Australian Politics thread [merged]

[Chuck17]

 

[Judge Roughneck]

"If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?"

"If 400 people drown in the ocean and Tony doesn't tell anybody, did they really die?"

The only sounds I hear are the screams of thousands of drowned souls because a pompous, egotistic, self-centred believer of their own hype changed a policy that was working for all parties involved - our country and the asylum seekers.  I hope the votes and adulation the arrogant seeker of attention received were worth the blood he has on his hands.

And how left wing of you and '65 to forget the deaths under Labor yet gloat about the possibility of it under a Liberal government.

Quite the conclusion you drew there

I know I'm mates with Hitler, yet I missed the bit where I was "gloating" over some Asians making peace with that large body of water

[1965]

Don't think the Abbott government is in for a nice quiet time in government especially if they keep stuffing up like they have done in the first couple of weeks.

Honestly this would have to be the worst government in existence. Even ex-Liberal PMs are calling this government a Rugby club.

 


Abbott's model to wreck a government may come back to bite him
 
Peter Hartcher

Tony Abbott is promising again and again that he will lead a "methodical, measured, calm" government. But he's overlooking something. He's just finished writing a rip-roaring new guidebook on how to be a successful opposition.

It's the Abbott model of how to destroy a government. And guess what? The Labor party noticed.

Rule No. 1: Don't give the government a thing. Fight it up hill, down dale, day in day out. Be strident, be angry, be unreasonable. Apply maximum pressure and see what cracks.

Rule No. 2: Don't allow the government to control the narrative. Make a lot of noise. Fill the airwaves with angry dissent and maximum outrage. Generate an impression of disorder. If you control the narrative, you control the psychological battlespace.

Rule No. 3: Exploit the deadliest of all contemporary policy issues, the one that was central to the downfall of the last three prime ministers: climate change. This remains a potent issue and will remain so for years.

And the Abbott model worked. "We limited Labor to six years," points out a quietly satisfied member of the Coalition leadership. "Labor under Hawke and Keating had 10 years; we had 11½ years under Howard. Labor is out after six."

So while Abbott wants to be methodical, measured and calm, will the Labor opposition let him?

Whether it's Anthony Albanese or Bill Shorten leading the Labor Party, you can be confident the opposition will apply the Abbott model.

Both men plan a combative, aggressive style and relentless pressure. Both are determined to keep Abbott's policy on climate change a centrepiece of contention.

Abbott gave Labor no quarter and can expect none in return. He showed new ways to crack a government and they will now be applied to him.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/national/abbotts-model-to-wreck-a-government-may-come-back-to-bite-him-20130913-2tqa7.html#ixzz2fl5Q6I7F

[tiger101]

Wish this thread would end FFs

I have another three years of political anti-rabbit comments to make.

For example.

Have you heard Tony's latest three word slogan?

Now he is going to "Hide the Boats"

 

I don't see how they are hiding the boats when all they have changed is instead of having a media release every time a boat arrives they just hold a press conference once a week detailing the boat numbers.  1965 you need to stop repeating the ALP spin its getting old.

THEY HAVE MADE THIS CHANGE FOR POLITICAL REASONS>

AND FOR NO OTHER REASON.

DON'T BE SO EFFING BLIND.

The most likely did change it from making a media release after every boat arrival to having a press conference once a week because of political reasons but they aren't hiding the boats like you claimed they are.

[tiger101]

Don't think the Abbott government is in for a nice quiet time in government especially if they keep stuffing up like they have done in the first couple of weeks.

Honestly this would have to be the worst government in existence. Even ex-Liberal PMs are calling this government a Rugby club.

 

1965 we get it you hate Abbott and the liberals but don't hyperbole things.

[Smokey]

Honestly this would have to be the worst government in existence.

1 week in existence and a learned professional man such as yourself has arrived at this conclusion.

 

[Smokey]

Abbott gave Labor no quarter and can expect none in return. He showed new ways to crack a government and they will now be applied to him.

Hate to be the bearer of bad news '65 but Abbott had nothing to do with "cracking" the new government - they proved to be 'self-cracking' champions and if not for the dubious support of 3 independants turning on their own individual electorates' mandate they would have achieved total self-cracking destruction within 3 years, a new world record that even the completely inept Whitlam government couldn't achieve (although they did try bloody hard to do just that).

[1965]

1 week in existence and a learned professional man such as yourself has arrived at this conclusion.

 

1965 we get it you hate Abbott and the liberals but don't hyperbole things.

Just quoting Abbott in opposition.

 

[Chuck17]

  

[Judge Roughneck]

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/dec/17/high-house-prices-inequality-normans

[1965]

I'm not alone in my thoughts on the new government.

Already shaping up to be a one-term government.


Coalition heading backwards with first steps
 
September 25, 2013

Ross Gittins

I'm starting to think we didn't get much of a deal when we decided to change the federal government. We got rid of a bunch racked by infighting and bad at executing policy, but substituted a bunch with a very limited idea of what needed to be changed to get us back on the right path.

What a to-do list: sack econocrats guilty of having worked with the enemy, pass an edict against climate change and discourage all discussion of it, stop publicising boat arrivals, build more motorways, move to a cut-price national broadband network and take science for granted.

It's early days, of course, and there's more, but not a whole lot more: abolishing the onerous tax on our impoverished global mining companies, getting rid of red and green tape (translation: making it easier for big business to get its way without delay) and beating up the Tax Office for being too diligent in making small business pay its tax.

It's as if Tony Abbott believes returning the Liberals to power will, of itself, solve most of our problems. Everything was fine when we last had a Liberal government, so restore the Libs and everything will be fine again.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/coalition-heading-backwards-with-first-steps-20130924-2uc1u.html#ixzz2fqwxJXBd

[1965]

WTF, George Orwell would be proud of Tony.

Abbott’s office takes control of ministers’ media

James Massola Political correspondent
 
Tony Abbott’s press office has moved to crack down on media appearances by his frontbench, issuing an edict that all media requests for interviews be approved by the Prime Minister’s staff.
A copy of an email sent to the Coalition’s ministerial media advisers at 5am on Wednesday, leaked to The Australia Financial Review, announces that former long-serving Coalition staffer Kate Walshe has joined the Abbott press office.

Ms Walshe’s appointment comes in the wake of the retirement of veteran media chief Tony O’Leary and follows the promotion of former senior press secretary Andrew Hirst to the position of deputy chief of staff.

The email, from Abbott press secretary James Boyce, says Ms Walshe will have overall responsibility for coordinating ministerial media.

“All media coordination and requests should go through Kate first. This covers all national media interviews on television, radio and print. This includes any ABC local radio or ABC television interviews, the Sunday programmes, Sky News, and metropolitan print media longer-format interviews, etc,’’ it says.

“With any regular appearances on shows such as Sky AM Agenda, they should first have been coordinated through Kate at least the day before; on the morning of the interview it is still best to speak with Russ Neal for the main daily issues and messages.”

The edict comes after the Coalition’s decision to limit information made available to the media and the public about its Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which is designed to stop the arrival of asylum seekers by boat.

http://www.afr.com/p/national/abbott_office_takes_control_of_ministers_kOrNDWvxfGRPUF4FEGzQPK

[Rampstar]

WTF, George Orwell would be proud of Tony.
Abbott’s office takes control of ministers’ media

James Massola Political correspondent
 
Tony Abbott’s press office has moved to crack down on media appearances by his frontbench, issuing an edict that all media requests for interviews be approved by the Prime Minister’s staff.
A copy of an email sent to the Coalition’s ministerial media advisers at 5am on Wednesday, leaked to The Australia Financial Review, announces that former long-serving Coalition staffer Kate Walshe has joined the Abbott press office.

Ms Walshe’s appointment comes in the wake of the retirement of veteran media chief Tony O’Leary and follows the promotion of former senior press secretary Andrew Hirst to the position of deputy chief of staff.

The email, from Abbott press secretary James Boyce, says Ms Walshe will have overall responsibility for coordinating ministerial media.

“All media coordination and requests should go through Kate first. This covers all national media interviews on television, radio and print. This includes any ABC local radio or ABC television interviews, the Sunday programmes, Sky News, and metropolitan print media longer-format interviews, etc,’’ it says.

“With any regular appearances on shows such as Sky AM Agenda, they should first have been coordinated through Kate at least the day before; on the morning of the interview it is still best to speak with Russ Neal for the main daily issues and messages.”

The edict comes after the Coalition’s decision to limit information made available to the media and the public about its Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which is designed to stop the arrival of asylum seekers by boat.

http://www.afr.com/p/national/abbott_office_takes_control_of_ministers_kOrNDWvxfGRPUF4FEGzQPK

finally we have a real government with real leadership 

[Chuck17]

WTF, George Orwell would be proud of Tony.
Abbott’s office takes control of ministers’ media

James Massola Political correspondent
 
Tony Abbott’s press office has moved to crack down on media appearances by his frontbench, issuing an edict that all media requests for interviews be approved by the Prime Minister’s staff.
A copy of an email sent to the Coalition’s ministerial media advisers at 5am on Wednesday, leaked to The Australia Financial Review, announces that former long-serving Coalition staffer Kate Walshe has joined the Abbott press office.

Ms Walshe’s appointment comes in the wake of the retirement of veteran media chief Tony O’Leary and follows the promotion of former senior press secretary Andrew Hirst to the position of deputy chief of staff.

The email, from Abbott press secretary James Boyce, says Ms Walshe will have overall responsibility for coordinating ministerial media.

“All media coordination and requests should go through Kate first. This covers all national media interviews on television, radio and print. This includes any ABC local radio or ABC television interviews, the Sunday programmes, Sky News, and metropolitan print media longer-format interviews, etc,’’ it says.

“With any regular appearances on shows such as Sky AM Agenda, they should first have been coordinated through Kate at least the day before; on the morning of the interview it is still best to speak with Russ Neal for the main daily issues and messages.”

The edict comes after the Coalition’s decision to limit information made available to the media and the public about its Operation Sovereign Borders policy, which is designed to stop the arrival of asylum seekers by boat.

http://www.afr.com/p/national/abbott_office_takes_control_of_ministers_kOrNDWvxfGRPUF4FEGzQPK

finally we have a real government with real leadership 

Exactly real leaders leading, not puppet leaders being manipulated by the faceless puppet masters

[1965]

The photo says it all.

 

PM's role as Minister for Women is not such a joke
Date September 26, 2013
Lindy Edwards



'It is pretty clear that Abbott still "doesn't get it".'
Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Tony Abbott's appointment of himself as the Minister for Women may actually work out to be better for him and us than it first appears.

It is highly likely that Abbott decided to embrace the role as a media strategy. He knew he was going to cop flak for the lack of women in cabinet, and he would not have wanted to make matters worse by scrapping or demoting the role. To make matters worse, with Julie Bishop fully occupied with Foreign Affairs, his only other choice would have been to handball the role to one of the blokes. He tried to make a virtue of necessity by embracing the role himself.

Nonetheless, it might just work out to his advantage and ours if he takes the role on seriously and it isn't just window dressing. In the Hawke-Keating government, and in the early years of the Howard government, the Office for the Status of Women was located in the Prime Minister's department and had an important role in the cabinet decision-making process.

Its role was to review all submissions going to cabinet, and to draw attention to the impacts of policy decisions on women. Often issues with superannuation, tax, welfare payments, the organisation of aged care and childcare have a different impact on women to men, and the office's role was to ensure that a decision-making process dominated by men did give some thought to women's perspective.

If Abbott adopts that process again, it might just save his heavily male-dominated government from inadvertently running roughshod over the interests of 51 per cent of the population. It might work as a safeguard for him and for the wider community.

It is also a sign of progress, that the role of women is now so politically heated that Abbott doesn't consider it an issue he can ignore. When the Howard government came to power, the Office for the Status of Women was slowly eroded and eventually completely sidelined. It also systematically defunded community organisations advocating women's issues. And perhaps most importantly, it disbanded the units that collected statistics on women's advancement or lack of it.

The Coalition's current ''hide the boats'' strategy isn't new; it has form in knowing how to silence issues from the public agenda.

However, Tony Abbott is not John Howard and there is a difference between ''not getting it'' and malice. Abbott claims he has come a long way on these issues, and that may be true; the proof will be in his actions.

It is pretty clear that Abbott still ''doesn't get it''. His response to his sexist gaffes in the election campaign - that he ''didn't realise [he] had said anything that could be remarked upon'' - was telling. The gap between his obliviousness and the reactions of the young women around him (including his daughters) highlights that he doesn't understand the invisible social dynamics at work.

Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/comment/pms-role-as-minister-for-women-is-not-such-a-joke-20130925-2ueh7.html#ixzz2fw9mNlR6