, and blaming the ‘previous Government’ for his own failures. (Read ‘blaming us for not voting him in earlier). We’re all bad girls and boys. Show the stinking pollies, we… Read more »
Back in 2001, on the Nine Network’s now defunct Sunday program, Tony Abbott invented a new word. Roonism. The then Industrial Relations Minister was complaining about the relentless negativity of the Labor opposition under Kim Beazley.
“One of the real problems we have at the moment is roonism,” Abbott said. “As in ‘We’ll all be rooned’ said Hanrahan.” This was a reference to an Australian bush poem in which pessimistic farmers constantly predict disaster no matter how good conditions are.
Roonism, Abbott explained, “is a kind of a mutant sibling of the tall poppy syndrome, and it’s poisoning our public life at the moment and it risks doing damage to the economy. “And of course, the chief economic ghoul literally praying for bad news is Kim Beazley. The champagne corks pop in Kim Beazley’s office every time someone gets into trouble.”
Continue reading "We’ll all be rooned, except the Coalition at the election" »
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Food for a smarter debate says:
I think this comments section is an apt reflection of public debate at the moment about domestic politics - nobody is really open to changing their mind and only a few commentators have sought fact to support their view - the few that did ended up in a more amicable… Read more »
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jolly says:
Was it Abbott who once said ” that the focus of women should be on domestic duties and who had older male role models…..” and what even worse is the fact that ALL of the coalition agree with him…Not one person on the Coalition side has told him to shut… Read more »
Rudd thinks Federal politics is “childish” and has become worse over the past decade.
Sorry - not that Rudd, who frankly we’re all sick of hearing about - but his brother Greg, who is now a business consultant.
Don’t expect him to provide any behind-the-scenes revelations from Camp Rudd over the past few weeks - he hasn’t actually spoken to Kevin since May last year, saying they “agree to disagree” in many areas. But he does have a background which qualifies him to speak with some authority on political machinations at the federal level.
Continue reading "Rudd: Politics is a childish farce and it’s getting worse" »
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Seth Brundle says:
“My view is that, is that one thing politicians do listen to is public sentiment” Except when it has to do with a carbon tax, apparently… Read more »
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Ricko says:
Paul, I think you are blinded by party politics…which parties absolutely love and thank you for. As for unions - they do occasionally do stupid things, and you only have to look at the US to see what erosion of Union power has achieved for corporations - in your first… Read more »
The Opposition’s constant nagging of Julia Gillard about her personal integrity was hugely successful over the past 12 months but it is starting to outlive its function.
It’s crowding out Opposition responses to other issues and beginning to be a problem for the Coalition, not an asset.
At some stage Tony Abbott has to mount a credible case for superior economic policy and the more he demands a snap election the more voters will demand to see the goods.
Continue reading "The Liberal Party is offering opposition but no alternative" »
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Call me brave, or even stupid, but after David Penberthy’s piece last week, I’ve decided to launch a defence of NSW Labor leader John Robertson on The Punch. I expect pundits are already commenting below, calling me a union hack – or worse – as often occurs when I contribute to this site.
One of the reasons I feel compelled to launch this defence is because I find it curious that we endlessly search for people with convictions in politics, but end up bagging a bloke who was willing to stand up for his convictions.
Unpopular as it appears to the Labor elite, his convictions were shared by the majority of people in the community and by the workers that he was paid to represent.
Continue reading "Robbo’s no yobbo, he’s all guts and brains" »
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handbags says:
It is hard to find knowledgeable people on this topic, but you sound like you know what you?e talking about! Thanks Read more »
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AT says:
AdamC @ 01:12pm | 07/04/11 Did you really have to post that last comment? Did you really have to post that you aren’t gonna play any more? If you couldn’t rise to the challenge of answering a few simple questions, you couldn’t just let it go? You had to come… Read more »
Amid the furore of Cyclone Yasi, it largely escaped comment that Tony Abbott had begun a slow crab-walk away from his trademark “just say no’’ approach.
In fact twice this week, he went all bi-partisan on us. Well, bi-partisan for him anyway.
First he proposed sitting down with Julia Gillard to work through possible budget savings to be made in lieu of her proposed $1.8 billion flood levy. Then within days, he went further pledging to support Ms Gillard’s moves to get the long-term jobless, under-employed casuals, and people with disabilities, off welfare and into the full-time workforce.
Continue reading "Abbott’s clever shift from Dr No to Mr Yes" »
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Jasmine says:
Tony Abbott was condescending and just “playing the game” with his sit down with me crap to Julia. Funny him and Joe made a complete fool of themselves with their “cutting the fat” options, they looked like a pair of galahs up there. Cutting out foreign aid to Indonesia -… Read more »
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Rob r Charteris says:
Flexo says:07:31am; Killed off work choices when the Opposition still had the number in the senate. Show me in history where that has ever happened. I think the reason no one has bothered to aswer this three q crap thing is if you really think that then it is not… Read more »
South Australian Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond, who’s first action when she won the post was to ban swearing in the party room, has today said she’d be happy to be tasered.
So having 50,000 volts of electricity shot through your body might not be as embarrassing as say, sniffing a colleague’s chair, or being outed as having carried a teddy bear around in your uni days, but it’s pretty stupid.
And it makes you wonder what we’ve done to deserve politicians who think we’re so easily bought with cheap stunts.
Continue reading "It’s the lot of the Opposition Leader to humiliate oneself" »
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Andrew says:
At the end of the day Redmond will never be Premier, everyone, even her colleagues know that. Can someone worth voting for in the South Australia Liberal caucus please be brave enough to stand up to the job?? Cheers Read more »
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Nickk says:
Tim and Tom (haha), the media may have helped Xenophon rise, but at least he’s actually done what he’s supposed to and represented his state in the Senate instead of just following the party hivemind. Read more »
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