Australian PM Ousted

[Liquid]

Hadn't seen a thread on the issue.

I think the leadership results were 57-45? I'm not well versed on Aussie politics, but I've seen a lot if feminists and misogynists jumping on this.

Heaven forbid she was judged for her political nouse, and not the fact that she's *gasp* a woman.

 

[gtone339]

Great news for the Aussies out there! Back to Kevin Rudd as the Prime Minister huh?

 

[Grayfox]

This is a really stupid country.

We had rudd first, they booted him, and put that red headed cow in that screwed crap up, now we have rudd again.


I doubt it will make a difference since labour will lose big time.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

put that red headed cow in that screwed crap up

Nothing about NDIS or Gonski is screwed up.

The problem with Australian politics is that it's about the personalities, not the policy.

 

[Hayden]

Nothing about NDIS or Gonski is screwed up.

The problem with Australian politics is that it's about the personalities, not the policy.

What about the mining and carbon taxes? Like all leaders, her time in power had it's ups and downs.

I definitely agree with your second point. The media's approach to this whole situation is absolute proof of that.

 

[Grayfox]

Thing is she is a sore loser.

She said if i labour lose the election, ill quit a while back.
Carbon tax is the stupidest thing she did.

It is not going to stop global warming, it is not going to reduce pollution output from factories.

The carbon tax is just a way to tax big business and make everyone else suffer.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

What about the mining and carbon taxes? Like all leaders, her time in power had it's ups and downs.

I'm not denying that she made mistakes. But the idea behind the mining tax was a sound one. The problem was that the mining companies, who didn't want to lose a single dollar in profits, campaigned relentlessly against it by convincing the public that it was a tax on communities. Never mind that they were the ones who were passing the cost onto the communities they were claiming to support; people like Gina Reinhart bought into Channel Ten and used their newfound influence to turn the tide against the government. That was the whole point to Conroy's media reforms: to limit the ability of people to influence the masses simply because they had more money than everyone else.

I definitely agree with your second point. The media's approach to this whole situation is absolute proof of that.

It's not the media - it's the politicians themselves.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Thing is she is a sore loser.

She said if i labour lose the election, ill quit a while back.

How is that being a sore loser? She said 'back me, or you lose me for good'. They didn't back her, so she quit. Simple as.

Rudd is an ego-maniacal liar who puts his own struggle for power before the party he represents. Hopefully Labour get squashed in the polls and he and the rest of the flip-floppers in his gang can fade into obscurity.

Abbott has his own weaknesses, but at this point he is the lesser or two evils.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Rudd is an ego-maniacal liar who puts his own struggle for power before the party he represents. Hopefully Labour get squashed in the polls and he and the rest of the flip-floppers in his gang can fade into obscurity.

Labour were already heading for a landslide defeat as it was. The only person who seemed to be unaware of it was Julia Gillard. Why not try putting Rudd back at the helm? It's not like Labour can get flattened any more than they would have if Gillard was in control. And maybe that's the best thing for everyone - it might just stop Aboott from getting carte blanche to do what he wants.

Abbott has his own weaknesses, but at this point he is the lesser or two evils.

You mean the Tony Abbott whose election strategy is to do or say whatever it takes to get into the Lodge, and then figure out the whole "policy" thing once he's there?

Tony Abbott might have his own weaknesses, but he shares one big one with Rudd and Gillard: he has no idea what the people want and is only in politics to serve himself. Abbott never would have brought in NDIS, he never would have brought in Gonski, and he refuses to allow a conscience vote on gay marriage (which would allow it to get the necessary votes to be recognised) because he's made to feel uncomfortable by it when most people in this country support it. This father-knows-best attitude will only ruin the country, and Abbott will expect us all to thank him for it.

 

[Mike Rotch]

Abbott, Rudd and Gillard are all woeful leaders. Abbott has been a "say one thing, do another" guy for ages, so I don't expect him to unwind all Labour's policies when he comes in - especially with a huge deficit to balance.

 

[Grayfox]

How is that being a sore loser? She said 'back me, or you lose me for good'. They didn't back her, so she quit. Simple as.

Rudd is an ego-maniacal liar who puts his own struggle for power before the party he represents. Hopefully Labour get squashed in the polls and he and the rest of the flip-floppers in his gang can fade into obscurity.

Abbott has his own weaknesses, but at this point he is the lesser or two evils.

She said she'd quit if labour lost before the leadership spill.

 

[Mic_Col]

I really doubt this 11th hour re-shuffle of the cards can help Labour win the next election.

And that basically they shouldn't have even done it. It was made to look as if Julia had made the move herself (calling the spill) to stop the speculation, but that was only as a result of the very real power plays going on within the ALP.

And now the party have lived up to their own worst public image ie: face-less men of the ALP, face-less men {repeat ad nauseam}.

Wouldn't / Shouldn't a political party have a plan or strategy for how to best go through a losing election. Know that it's coming and do it in a way that sets them up well to be in a strong position after the fact. Retain a good amount of seats and set themselves up in their new position as an opposition party that will hold the new government to account for their election promises. Making it more likely that they can then win back power in the next election.

Clearly they don't and have to make desperate moves such as this.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Wouldn't / Shouldn't a political party have a plan or strategy for how to best go through a losing election.

In theory, yes. But that only really works in an election based on policy. The problem is that this election is going to be based on personality. Rather than have logical debate, our politicians like to dumb key issues down into a single sentence that they promote as a catch-phrase whilst carrying out character assassination on an unprecedented scale. There's no strategy that can respond to that.

 

[Mic_Col]

I think you're right.

I had some mental image of a party winning ground by playing the 'better man' by doing the right thing and not resorting to gutter politics.

But in an Australian election???

Removing rose-coloured glasses.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Why do you think we built our nation's capital in the middle of nowhere? It wasn't to settle the debate between Sydney and Melbourne as to which city would be capital. It was to create a city where we could put all of our politicians and keep them as far away from everyone else as possible so that we can live our lives without them interfering too much and they can have all the sledging matches they want.

Canberra is basically the Thunderdome.

 

[FlyingFox]

*post removed*

 

[Sanji Himura]

The carbon tax is just a way to tax big business and make everyone else suffer.

I wish someone makes that argument with Global Warming in the US, other than conservative thinkers.