Wake in fright

 

Peter Hartcher, in a column titled How a toxic elixir destroyed the prism of trust, has starkly set out a potential disaster scenario for Labor in yesterday's Sydney Morning Herald:

 Australians will never see Rudd in the same light again. Every policy will now be seen as just another piece of clever politics. What's the point of Kevin Rudd? Australians don't know any more.

A shock jock I heard on radio the other day told his listeners that a caller, a critic of the government, must be correct in his rant against Rudd... because Rudd is always wrong. Whoever disagrees with Rudd is therefore right, the logic went. The subject was the Tobacco Tax. The critical caller, stricken with lung cancer, had rung to complain that Rudd had deprived him of his final six months' of smoking enjoyment. The shock jock could not but agree and sympathise.

The aim of the last few weeks in Australian political reportage has been to slander Rudd's character so that the centrepiece of the election year, the Budget, will be destroyed before its ink is dry on the paper. 

Critics of the government won't have to set out why the Budget is flawed. They will just assert that Rudd is unhinged, desperate, panic-stricken, unable to deliver programs, and useless at seeing things through. With the Budget in tatters there will be no upswing from the current disturbing poll figures, and Tony Abbott will be elected Prime Minister. Or so the theory goes...

In the details, the theory states that it is possible to elect the Coalition with no policies (except 'Real Action', whatever that means) and little talent left after its post-2007 blood-letting and systematic desertions, if only the incumbent Rudd is so damaged that the voters turn away from him without considering his policies. As to Rudd's record, it is to be turned into a series of nightmares, travesties, all of which (we have been told) have been failures, rorts, inept, disasters and fiascos.... whether this is true or not. Any official report made on any Rudd policy is to be trawled for the one snippet of criticism it contains and then that supposed flaw is to be exploited to the hilt.

The media organizations, especially those based at News Ltd., have given up imitating fairness and balanced comment. Their front pages and TV headlines are now all bad for Rudd, viciously so, all the time. Nothing escapes their attention. By being so disrespectful, they are giving permission to their readers to blame Rudd for everything and anything. If a reader's business goes bad, or even experiences a slowdown, it is Rudd's fault for not rescuing it. If they have trouble finding childcare for their kids, blame Kevin07. If their superannuation takes a dive for a week or so, ditto. But it takes two to tango. The media can set up the miserable scenario, but the public needs to be receptive to the idea. This is where Rudd made his first mistake. He believed the voters would remain constant.

Australians, by nature, are a scared, cowed lot. We literally hang off the end of the human archipelago. Surrounded by ocean and, after that, brown and yellow people, we see ourselves as vulnerable to attack and invasion. We are in constant stress from the fear that anytime soon the fragile thread by which we hang onto the world will snap. We are a cork on the water, in almost a real and certainly a metaphorical sense. If we are not swamped by the hordes to our north - potentially millions of them, according to Tony Abbott - our economy will be clobbered by a fat finger in New York, pressing zero one too many times on an anonymous keyboard.

To compensate for our parlous perch in the world we've developed a protective cockiness altogether inappropriate to our situation. We constantly boast of Australia being 'The Lucky Country', 'God's little acre' and so on. We travel the world, punching above our weight in sports, business, war and the arts, yet we still call Australia 'home', because it is so fabulous. We would rather believe that we avoided recession during the GFC because we are better than other countries, whose economies have been devastated and remain so. It is easier to put our faith in a manifest destiny to be spared as a nation than to accept that our government acted swiftly, courageously and controversially to stop the economic rot using stimulus measures during 2008-2009. But the Stimulus did no good, it is said. Many now believe there was no recession to avoid, or that if there was, Rudd and his government over-reacted, in order to make themselves look like heroes.

We are constantly informed that we owe our economic success to mining. So, when a tax is proposed that will properly compensate us for the excess profits forthcoming from the mining boom, we panic and turn against the government. We must not upset those who can ruin us by threatening to go elsewhere to dig their holes. When such threats are made we don't feel a proper, righteous outrage at their arrogance. In our insecurity we beg for forgiveness instead, in effect allowing ourselves to be held hostage, bluffed by a bunch of billionaires, all of them Liberal Party donors and patrons, thinking only of themselves and their political mates.

The absurdity of this scenario is seen when we consider that the mining boom is set to last for thirty years, as if that was a long time. No-one asks, "What will we do then, when our landscape is littered with craters and the miners have moved on? Why shouldn't we make hay while the sun shines, like so many other resource rich countries, and tax the miners more appropriately?" The answer lies in our insecurity, always there, waiting for the opportunity to bloom again.

Rudd's mistake has been to trust the voters to see the issues as clearly as he sees them; to see that we cannot rely on digging up dirt forever; to see that we are a part of the world, subject to its vicissitudes; to realize that we must never let our cockiness override reality, thinking we are somehow immune from danger. Our country has a 'Small Dog Syndrome': ready to pick a fight with a Rottweiler, but even more ready to turn tail and run when the bigger dog bites. Our country runs scared. It is axiomatic that it will respond to a scare campaign.

Some may think this is blaming the nation for Rudd's mistakes. Not so. The whole thesis of this piece is that Rudd made a monumental mistake: he thought the public, having once made up its mind, would never change. He thought he could do whatever he wanted to and they would forgive him. He trusted a constancy, which was never there. He left the moral ground to his enemies, hoping that we would be rational in assessing their claims. But we are an irrational lot. Given the chance to be scared we let ourselves in for the terror every time. Our naive trust in miners as our saviours, for example, leads us to offer obsequiousness to them whenever they demand it. Mining is a very small employer, but the rewards are huge. As for the rest of us, we can sit back for thirty years and sell each other real estate and insurance policies. Let the miners be the productive ones, and don't ever upset them, because then we might have to do some work. This brings me to the second aspect of the Australian people: they are lazy.

By any measure Australia is a banana republic. Our chief sources of wealth have always been what we could pick up off the ground or otherwise scavenge for easily and flog off to international buyers. As bananas grow on trees, so are gold nuggets found in streams, wools on the sheep's back, and so does iron ore get dug up by the mega-bucketload. Somebody else will always add value to our ores and our nuggets, while we sit on our bums and congratulate ourselves for being wonderful. The slightest threat to this cosy existence engenders panic.

Combine national laziness, cockiness and paranoia with a well-placed scare campaign, a vicious media controlled from New York, a cynical Opposition, a complacent Prime Minister and you have an almost sure winner. What Rudd can do about it, I don't know. He may cobble something together to get him over the election line. I certainly hope so. But the disease will still be there. The Budget is stillborn (the media will see to that). The miners will continue their posturing. Most alarmingly, the people will remain scared, as they have always been, since right back before Federation. They will continue to believe that — as the media tells them — unless a solution is instant it is no solution. But most of all they will not want to challenge their cosy view of Australia as something special, apart from the rest of the world, blessed by God, with them being lucky to be on the inside looking out, if only in fear. Rudd's challenge is to convince the public we can control our own destiny and that only then we need not, every morning, wake in fright.

What do you think?

 


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lyn

11/05/2010Hi Bushfire Bill Bushfire Bill You are marvellous, thankyou for your brilliant piece, we are so lucky to have your work on The Political Sword. [b][quote]A shock jock I heard on radio the other day told his listeners that a caller, a critic of the government, must be correct in his rant against Rudd... because Rudd is always wrong. Whoever disagrees with Rudd is therefore right, [/quote][/b] Somebody or some Newspaper has to tell Mr Murdoch, "the voters will decide this election not you" and his band of untruthful biased Journalists, with nothing more to back up their statements, "than we must be correct because we as the reporters, for Mr Murdoch said so". Paywall, please come sooner.

Michael

11/05/2010I've just been watching Question Time, and after it finished I recalled something I remember from when Turnbull was LOTO (but couldn't get the numbers). His public rating would rise when Parliament wasn't sitting, but when people saw him on the floor of the House, it would dip. Might I suggest something of the reverse reaction has occurred with Kevin Rudd these last few weeks? That the recent fall in Rudd's approval might have been because he did spend too much time in hospitals and hard hats, and not being seen to be Prime Minister in his position front and center behind the Despatches Box? Where those who you posit "wake in fright" like to see their leader. Slightly neurotically, of course, on the part of those who can only sleep easily at night with Daddy in the house, but, Rudd visibly being PM, standing 'at the helm', 'in charge', being 'a leader' makes a huge difference to frightened wakers. Howard (surely the least naturally qualified individual to have done so?) lived off the 'looking like a Prime Minister' trick for years. How many flags did his staff carry around for his backdrops? In Parliament today Kevin Rudd was in complete charge of his situation, not only looking like a Prime Minister, but being one. And in doing that made the noisy and rambunctious Opposition look... well, stupid. From the top down. Abbott tried his 'gotcha' questions on Climate Change and resources taxes and got nowhere. I expect that this sitting of Parliament and the response to the Budget will put Abbott so front and center that those who pay attention to him will wake in genuine fright at the prospect of him as PM, and of his superannuated shadow ministry in power.

Bushfire Bill

11/05/2010Michael, the same thing occurred to me.

janice

11/05/2010[quote]Combine national laziness, cockiness and paranoia with a well-placed scare campaign, a vicious media controlled from New York, a cynical Opposition, a complacent Prime Minister and you have an almost sure winner. [/quote] I agree with your assessment Bushfire but disagree that the PM is complacent. I don't think that Rudd thought for one minute that the public, having once made up its mind, wouldn't change it. I do think though that, like the rest of us, he is shocked at the malice and hate spewing forth from the combined forces of the media and coalition. For me, I just cannot see Labor losing this election to one, Tony Abbott. Australians are all you describe but I believe the majority are not stupid enough to crown Abbott king when it comes down to ticking the ballot paper. Sanity will return.

HS

11/05/2010Welcome Back to the paddock, BB! A fine effort. Speaking of the fear that the media and the Opposition love to cultivate, on this Budget Day, what is the top story being blared from the media in their afternoon News Bulletins, and probably even later on in the main Bulletin? Those scurvy dog 'Illegals' have been found out to have been put up at Taxpayers' expense(shock!horror!) in a Motel in Brisbane!!! All 70 of them!!! Right next to a Child Care Centre!!! Who knows what they'll do to the little WASP babies???!!! It's all Rudd's fault!!!

Jason

11/05/2010BB, These lazy so called "journalists" are nothing more than opinion writers and would be at home on ACA or TT. The reason that we "wake in fright" is all I ever seem to hear is an opposition shadow saying what ever on a news bullitin not the minister. Yesterday on PM Agenda Julie Bishop on first as though she was important then Tanner as minister having to come up with answers to her guesses. The media seem to me act as though we are being governed from opposition.

Bushfire Bill

11/05/2010[i]The media seem to me act as though we are being governed from opposition.[/i] Jason, I had the exact same thought this morning when I heard an Opposition spokesperson (can't remember who it was) saying to an ABC interviewer that "at a minimum we require the government to do" this, that and the other in the Budget speech tonight. "Governing from Opposition". They were actually trying to [i]dictate[/i] what the government was required to do, as a minimum, as if they were the actual ones in charge. Also on ABC's [i]AM[/i] this morning, Swan was on the program, but only in snippets, there only to punctuate Opposition demands and comments.

lyn

11/05/2010hi Michael The same here, watching Question time, I said to my husband, look at Kevin Rudd he looks like a Prime Minister, completely in charge and control, look at the other lot. Useless points of order, rowdy, intejecting, getting thrown out. How stupid of Tony Abbott to ask a question about the ETS, he may as well have said to Kevin Rudd, here is a piece of wood [b]bash my head in[/b].

lyn

11/05/2010Hi Bushfire Bill Aren't you talking to me.

Snoozer289

11/05/2010Hi Lyn, Who couldn't talk to you? You are such a valuable contributor and participate to this site. Your contributions are what add flesh to all our comments, and speaking for myself we very much appreciate the time and effort you put in Thankyou

bilgedigger

11/05/2010BB - I respect your comments but after reading your latest I'm divided between giving some credence to elements of it but on the other hand not sure whether I shouldn't be recommending that you consider a Bex and a good lie down and let the next few days wash over you. Yes, the Opposition have spent some time laying the groundwork in an effort to produce the kind of headline they want tomorrow. The repetition of words by so many on the Opposition "team" gives the game away, and some of the comments in the media are merely rehearsals of what they will hope to produce tomorrow. The theme of some of them on the other hand is that "Swan's Budget to save Rudd", and so it goes. But chin up, even if there are many who are taken in at the moment there are many others who are not. We therefore have a job to do. Perhaps you could send a copy of your post to Kevin Rudd's office with a plea for him to let his inner Rottweiler free if you think that is what is needed. No offence Bushfire Bill but you know the old saying about never giving the Opposition a free kick.

lyn

11/05/2010Hi Snoozer 289 How nice you are, thankyou for your kind comment. You are very valuable too. Cheers!

lyn

11/05/2010[b]HI AD AND EVERYBODY[/b] [b]HERE IS GROG ON QUESTION TIME TODAY, EXCELLENT, TERRIFIC, THANKYOU GROG[/b] [b]On rhe QT: is it still March? by Grog, Grog's Gamut [/b]The problem is, the Libs can’t get away from the fact that if they think it is bad that the ETS has been delayed, why don’t they pass it? If they don’t want it passed, then what are they asking Rudd to do? http://grogsgamut.blogspot.com/

gusface

11/05/2010Good budget- played straight nothing fancy tradesman like expect the MSM and fibs to go totally berko

Ad astra reply

11/05/2010BB and others I hope that after the Budget speech and the ABC interviews you will feel reassured that Wayne Swan and the Government has got the economic situation under firm control. Wayne Swan is becoming more proficient by the day. His budget was balanced and responsible, and his interview with Red Kerry confident and forthright - he was not willing to wear any nonsense from him. The two giving an opinion on the economics, George and Alan, were so cautious, covering their backs with qualifications, and talking in language few would understand. I got the impression they were worried about appearing to be too supportive of the budget lest they incur ridicule from their colleagues. Chris Uhlmann gave a reasonably lucid political commentary. Overall I was impressed with Swan and his budget efforts. Joe Hockey was flummoxed and talked in ever decreasing circles. It's just as well he had to stop short of disappearing you know where. But let's wait for the onslaught in tomorrows media!

Ad astra reply

11/05/2010Lyn Thank you for the Grog link, a very complete picture of QT, which I missed. Thanks Grog - I wish I'd seen it - it sounded entertaining.

lyn

11/05/2010Hi Ad Yes Grog is great on question time, he tells exactly, what I think when I'm watching only better. This is a video of Joe Hockey, whinging and whining after he came out of the budget lockup. To be expected. Abbott's reply will be interesting, Joe Hockey said it will be [b]real[/b] and [b]real numbers[/b]

Lyn

11/05/2010Hi Hillbilly Just noticed your new gravatar, looks great. Hi Jason The Coalition is trying to Govern from opposition, have you noticed how Julie Bishop spits her words.

HS

11/05/2010Peter Hartcher called it a 'Zen Budget', which is a very catchy, positive spin on the Budget. Let's hope it lasts until tomorrow. Personally I'm glad the government made permanent the yearly Carer's Bonus. No longer will it be subject to the whims of a Coalition government seeking to find 'savings' to fill a 'Labor Black Hole'. Also, I, with a young fella wanting to go into the mining game in WA(cliche, I know, but the money attracts a big, strong kid with less brains than his brother), am over the moon that the government has guaranteed a training place to every kid <25 in whatever field he wants to go into. And there was I thinking I'd have to pay big bucks to get him all his tickets and licences. Not only that, but now the Coalition are going to have to nail their colours to the mast wrt what programs they will cut to pay for the initiatives they want to take to the election, as Labor has given them no money to play with. Hopefully the Resource Rent Tax will be tied to the Budget Supply papers, and the Opposition will have to take the Nuclear Option and Blkock Supply to vote it down. Only a very hubristic Opposition would do that, and I know that Abbott is considering it, but does he actaully have the Lathamesque degree of cavalier bravado to actually do it and bring on an election off the back of it? I hope so in a way, because I think that the governnment will already have that option covered off, and ads ready to go telling people exactly what that would mean in relation to an Abbott Prime Ministership, and no amount of advertising by yesterday's ad man, John Singleton, would be able to cover up that hole in the sobersides that a potential PM is supposed to manifest.

Jason

11/05/2010Hi Lyn, Yes I have noticed that she spits her words but she hasn't got much to say, other than sound like an empty vessel. HS, I don't think Abbott has it in him to block supply he talks a good game and up until now when asked about policy he says buy my book WTF. Also when you look at his front bench is it any wonder Howard kept most of them out of harms way.

Acerbic Conehead

12/05/2010BB, cheer up, cos Tones’ sung Budget Reply is going to be a cracker. In fact, if Countdown was still on the go, Molly would be tipping his hat to it. So sing along to the first Budget Reply that will be turning the numbers into a number. It is to the catchy beat of Ian Dury and the Blockheads’, “Sex and drugs and rock and roll”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBLeVcP_JQg&feature=related :- ) Tax and slugs and net debt gross Is all Swannie and Ruddie know Tax and slugs and net debt gross Aren’t very good indeed :- ) Keep your silly ways or throw them out the window The wisdom of your ways, I've been there and I know Lots of other ways, like growing the pie, says Joe Or taking Real Action (whatever that means) if you like :- ) Tax and slugs and net debt gross Tax and slugs and net debt gross Tax and slugs and net debt gross Aren’t very good indeed :- ) Every bit of clothing ought to make you pretty A nice pair of speedos, red, GST-freeby I should slash the tax on a pack of ciggies Free the miners of the super-tax, Treasury will have a fit :- ) Here's a little piece of advice Ruddie, you're welcome, it is free Don't whack us with your great big tax Just be like us with our maternity leave To cost it we resort to a subterfuge So we don’t have to say that horrid word Let’s just call it an investment In human capital :- ) Tax and slugs and net debt gross

Rx

12/05/2010Along with the stupidity that Bill describes comes its natural bedefellow: conservativeness. As John Stuart Mill said: "Conservatives are not necessarily stupid, but most stupid people are conservatives." Ultimately we will get the government we deserve.

Rx

12/05/2010Jason wrote: [i]all I ever seem to hear is an opposition shadow saying what ever on a news bullitin not the minister[/i] What is the most frequently-used phrase in ABC Radio News bulletins: [b][i]"The Federal Opposition says..."[/i[/b] This is the party unmatched for magnitude of spin and propaganda. When last in office they were [b}the world's highest per-capita spenders[/b] on government "advertising". Imagine for a moment if such a manically propagandising, hard-right mob got into power. We would have the style of "government" befitting us as a Banana Republic. I am worried about the sort of country my children will inherit ...

Lyn

12/05/2010[u][b]TODAYS LINK'S[/b][/u] [b]Video Dennis Shanahan[/b] (SEEMS EXCITED) Budget 2010: Wimpy Government finds some courage Budget 2010: By David Koch, News Com This is the Budget we needed ,No bribes, but that's good , Should ease rates pressure http://www.news.com.au/business/federal-budget/wimpy-government-finds-some-courage/story-fn5dkrsb-1225865245512 BUDGET 2010: Full news coverage, Business Spectator http://www.businessspectator.com.au:80/bs.nsf/Article/BUDGET-2010-Full-news-coverage-pd20100511-5CD5J?OpenDocument&src=kgbse Kevin07 stages election comeback , LENORE TAYLOR , National times. with both the deficit and the government debt now so much lower than expected and so low by international standards the Coalition's ''debt bomb'' posters are looking a little out of date. http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/kevin07-stages-election-comeback-20100511-uv5b.html Accounts deliver an election narrative ,Paul Kelly, The Australian Only a government of epic incompetence could lose an election from here. Rarely in its history have the lucky country's accounts looked better. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/budget/accounts-deliver-an-election-narrative/story-e6frgd8o-1225865279225 BUDGET 2010: Rudd's last chance, by Alister Drysdale, Businesss Spectator Abbott will need to do more than just oppose and carp and feign outrage about national debt. He will need to lay out a solid alternative budget – not with all the numbers, but with clear policy direction. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/BUDGET-2010-Rudds-last-chance-pd20100511-5CEGS?OpenDocument&src=blb Budget 2010: Live blog, by Paul Colgan, The Punch David Speers suggests to him the renewable energy plan is the same as Tony Abbott’s direct action plan. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Budget-2010-Live-blog/ FEDERAL BUDGET 2010: At a glance, by James Thomson Smart Company Wayne Swan's third budget is a conservative and cautious affair, aimed at steering Australia back towards a budget surplus as quickly as possible http://www.smartcompany.com.au/economy/20100511-federal-budget-2010-at-a-glance.html Quiggin: Rudd’s political gamble, Abbott’s move is next , by Crikey Budget boffin John Quiggin Tony Abbott has dissipated any credibility he might have had with a series of policy thought bubbles. http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/11/quiggin-rudds-political-gamble-abbotts-move-is-next/ Wayne's World: a Swannie gallery, Peter Brent, Mumble But today is Wayne Swan’s day, with budget number 3. Wayne’s been in not too bad form lately, http://mumble.com.au/ Some thoughts on Resource Rent Tax (updated, BY John Quiggin. They’ve made these threats when they were upset about tax policy, about environmental restrictions, about Aboriginal land rights, about union wage demands and work practices and when they were in a bad mood for no particular reason. http://johnquiggin.com/index.php/archives/2010/05/10/some-thoughts-on-resource-rent-tax/ Broadband infrastructure and short memories by Dave Gaukroger , Pure Poison the goal of having reliable, fast and ubiquitous communication technology is as vital to 21st century Australia as electricity was to 20th century Australia. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2010/05/11/broadband-infrastructure-and-short-memories/ Joe Hockey - Budget 2010 'A shameless con' Video Joe Hockey, it's just not real http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHn0CcfEtuU Asylum Seekers Staying in ‘luxury’ Brisbane Resort! by Reb, Gutter Trash Most Australians would be shocked to know there’s a budget blowout of $200 million for dealing with asylum seekers.” http://guttertrash.wordpress.com/2010/05/11/asylum-seekers-staying-in-luxury-brisbane-resort/ Don’t Hold Your Breath, by Leon Delaney After the bucketing taken in the polls over the past two weeks, it would take a budget packed with miracles to arrest the slide, http://leondelaney.blogspot.com/2010/05/dont-hold-your-breath.html

HS

12/05/2010I have just been listening to Tony Abbott on AM. The man couldn't lie straight in bed if his life depended on it! He continues to pump out the bilgewater around the Resource Rent Tax threatening the Olympic Dam project in SA, when that is not the case, the company behind Olympic Dam have said no such thing to the ASX, which is where truth and overblown rhetoric part company. This has been shown to be the case before today, but Tony Abbott continues to run with this lie in the media, and Lyndall Curtis is such a poor journalist that she doesn't even know the background to this lie in order to challenge him over it! Same goes for Abbott's false assertions wrt mining in Qld. and WA. No basis in fact, but still he is allowed to get away with baldly asserting these fabrications, up hill and down dale. Next thing you know, the media will start to echo it as fact. THAT's the problem here. No one in the media is prepared to stand up to the Coalition and call them liars to their faces. No journalist is prepared to do a bit of quick investigative work before they interview Abbott or Hockey, so as to put their lies to the sword. Instead they are enamoured of their slick spin because the narrative is sexier than the government's. You could almost hear Lyndall Curtis giggle like a besotted schoolgirl at the end of her 'interview' with Abbott. What she didn't realise is that Abbott was effectively pulling the wool over her eyes and bloviating like a Pro. Which he is. I despair, I really do, that this behaviour will continue up till the election, and we'll end up with a mendacious government, hiding its true agenda under a bushell, coming from Opposition, allowed to cruise into power because they were unable to be effectively scrutinised by the journalists who are supposed to perform that task effectively on all our behalfs. Instead, what the journalists are turning into is Coalition Camp Followers, waiting for their turn in the tent with Tony.

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010It's idiotic stories like this that make me sad: [i][b]Perth professional couple find little in the budget for them[/b] The Federal Government promised a no frills budget, and one Perth couple believes it delivered on that promise. Toby Hicks is a Perth lawyer and his wife Erin works as nurse. They have no children and are yet to buy a house. Mr Hicks says the announcements in this year's budget mean little to them.[/i] The ABC digs deep into the national psyche, find a couple of whingeing yuppies in Western Australia, get a smiling Facebook-style happy snap of them and then run the story as if it proves something. [i]"Certainly from a business and job point of view, the reliance on the resource supertax is concerning. It seems to underpin everything that is in that budget. A budget based a lot around that tax perhaps leaves more questions than answers."[/i] http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/11/2896742.htm Having nobbled the Resources Tax into an abject failure, the media then proceed to claim that the entire Budget is based on it, [i]a la[/i] "a house built on quicksand". To add to the irony, this young couple live in W.A., with all the expenses involved in that state being at the centre of the mining boom. They still manage to whinge loudly about even that. Thank God they are not smokers, or else they could whine about that too., as does van Onselen: [i]Going to war with the tobacco companies seemed like an easy play, but in fact the 25 per cent increase in cigarette prices is more of an attack on working-class voters who smoke than the tobacco industry itself. He was trying to make a populist move against one of the most unpopular industries in town, but in fact he put a financial squeeze on many families just ahead of another interest rate rise.[/i] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/a-victim-of-his-own-populism/story-e6frg6z6-1225864727084 So, now Peter is a champion of the "working-class voter", defending to the death their right to kill themselves with cigarettes, like the shock jock in the main post above. He does not admit that some of them might - actually [i]will[/i] (according to well-established statistics on tobacco tax increases) - give up the habit as a result, and thus perhaps save themselves and their working-class families (not to mention the national purse) a lot of misery. It's certainly a hard Budget to condemn out of hand, but don't worry, due to the spade work done destroying the mining tax, they'll find a way. [b]BB Prediction[/b]: The first sign from China that there's to be any kind of cutback, or a softening in demand for natural resources will see [b]Budget in tatters as China boom fades[/b] headlines.

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12/05/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx

HS

12/05/2010BB, And you should have seen Nightline on Channel 9 in Sydney last night after the Budget. There was Chloe Bugally, interviewing a supposedly 'typical' family from SW Sydney Suburbia, after they had just finished watching the Budget. The sort of whining lines they all came out with beggared belief. One of the males, with his diamond stud prominent, so not exactly battling, as they pontificated from their comfy leather couch in their family room and kitchen the size of a tennis court, actually complained that there was nothing in the Budget like a payment for his tools! Which I will say, just exemplifies how well John Howard knew how to find the voters' sweetspot. The wife complained about how come there weren't more handouts?! Not a word about how fiscally responsible the Treasurer had been having been able to bring the budget back into surplus(which everyone normally whines about ad nauseum) 3 years earlier than expected! The old guy in the room gave a passing positive comment about the Aged Care changes, then went straight back to compalining about how there was nothing there for his obviously well-off family members! Talk about an entrenched entitlement mentality that is going to be very hard to shift. I despair, I truly do. Also I wonder whether this well-to-do 'average' family of Tradies have prospered with work that the government has provided via its stimulus measures? Probably. But you wouldn't get them thanking the government for it anytime soon. They just want more, more, more! Finally, I'd just like to make a point about how the government should sell their Resource Rent Tax. All they should say, in order to get through the thick heads of the 'Aspirationals', is that they would never rent an investment property for $10/week, then let the lessee sub-let it to someone else for $300/week, so why should the Mining Companies be allowed to get away with doing the same sort of thing with the resources we, Australians, own and allow them to rent?

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010[i]Talk about an entrenched entitlement mentality that is going to be very hard to shift. I despair, I truly do.[/i] HS, this is what I mean about the average Aussie being lazy. They have turned a successful government campaign to fight off the GFC into a sense of entitlement. I (and many others) predicted a long time ago that the government would likely be a victim of its own success in its GFC battle. If they did too good a job then it would be put around that there [i]was[/i] no GFC at all. We constantly hear that it was "the mining boom" that saved Australia, not the government. Let's put aside for the moment Hockey's statement that Treasury (last year) was too pessimistic - remember the "Rudd Recession"? - and that (this year) he says they're too [i]op[/i]timistic. Let us also put to one side the accellerated depreciation regime installed as part of the GFC stimulus package (which hubby with the diamond stud could have used to obtain any new tools he needed). Let us also let pass the fact that if the tradie hubby didn't directly prosper from the stimulus package, he probably got work from it indirectly, through the lower competition for jobs provided by the stimulus. The mining industry employs, at the most, a small percentage of Australian workers. It is capital and technology intensive. The construction industry employs a much higher percentage of workers. It is labour intensive. Without a stimulus to construction, wherre were the unemployed tradies to go for work? Western Australia? In their hundreds of thousands? Even [i]with[/i] the stimulus we reached nearly 6% unemployment (and this is still flushing out right now). What if there had been no stimulus? What would unemployment have reached in that case? It's too silly for words to say the stimulus had no effect, yet the ABC yuppies and the Channel 9 "battlers" still believe they are entitled to the full largesse of government handouts. I suggest in my main post that this is because they truly believe Australians - they - are something special, immune to global catastrophes and financial vicissitudes. This is the "Small Dog Syndrome" writ large, born of fear of the unknown. We are encouraged to look into the mirror and believe that what we see is, in fact, the biggest dog in the neighbourhood. Rudd's "mea culpa" dismissed the GFC response as mere "context" (his exact word to Barrie Cassidy in that infamous interview). I believe now - and did so at the time, writing about it here on this blog http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/post/2010/03/06/Is-Rudd-tying-the-bootstrapperse28099-shoelaces-for-them.aspx - that this was a terrible blunder. It gave lazy Australians permission to claim their full "entitlements" despite the disaster of the GFC, ignoring the reality of a world in financial meltdown. The government not only had to fight the GFC, but no interruption in its programs in other areas would be tolerated. Hence we see the mantra of "broken promises" and a "do nothing government". Hence we see these yuppies, the Coalition and the media pushing the line that Rudd and his government stand for nothing. It is precisely because the GFC response was so successful that lazy Australians, spoilt rotten and still expecting more, have the luxury to whinge and whine.

HS

12/05/2010BB, Exactly. However, how do you get it through their thick skulls that the Mining Industry is not Godzone's saviour, it's just a parasite trying to suck this country dry and send the profits offshore, leaving only the crumbs behind?

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010HSK, the mining industry adds to the economy as a whole, and thank the Lord for that. But its workplaces are concentrated in specific areas, requiring specific skills. Not evey unemployed person can get there or, if they manage to, will get a job. Although of course there are some flow-on effects, the mining boom in W.A. iron ore, or Queensland gas does not immediately (or perhaps at all) translate into employment for a carpenter, or a concreter, or a self-employed Bobcat contractor in Gosford or Geelong or Gympie [i]when it is required[/i], which during the GFC was "right now, this week". Let us also not forget that during the GFC mining took a dive along with the rest of the world's industries as well. This is beside the "parasite" aspect altogether. Even if miners were really Australia's greatest patriots (as opposed to [i]claiming[/i] to be) they could not provide enough employment to smooth out the local lumps and troughs in employment in other areas of the continent, certainly not on short notice. The mining tax is one way to do this through fiscal means.

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010And on-cue, Possum provides with the evidence that the Stimulus worked: http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2010/05/12/the-most-important-chart-in-the-budget/

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010An article in The Australian cautiously backs this up: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/mega-stimulus-spending-was-our-lifeline/story-e6frgd26-1225865267254] Something fishy going on...?

HS

12/05/2010BB, Of course I realise that there are flow-on effects from Mining. However, the point I clumsily made was that, if my information is correct, is that the Mining Industry, as a general rule, at the moment only pay $1 in 7 to the governments of Australia in tax. This is unfairly balanced in their favour, and a fairer balance is all that the government seeks by bringing that figure down to $1 in 3, that they make, and then using that new money to fund the infrastructure that they, at present, refuse to build in the communities that they work in and around. Thus, less of their profits going overseas to shareholders, or to large institutional shareholders in this country, and more going into the national kitty. Ergo, less of them socking away money for their own benefit, and more of it going to the national benefit. Who knows, those tradies from SW Sydney might even be able to send their kids over to WA one day, or go there themselves, to build all this new infrastructure? Instead of them picking up the crumbs that blow down the line to them the way things stand now.

sawdustmick

12/05/2010AD. just a little off topic, I have been trying to find an interview clip of Barnaby Joyce doing his usual stuff up talking about government debt in the last couple of days. This one is a classic I think he was on parliament steps doing some mental arithmetic on the individual debt to every man woman and child in this country.

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010Link is missing, Sawdust.

Rx

12/05/2010Another site to watch, providing alternative coverage to the "mainstream": [b]The Daily Bludge[/b] [i]The Daily Bludge seeks to provide a fresh perspective on current affairs and political events in Australia and around the world.[/i] http://dailybludge.com.au/

Lyn

12/05/2010[u][b]Hi BUSHFIRE BILL[/b][/u] Liberal Party Below ,A copy of the Liberal Party newsletter. [u][b]Listing all the prominant people that do not agree with the budget. [/b][/u][b]Join our live Budget blog with Andrew Robb [/b] Experts and commentators across Australia have branded Labor’s Budget as one lacking certainty, hard decisions and a plan for real action. The Editorial in the Herald Sun asked, “How could [Mr Rudd] expect people to believe him when they are paying more for their gas and electricity, interest rates are rising and housing prices have put having a roof over their heads beyond the reach of tens of thousands of young Australians.” (Herald Sun 12/5/10) The Business Council of Australia warned, “The government is playing a high stakes game. If the resources boom was to falter or be killed off the whole budget would collapse in a heap.” (Media Release 11/5/10) Economic commentator Terry McCrann said, “This Budget is built entirely on China. It assumes the China boom will continue pouring money into Australia. No China boom, even just a China stumble over the next few years, and Swan’s third Budget will collapse back into disastrous deficits.” (Herald Sun 12/5/10) The Mental Health Council of Australia said, “MHCA is disappointed that there is little else in the way of real reform or investment in mental health...” (Media Release 11/5/10) Taxpayers Australia said, “It is disappointing to note that the Budget contains few measures designed to deliver reforms which would ease the compliance burden on small business.” (Media Release 12/5/10) How do you rate Labor’s Budget? You can share your thoughts with Shadow Minister for Finance Andrew Robb on our live Budget blog at 1.00pm (EST). You can also read Shadow Treasurer Joe Hockey’s media release or watch his Budget response. Cheers LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA Authorised by Brian Loughnane for the Liberal Party of Australia Cnr Blackall & Macquarie Streets, Barton ACT 2600 Click here to unsubscribe instantly if you do not wish to receive the Liberal Party Newsletter Click here to update your details - Name, Email Address or Post Code

bilgedigger

12/05/2010Lyn - From the quantity and depth of cover of today's links at 7.43 am. it looks as if you have been up all night. A huge vote of thanks from this quarter for your diligence and utter devotion to the task. Bushfire Bill - Glad to see you did not heed my advice last evening and that you are up and fighting hard today. Perhaps the "something fishy" you detect re The Australia may be a thinking pause on their behalf weighing up whether to ditch Abbott. I agree with comments re Wayne Swan. The interviews I have heard so far from Wayne Swan have been forthright and taking no rubbish from the interviewers. Wish they would all stand up to the interviewers in this way, and that they keep doing it and not wimp out.

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi Rx That's an excellent site you linked for us, great for my files, to include on Today's links. Thankyou Rx http://dailybludge.com.au/

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi Bushfire Bill Wayne Swan is addressing the National Press Club at this moment. His address was superb, makes me feel very proud of our Government, along with his answers to the Journalists questions.

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010Hello Lyn, I got that Lib newsletter too. Loved this: [i]The Business Council of Australia warned, “The government is playing a high stakes game. If the resources boom was to falter or be killed off the whole budget would collapse in a heap.” (Media Release 11/5/10) [/i] and this from Murdoch hack, McCrann: [i]No China boom, [u]even just a China stumble over the next few years, and Swan’s third Budget will collapse back into disastrous deficits.[/u]” (Herald Sun 12/5/10) [/i] ... and the recovery would falter if an asteroid hit us, too. This is just setting up the scenario I mentioned above: [b]Budget in tatters as China boom fades[/b] All it has to do is fade a little bit - like, say, the miners kick up more of a stink and threaten to take their bats, balls, stumps and pads home - and they'll be all over it like a rash. The Mental Health bods are depressed (tell me something I didn't already know) and is already blaming deaths on Rudd http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/budget-fails-mental-health-programs-20100512-uwcj.html . And Taxpayers' Australia is disappointed. Is that the best they can muster?

Rx

12/05/2010I suppose the Business Council would concede that the only thing that kept their buddies, the Coalition, looking good in government was the resources boom? Sure they would.

janice

12/05/2010Lyn, I just watched Wayne Swan addressing the National Press Club as well and agree with you that he was superb. Won't it be interesting to see what is written about it?

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi bilgedigger Your'e a beauty, thankyou for your words of encouragement. So glad you enjoy the links. The BER report, the Henry Review and now the Budget, it has been a busy few weeks, also Parliament question time this week. The MSM continue to be nasty, feeding of Abbott and Hockey, instead of worrying about our country and how it is Governed. If David Speers, continues to try and nail Kevin Rudd, on having a double dissolution. one more time, I think I will scream, honestly, I don't know what else Kevin Rudd can say to deny it, there is nothing left for him to say. Wayne Swan's performance is second to none.

HS

12/05/2010I bet the Budget-In-Reply gets the once-over-lightly with a limp lettuce leaf from the Commentariat tomorrow night. At least Michael Stutchbury at The Oz is being even-handed: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/opinion/lucky-country-returns-to-bounty/story-e6frg9p6-1225865250104

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi Bushfire Bill Your words in comment 09:59 AM [b][quote]Let's put aside for the moment Hockey's statement that Treasury (last year) was too pessimistic - remember the "Rudd Recession"? - and that (this year) he says they're too optimistic. [/quote][/b] Kevin Rudd in question time today, said exaclty your words to Joe Hockey.

Michael Cusack

12/05/2010There seems to be something of a mini confession coming from the MSM that because they detest Rudd, and Abbott "is a good knockabout bloke", Rudd gets hammered and Abbott gets a free run. The confession comes with an addendum that claims that this situation is in order. The situation makes me wonder about the future governance of Australia. Can there be a sucessfull PM who is not in the good books of tha press? Is being "a good knockabout bloke" sufficient qualifications for a potential PM, even if the evidence suggests that the candidate is lazy and careless, and has a poor record of achievement in Govt? The experience of the last fifty years would suggest that the opposite es the reality. I strongly believe that Bob Hawke was the best PM since the war. I met him several times prior to and during his period of office. He was an absolute prick, with few redeeming personal attributes. I also met Billy McMahon, an inveterate liar apparently, and not to be trusted, but he was a real nice bloke. I wouldnt have voted for him in a fit, however. I wonder if the besotted MSM will examine their conscience before it is too late.

HS

12/05/2010Michael C., Like you, I keep waiting for the MSM to put Abbott on the disecting tray. As I said earlier, tomorrow night's Budget-In-Reply coverage will be the first test of that concept.

Rod

12/05/2010Hi BB Nice article I got an advance summary of opposition budget reply which follows, mainly Abbotts work with some input from Joe. Mining Tax There will be a zero tax applied on all mining profits, the mining industry contributes a great deal to Australia through employment and landscaping of the Australian outback. Increased profits that come from the mining industry by this policy will benefit the superannuation accounts of all Australians. To offset this new policy, a levy, not a tax, but a levy of 3% will apply to all taxpayers earning less than $75,000 per year. Superannuation Contributions by employers for those employees earning under $75,000 a year will no longer be compulsory. Employers do a great service to Australians by providing employment and do not need work destroying imposts. Taxation Those earning over $1.8 million a year will no longer be subject to income tax. These people add a lot to the Australian economy and this measure will provide incentivisation to those on a lesser income to earn more. Workplace reform. Awards, courts and red tape such as OH&S impede employment and wage growth. A new policy called “I love you like a brother” will apply to all employers and employees and allows for open honest agreement on wages and conditions. Family Wives who are virgins at the time of their marriage will have a payment of $5,000 deposited in their husbands bank account. Men will no longer have to pay child support where the child is born out of wedlock or in other cases where the father felt the mother was the cause for the break up of the family unit. Health The tax on tobacco will be eliminated, in addition cigarettes will be provided free of charge to those of a low eco-socio status. The anticipated health savings from this means that medicare and other inefficient public health measures will no longer be required. The alcopop tax will also be abolished and alcopops, with added vitamins, will be provided to replace the school milk program in low eco-socio areas. Education Testing will be done in selected schools to determine how scholarships should be directed. Testing will not be done in schools that are part of the alcopops added vitamin program. Defence and illegal arrivals New long range guide missiles will be fitted to all border protection vessels. Immigration Only those who can complete an iron man triathlon and look good in speedos will be allowed entry. Other The GST will no longer apply to meat pies, in addition meat pies will form part of the parliamentary subsidised menu and will be available at all hours. As a further measure meat pies at subsidised prices will also be available to MPs in their electorate offices and when they are travelling.

Lyn

12/05/2010[b]HI BUSHFIRE BILL AND EVERYBODY[/b] GROG'S DELIGHTFUL PIECE ON QUESTION TIME TODAY. FANTASTIC AGAIN GROG, THANKYOU [b]On The QT: Scoundrels with Iron Fists and Flim Flam, by GROG, GROG'S GAMUT[/b] If Abbott’s doesn’t rate, I think you can take that as a strong sign that most Australians don’t expect him to be PM after the next election, and thus he is not worth bothering with (especially for a boring economics speech). http://grogsgamut.blogspot.com/

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi Rod Excellent, thanks for the laugh, you are hillarious. You nearly fooled me, as I was reading the first line [b] [quote]I got an advance summary of opposition budget reply which follows[/quote][/b], I'm thinking now where did Rod get this copy, WOW!!

gusface

12/05/2010Lyn I reckon rod is chief speechwriter for barnyard :)

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi Gusface Good one Gusface. You have a top sense of humour, very dry and funny.

Ad astra reply

12/05/2010Rod Welcome to [i]TPS[/i]. Great satire. Please come again.

Ad astra reply

12/05/2010Lyn Thank you for keeping us up to date with Grog's latest. Let's continue to add his very informative and well-written pieces to LYN'S DAILY LINKS the following morning.

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi Ad Ok Ad, each morning, I will put Grog first on Today's Links. Cheers

Ad astra reply

12/05/2010MIchael I too wonder if the media, which set about bringing Kevin Rudd down a peg or two, (because they don't like him, he doesn't advertise much through the MSM, and after all he's Labor) have realised that they have gone too far, and could end up with an Abbott Government. Maybe that awful prospect is causing them to draw back a little. Let's see how they appraise Abbott's address in reply.

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010The good thing about the Budget so far is that it has pretty-well silenced the media on the succes of the response to the GFC. One commentator said last night on Sky News (some high-falutin' economist, sorry I've forgotten his name) that the Stimulus was too much..; but then added this was with the benefit of hindsight, and that no-one could have possibly known how bad things would really get, so best - all things considered - to go too far, rather than stop short.

Ad astra reply

12/05/2010Folks Just watched Red Kerry throw the book at Kevin Rudd in the 7.30 Report, in a most assertive and at times arrogant way, but was delighted to see Rudd throw a few bricks back at Kerry sitting in his comfortable seat judging Rudd and what he says and does, and how he sells his message. Rudd should do this as often as he's challenged by journalists who believe they have the right, from their sheltered positions, to sit in judgement, having no real understanding of what is required of our political leaders. I'm for Rudd aggressively countering the disrespectful interrogation to which they subject him. After all he is the nation's PM. Why should he have to put up with such impertinence? I'm all for counter-punching.

Lyn

12/05/2010Hi Bushfire Bill You are spot on as always, great perception. Good thing about the budget [quote]so far is that it has pretty-well silenced the media [/quote] Here is Fran Kelly: She says, [quote]Tony Abbott was seen barrelling along the press gallery corridor more concerned with the energy of his response than the way it looked on camera.[/quote] Budget 2010 and the resurrection of conservative Kev, by Fran Kelly, The Drum [b]Let's face it, the Opposition Leader doesn't have much to work with here. Neither does anyone else - that's probably why things are so uncharacteristically quiet around the place. There's just not that much to talk about. [b]Not much to attack, query or praise.[/b] [/b]http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/12/2897682.htm?site=thedrum

gusface

12/05/2010KEV IS BACK Sorry i can sleep a lot easier after tonites bravura performance. The fight is back on the front foot liberte egalite fraternite

Bushfire Bill

12/05/2010I thought Kerry was as weak_as_piss tonight, to ask Rudd an omnibus question - demanding Rudd account for his entire political [i]raison d'etre[/i] - and then sounding the hooter on him - "We're out of time" - without so much as a meaningful expression of regret. It was rude, poorly managed (for a supposedly professional interviewer) and arrogant. Kerry's "question" was more a series of finger-prodding assertions that gave the PM no time to deal with them (the constant interruptions did not help either). The lack of even a modicum of respect for the office Rudd holds is contemptible. He is treated as if he was some kind of dodgy, corrupt alderman on a country shire council, caught feeding his brother-in-law sweetheart construction contracts. I cut O'Brien a lot of slack normally, but this was definitely NOT his finest hour. Far, far from it.

HS

12/05/2010Word around the traps is that there is an 'old bull': 'young bull' succession war going on at present between Kerry O'ld Brien and Chris Uhlmann. Kerry has seen Uhlmann's star rise very far, very fast, all the way to being at the centre of the ABC's new 24/7 NewsCaf Universe, and Kerry is 'Not Happy Jan'. Kerry will be left on ABC1, where less and less people will watch him, if tonight's efforts are anything to go by, cf Uhlmann's more reasoned commentary and strategic questioning. Add to the mix that K O'B has this, well, it seems like it to me anyway, conceited opinion of himself as some kind of Australian journalistic equivalent of Torquemada, which he parlays into the sorts of supercilious kinds of performances that we witnessed tonight in his interview with the Prime Minister of Australia, not Kevin Rudd, simply, but, let me reiterate, the Prime Minister of Australia, who had deigned to go on his scabby little program in order to be subject to the feeble attempt at gross humiliation and condescending brashness which O'Brien gave himself licence to serve up. If he had any manners, or knew the meaning of journalistic ethics, he'd feel ashamed of the aggression he displayed towards the PM, and the impertinent and impudent bin-liner level of questioning he pursued. He's obviously a believer in the maxim,'Kick a man when he's down for the count in the polls'. Tawdry. I'm also heartened by the fact that the PM decided to drop the 'Nice Guy Kevin' persona and direct a few, well-aimed serves back at Kerry. Kerry O'Brien needs to realise that, just because he's been at the helm of some heavyweight News and Current Affairs shows for a long time, that does not necessarily equate with journalistic heft. He should also learn the meaning of R.E.S.P.E.C.T.

HS

12/05/2010Bushfire Bill, Was that one of those high falutin' economists who couldn't see the GFC coming at them like a Mack truck? :)

Ad astra reply

12/05/2010BB What's with these TV journalists? Is Kerry trying to outdo David Spears or the other Fox News journos? Or the shock jocks? Is he vying to be the most hairy-chested of them all? In my view some of Kevin Rudd's fall in popularity is the direct result of the disrespect that journos show to the most senior politician in the nation. As they show disrespect, they give 'permission' to others to do likewise. Even if they don't like him, or disagree with his policies or actions, there is no place for arrogant disrespect. Our ABC should know better. So should journalists like Red Kerry too.

HS

12/05/2010Rod, Might I also say, 'Welcome to TPS'. I chuckled and ROFLed my way from beginning to end of your post. I do hope you come back again. :)

Augustus

12/05/2010Bushfire Bill, "Wake in Fright" I do every day with the concept of the Coalition actually being able to con their way into power until today when Joe Hockey had a Barnaby moment "this budget is reckless spending spree", http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/joe-hockey-slams-federal-budget-2010-as-reckless-spending-spree/story-fn5idf17-1225865291025 what planet is this guy on?, really! it looks as though a good nights sleep is in order after all.

HS

12/05/2010Augustus, You know what makes me wake in more of a fright than that? The fact that the people who read the Hun believe what is written in its pages by the likes of Joke Hockey and Terry McCrann, when all it is is glorified barrow-pushing on behalf of sectional interests, usually the boss', Mr Murdoch.

Augustus

12/05/2010HS, so are you implying that as Ad Astra puts it "Red Kerry" feels he is past his prime and it is more about his ego than real journalism, surely not!, what does that say about journo's like Dennis Shanahan and the "poison dwaft" as Paul Keating once described him and Ackerman. Does that mean that all the negative media coverage is about old farts still trying to prove themselves still.

Augustus

12/05/2010HS, I must admit that scares we as well, but as David Suzuki once said in a talk years ago in Canberra during the Hanson "Era" you have to greatful to her because it shows you just how many of them are actually out there.

HS

12/05/2010Augustus, Just go to the News Ltd. blogs and you'll see that even some ostensibly quite intelligent people have drunk that particular batch of Kool Aid. Scary how many it is really.

Augustus

12/05/2010HS, to be honest not many realy, I think Blogs are only a small section of the community, my mother is a normal rusted Liberal suburbanite, and she cannot fathom the concept of Tony Abbott asending to Prime Ministership. Polling can be selective, just need to poll in the right areas to get the right result.

Acerbic Conehead

12/05/2010Rod, it’s great to see you also heard some goss on what is going to be in Tones’ Budget Reply Speech on Thursday. I’ve heard a few more titbits, which maybe your sources can confirm: Tones will say that there will be more taxes on the poor. As they will always be with us, they will be a steady and reliable source of Coalition government income. There will also be a reduction in the monies allocated to the study of Asian languages. Concomitantly, these resources will be given to the study of Latin – if the latter was good enough for Jesus to speak, then it’s good enough for us. More finances will be given to opening extra meatworks. These will grow more pies for Joe, cos he is starting to get that mean and hungry look again. Extra places for ironing ladies will be opened in TAFE colleges. As everybody knows, Tones hates ironing. Rickety boats, confiscated from illegal immigrants, will be refitted, filled with ‘threatening’ homosexuals, pointed in the direction of Iran, where they will be promptly stoned to death. Subsidies of air-conditioner exports to Israel will be given, as it is a lot warmer over there. Tithing of income will be made compulsory for all employees, except for Coalition front-benchers. They have had a big enough wage cut since they were dumped in 2007. Subsidies, never mind the imposition of that commo super-tax, will be given to mining companies. As Jesus said, “Blessed are the extractors of ores – the greedy bastards will inherit the Earth” And, lastly, the dollar will give way to the shekel as the currency of Australia. Again, if it was good enough for Jesus... Tones isn’t sure if all this will cost 50 million or 50 billion shekels, or whether it is in ‘net debt gross’ figures; or ‘debt net gross’ figures; or ‘gross debt net’ figures; or whatever. Hopefully it will become clear when he has spent a few hours trying to decipher Barnaby’s writing.

Colen

13/05/2010Well well, we are all on the front foot now. Chirping on our merry way. Gusset is looking pretty pleased with herself in her little fernery. Last week everyone here was a little miserable. Amazing what a difference a day makes. As they say in the Classics it aint over til the fat Lady sings and that is a while yet and a little birdy is telling me it should be all happening in August. Boy is this one going to be a cracker. Ruddy and Swannies "how I love yer" Budget is going to get the flick. Cause I reckon maybe there could be a switch in Opposition Leader should Abbott's response not be up to scratch and "Guess" whose coming back. Liberal lite. So start sweating folks because you wanted a CPRS and Rudd dumped his to attack Abbott and balance his budget "Sucker" and with Turnbull back in charge you will have your wishes. "Ain't it loverly"

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Ad Bushfire Bill's words, 9.06pm [b][quote]I thought Kerry was as weak_as_piss tonight, to ask Rudd an omnibus question - demanding Rudd account for his entire political raison d'etre - and then sounding the hooter on him -[/b][/quote] Kerry O'Brien was out of order, and feeling too important for his own good. So what happens, the bootstrappers decide to write about the interview. You see, there is nothing else to write about, of course they can't say too much about Abbott and his rat bag statements or his smart alec behaviour. Here they are: I still want climate action: Kevin Rudd , Brendan Nicholson. The Australian. [b]A DECIDEDLY cranky Kevin Rudd [/b]has launched an impassioned defence of his handling of climate change policy. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/politics/i-still-want-climate-action-kevin-rudd/story-e6frgczf-1225865756135 Rudd defends record on climate change , Sydney Morning Herald. "It might be easy for you to sit in 7.30 Report land and say that was easy to do. Let me tell you mate, it wasn't. http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-defends-record-on-climate-change-20100512-uy28.html

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010The Opposition and the media can't have it both ways. They can't, on the one hand, put the PM down for being too technocratic, managerial and passionless, and unwilling to defend his policies, then on the other, when the PM does fire up, decry that as 'losing it'.

Bushfire Bill

13/05/2010Lyn, AA, Hs and all.. I'm surprised no journalist has used the phrase "extraordinary outburst" re. that interview last night. Perhaps that's yet to come! Everybody - by whom I mean the usual dreary self-styled glitterati of the media - will be talking about the O'Brien interview last night. It will be styled as "such a departure from his traditional nerdy image", and (let's have two-bob each way), "revealing the inner nasty Rudd" they have been telling us about for so long. Both characterisations will get a guernsey. That way all bases are covered. O'Brien can do good interviews, even good political interviews. But last night's was a shocker. If you're going to ask the Prime Minister of the country to justify his total reason for being in the job, and for asking the people to continue to have faith in him, you don't interrupt him and you don't force him to cut it down to 60 seconds, then snip him off at the end by telling him about [i]your[/i] problems ("being out of time") as if he was some junior footy official trying to talk his way out of the latest bad behaviour allegations. His final question was not even a question. It was an allegation, shouted over the top of the Prime Minister who was trying to keep the interview on an even keel. There are hard questions and there is rudeness. As HS said, part of the method used to attack politicians is to make out that the media are in charge of Australia, not the blow-ins who occupy high office from time to time. When you think about it this is O'Brien's whole [i]schtick[/i]: experience and longevity in the job. Kerry's seen 'em come and he's seen 'em go etc. [i]He[/i] is the legitimate Inquisitor. Rudd, or whoever, is merely another chancer trying to snake oil the people. Wrong, wrong, wrong.

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010BB, Can you believe it, the media and the Opposition(with Tony 'Manic' Abbott at the helm, ferchrssakes) are trying to get the 'Lathamesque' flag to fly today, wrt the PM's passionate defence of his positions last night? They are nothing if not predictable.

Acerbic Conehead

13/05/2010Colen, Tones also says, “Wouldn’t it be loverly”. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEcX9gNVg1U&feature=related :- ( All I want is a vroom somewhere Far away from the Canberra air On my bicycle chair Oh, wouldn't it be loverly? :- ( Lots of figures for me to digest Lots of stats putting me to the test Breeze in my face, breeze on my chest Oh, wouldn't it be loverly? :- ( Oh, so loverly riding absobloominlutely still I would never budget 'till spring Crept over the Canberra hills :- ( Someone else doing the number crunching Everybody knows economics is very boring If only of the road I could be king Oh, wouldn't it be loverly?

mick smetafor

13/05/2010"Ruddy and Swannies "how I love yer" Budget is going to get the flick. Cause I reckon maybe there could be a switch in Opposition Leader should Abbott's response not be up to scratch and "Guess" whose coming back. Liberal lite. " you raise an interesting scenario colen.the election would then be fought by two leaders intent on doing something about climate change so the current dynamics would be radically different and not favouring your side i would guess.

Lyn

13/05/2010[quote][b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b][/quote] Fists and Flim Flam, by GROG, GROG'On The QT: Scoundrels with Iron S GAMUT If Abbott’s doesn’t rate, I think you can take that as a strong sign that most Australians don’t expect him to be PM after the next election, and thus he is not worth bothering with (especially for a boring economics speech). http://grogsgamut.blogspot.com/ GILLARD: Media darling (sort of), The Piping Shrike Rudd’s spirited performance on The 7.30 Report last night can perhaps be seen as a belated attempt to do what he should have done straight after Copenhagen, politically respond to it. http://www.pipingshrike.com/2010/05/gillard-media-darling-sort-of.html Rudd gets hot over climate change ,Sky News, Pressure has got to Mr Rudd, VIDEO WATCH, Big Pond News The PM has lost his temper during a TV interview in which he defended the government's delay of an ETS http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2010/05/13/Rudd_gets_hot_over_climate_change_461438.html Angry Rudd defends ETS backflip, Kerry O'Brien. 7.30 report ABC So why is it now not absolute political cowardice for you to show leadership on this to the rest of the world by seeking to take the Australian people with you at the next election on an ETS? http://www.abc.net.au:80/7.30/content/2010/s2897846.htm?WT.mc_id=newsmail PM would fight on climate change "actions, Business Spectator "It might be easy for you to sit in 7.30 Report land and say that was easy to do. Let me tell you mate, it wasn't. http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/PM-will-fight-on-climate-change-but-not-ETS-pd20100512-5DDGF?OpenDocument Abbott prepares budget reply, by Samantha Hawley, ABC NEWS Prime Minister Kevin Rudd was quizzed about that by Kerry O'Brien in a fiery exchange on the 7.30 Report last night. http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/13/2897943.htm?section=justin If asylum seekers are living in such luxury, why don’t any Bolt readers really want to swap places?, by Jeremy Sear, Pure Poison, Crikey Bolt’s attempt to blame this practice on Rudd falls over when you read the actual article and see that the previous Coalition government was just as profligate with its spending on keeping prisoners away from us, http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/2010/05/12/if-asylum-seekers-are-living-in-such-luxury-why-dont-any-bolt-readers-really-want-to-swap-places/#more-6049 Swan Proves He's A Safe Pair Of Hands,By Ben Eltham, New Matilda It’s worth repeating again in print — even if only for the benefit of those in the Coalition and media who don’t seem to be able to grasp it — the stimulus worked. http://newmatilda.com/2010/05/12/budget-2010-analysis Labor to Voter: "Coo-ee! Where the bloddy hell are you, by Aristotle, The Daily Bludge In the last fortnight we have witnessed a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the ALP. The events have all the hallmarks of a political lovers’ tiff eerily resembling a political soap opera. http://dailybludge.com.au/2010/05/labor-to-voters-coo-ee-where-the-bloody-hell-are-you/ Three loud cheers for the budget from a key consumer group, by Croakey “After 21 one years working in the health sector, it’s an experience bordering on the surreal to go through Health Department papers in the budget lock-up and find funding for many http://blogs.crikey.com.au/croakey/2010/05/12/three-loud-cheers-for-the-budget-from-a-key-consumer-group/ Abbott under pressure to detail savings in budget reply , Trading Room "The opposition has a single financial strategy ... block, blame and bluster." http://www.tradingroom.com.au/apps/view_breaking_news_article.ac?page=/data/news_research/published/2010/5/132/catf_100512_190100_1515.html Team Abbott takes aim from fantasy land, Lenore Taylor, National Times And if the Coalition really thinks it knows better than the Treasury, will it base its budget-in-reply speech today on its own more pessimistic assumptions http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/team-abbott-takes-aim-from-fantasy-land-20100512-uy7e.html Comical Abbott keeps Mickey Mouse Club entertained , by Damien Murphy, Natrional Times Leading man was the mining magnate Andrew Forrest, in town presumably to tell the government politely to get its hands off his profits. http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/comical-abbott-keeps-mickey-mouse-club-entertained-20100512-uy7f.html There's no such thing as a free lunch when everyone wants a piece , by Phillip Coorey, The Age Today, the Liberals will move a motion in the Senate demanding that Dr Henry appear before Senate estimates hearings starting early next month. http://www.theage.com.au/business/federal-budget/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-free-lunch-when-everyone-wants-a-piece-20100512-uy3v.html Parties trade blows over budget,by Emma Rodgers, ABC News "Can the Prime Minister guarantee his great big new tax on mining will not cause the resource boom to falter?" http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/12/2897724.htm

janice

13/05/2010BB, I've been listening to local (ABC) radio talkback on the issue of the Kerry O'Brien 730 report interview. There has been a handful of the usual Coalition crude nasty comments but in the main people have been reasonably sensible. One man said he thought Rudd rightly showed some anger but not as much as he did watching the show. He added he is not a Rudd fan but thought Rudd was doing an excellent job. Another man said he thought Rudd was doing a good job and why the hell should he be held responsible for the shonky rip-off merchants involved in the 'pink batts affair'. Others said they thought Kerry was only doing his job but they thought Rudd was a good PM and doing a good job for the country. The last caller I heard made the point that he liked seeing Rudd show a bit of emotion and give a bit back to O'Brien. Just because he's PM doesn't mean he has to sit there and take personal abuse - A leaf out of Keating's book wouldn't go astray. Maybe we should all email our PM and advise him to let off a bit of controlled steam occasionally. `

Colen

13/05/2010Mick, Rudd intent on doing something on climate change. Oh yeah. He dumped his policy don't forget. Political expediency. Turnbull didn't, he quit because of it. So the next few months will be interesting.

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Bushfire Bill and Ad Your excellent perception again. [quote]Everybody - by whom I mean the usual dreary self-styled glitterati of the media - will be talking about the O'Brien interview last night. It will be styled as "such a departure from his traditional nerdy image", and (let's have two-bob each way), "revealing the inner nasty Rudd" they have been telling us about for so long. Both characterisations will get a guernsey. That way all bases are covered.[/quote] Check out the links, there were more, but I ran out of time, and after all enough is enough. The MSM are having a hissy fit, reporting on reporting. Sky News are reporting the Prime Minister has buckled under pressure, from Kerry O'Brien, and are likening Kevin Rudd to Mark Latham. This is a really [b]A GREAT BIG SIGH[/b]

FFreddy

13/05/2010I've hardly watched a Kerry O'Brien interview in the last ten years (ditto LL Tony Jones). I only caught last nights by accident as it came at the end of the show and it reminded me why I stopped watching. KO's constant interrupting, aggressive and disrespectful manner and idiotic questions has had me even feeling sympathetic to Coalition interviewees at times. Very disturbing!! Do we really think that after KO's confected bewilderment at the fall of 'brand Rudd' we would have been allowed a sophisticated and adult conversation which involved the partisan elephant in the room ie. News Ltd. to be included. KR would have been bogged down with interuptions and we would have ended up with one of those pointless conversations where we all pretend the MSM are all non-partisan objective observers. Also could you imagine KO using that tone and manner if he had John Hartigan on his show to discuss the Melbourne Storm hoo hah. I suppose the final straw for me as regards Kerry O'Brien came on the night when John Howard had officially committed Oz to the war in Iraq and KO interviewed Leader of the Opposition Simon Crean. During the interview KO sneered at SC "...and when will you start being proud of the troops?" ie. Labor Party and SC himself were motivated by shame of the Australian Armed Forces. I don't think you could ask a much more offensive question to a political leader which seems even more offensive in light of subsequent events. Of course this was the sort of abuse Coalition members were hurling across the parliament and being included in Shamahan pieces etc. In my opinion Kerry O'Brien is a dreadful waste of space and has been for a very long time.

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi FFreddy [quote]aggressive and disrespectful manner and idiotic questions [/quote] Well thought out comment, FFreddy ,I couldn't agree with you more. I watched Kerry O'Brien, closely on election night, his true colours were clearly diplayed. This morning, KO would be full of all importance, as the bootstappers take up his interview. I have yet, to see KO put Tony Abbott, under his aggressive, rude, disrespectful, questioning, funny about that.

Ad astra reply

13/05/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx

Augustus

13/05/2010lyn, here is a link to shoo away the blues http://www.blogocrats.com/index.php/top-menu-sections/topics-australian-politics/743-erratic-tonys-budget-for-a-new-tory-nationa-bit-of-fun Thankyou for you links they are an excellent resource in our troubled times.

BlockyPS

13/05/2010Hey Colen, If MT returns to the head of the Liberal Party what's to stop Rudd from returning to the table the negotiated ETS that Turnbull agreed to and then it being passed? Abbott can be squarely blamed for holding it up and the reason for the delay. We finally get some sort of action on CC and the issues then disapears for the majority of Australians? Blocky

Ad astra reply

13/05/2010FFreddy Welcome to [i]TPS[/i]. Please come again. Listening to ABC Melbourne 774 radio this morning, like janice listening to her local radio, I was surprised how many positive comments were made about Kevin Rudd's passionate statements about global warming. Usually the talkback is let's-knock-Rudd, but several commented favourably on Rudd's passion, and although Red Kerry got some 'he's only doing his job' or 'brilliant interview' comments, several were critical of his aggressive approach, and his proneness to interrupt. Personally I think the interview was among the rudest I have ever witnessed. His determination to get the style of answer he wants demands that he interrupts when his interviewee is answering in a way that doesn't suit O'Brien. I can recall an interview with Malcolm Turnbull when exasperated by continual O'Brien's interruptions, he stopped his answer and said 'have you finished - when you're ready can I answer your question?' I'd like to see Rudd more assertive and passionate in giving answers, and I suspect many punters would too. If he were to do so there would be the usual 'dummy-spit', 'he's-lost-it' talk from the MSM, but it would likely resonate well with the voters. Why should the PM of this nation, any PM, have to put up with the disrespect O'Brien dished up last night, the insolence and discourtesy that O'Brien seems to feel entitled to hand out at will?

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13/05/2010Augustus Nice link - it's time the blogosphere made fun of Tony Abbott to counter the incessant MSM attacks on Kevin Rudd. BlockyPS Welcome to [i]TPS[/i] Do come again. In my opinion the possibility of Malcolm Turnbull toppling Tony Abbott before the election is not as remote as some may think.

BlockyPS

13/05/2010Thanks Ad, After TA took over I predicted that MT would be back as leader of the Liberals before the next election. When MT announced his resignation I thought there goes that prediction but now anything is possible. Regards to TA being made fun of, on the 7PM project a couple of nights ago I was surprised to see him ridiculed right next to Pauline Hanson. Maybe it's the start of something.

Augustus

13/05/2010Ad Astra, I think Kerry O'Brian may have just handed some of Kevin Rudd's credibility back to him witout realising it.

Augustus

13/05/2010Blocky, maybe Kevin Rudd has been thinking that the whole time, that's why he dropped it for now.

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Augustus Thankyou for the "cheer me up link", excellent. http://www.blogocrats.com/index.php/top-menu-sections/topics-australian-politics/743-erratic-tonys-budget-for-a-new-tory-nationa-bit-of-fun Love this bit "Australian Liberal Conservative Party (aka: Greed is Good Coalition.." You make me happy, to hear you enjoy TODAY"S LINKS.

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi BlockyPS Nice to meet you, your comments are valuable, hope you keep coming back. Malcolm Turnbull did not withdraw his resignation for nothing. Remember how much of his own money he invested in winning Wentworth, he is a business man and will be looking for a return of his money. You Bet. Skull Duggery afoot.

Bushfire Bill

13/05/2010Welcome, FFreddy. You wrote: [i]... and we would have ended up with one of those pointless conversations where we all pretend the MSM are all non-partisan objective observers.[/i] Don't you love those conversations? There's usually one "political pro" involved who tells you that nothing has changed, the media are still against Labor, and that this "bias" thing is all so boring and paranoid, and so on. The "business as usual" pitch of the tired and cynical. They can come with with any number of excuses for each individual media outrage - "understaffed", "junior journalist", "pressure of deadlines" (this was my favourite, given out for the faked, fake email to "Godwin Grant"... someone didn't have time to check that the email they were faking had the right name on it, tsk, tsk) - but the pros and insiders fail to convince on the overall pattern of skewing the news and outright opinionation. I have worked inside television news and have seen the editorial conference decide to fit someone up for a crime they were eventually acquitted of. I have taken the call from the media baron proprietor (simply because I picked up the wrong phone) and, after transferring the call, witnessed him tell off a editor who had not "gone in hard enough" on an anti-Labor story. To those who accuse observers of media bias of being "conspiracy theorists", it seems clear to me that if two or more journalists get together to decide to "go in hard" on the government - whether that is justified or not - then we do have prima facie evidence of a conspiracy... not to commit a crime, but to distort the truth. To believe that there is no bias in the media is to deny human nature and the way things work in the world of business and politics. To believe that there is no such thing as groupthink is to deny that the same story being presented by several journalists, all with the same slant (and even sometimes catchphrases) is just a co-incidence. To believe there is no cross pollination between editors, journalists and subbies from different organizations (and within the same organization) is plainly ludicrous. That Labor is nearly always the brunt of media sniggering is evidence in itself that there is an anti-Labor bias in the media, driven by the upwardly mobile aspirations of senior journalists seeking to curry favour, better pay and exciting promotions from proprietors who do not bother to even claim [i]they[/i] are not biased (rather, they claim, to be biased is theirs as a right of ownership, usually euphemized as "editorial policy"). O'Brien, if he is honest with himself, should hang his head in shame for last night's performance. It was rude and unprofessional. He asked questions he had no intention of letting the Prime Minister answer, except in the form of words O'Brien put to him. Any deviation from O'Brien's set-piece "gotchas" was met with interruption and scorn. It was groupthink writ large, insolent in the extreme and went much too far, way beyond "probing" questioning. The disappointment I felt after watching the bullying technique used by O'Brien on the Prime Minister is exacerbated by the fact that if he had been interviewing a has-been rock star (as he is wont to do on occasion, even eschewing his tie for an open collar) he would be obsequiously polite and - this is the disappointment - [i]far more effective[/i] in eliciting answers.

Ad astra reply

13/05/2010BlockyPS, Augustus I think the real ridicule of Tony Abbott is still to come. Let's see what he turns up tonight. My impression is the same as yours Augustus - there will likely be more positives than negatives for Kevin Rudd from the O'Brien interview.

Ad astra reply

13/05/2010Folks I'll be on the road for several hours - back with you all this evening.

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Ad and Everybody Joe Hockey is pleased with Peter Costello's column, do you think, Hockey replies, he reads the Daily Tele every day, wonder about the Financial Review, maybe it's too heavy for him. Link to Joe Hockey's live blogg. Opposition Shadow Treasurer spokesman Joe Hockey blogs live at noon 12:24 [Comment From showtimeshowtime: ] Hi Joe, have you read Peter Costello's Budget take? Let us hope that the voters note the $40 billion dollar Swan deficit for the next financial year rather than being fooled into believing the imaginary, never never surplus story. Thursday May 13, 2010 12:24 showtime 12:25 Yeah it is a good read.....I read the Daily Tele as well every day. http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/opposition-shadow-treasurer-spokesman-joe-hockey-blogs-live-at-noon/story-e6freuy9-1225865800421

Steve of Adelaide

13/05/2010bilgedigger - "Perhaps you could send a copy of your post to Kevin Rudd's office with a plea for him to let his inner Rottweiler free if you think that is what is needed." The other night I saw Kevin Rudd let his 'inner Rottweiler' loose on Kerry O'Brien and tore strips off him. I found myself cheering him on. It's about time that Kevin started talking up his record and defending himself and his Government against lazy lines of questioning. It was his best performance in many an interview. Did anyone else see it? What do you think?

Bushfire Bill

13/05/2010Hi Steve, [i]Did anyone else see it? What do you think?[/i] Rudd was good, very good, but Kerry cut him off at the knees with the full-time hooter. That was unforgiveable. O'Brien should have asked such a wide-ranging question much earlier in the interview. Indeed, it could have been the subject of a whole interview in itself. Instead, he slowed Rudd down by interruptions and then canned the interview when the 8pm hard deadline came up. He should have had that deadline firmly in mind when he asked the question, if he expected a reasonable answer. Very unprofessional, if nothing else (and there's plenty else). There have also been some attempts today to describe this as a "Latham Moment". The theory goes that a Prime Minister (or anyone else) must allow himself to be subjected to rudeness, raised-voice assertions, malicious groupthink-baed allegations (for the umpteenth time, by the way... Kerry wasn't even original) and interruptions, but should at all times stay cool, calm and collected. It's OK for the pundits to sneer and smear, but if anyone responds likewise, or even gets a bit hot under the collar at the outrageous liberties taken, they are branded as "another Latham". Very poor form and very unfair, typifying exactly what Rudd said when he referred to "7.30 Report Land".

Augustus

13/05/2010Steve of Adelaide, I saw the interview and it jolted my memory of the interview between Laurie Oakes and Joe Hockey yesterday where Laurie was trying to get Joe Hockey to answer the question and not bleat about Labor's failures, there Laurie Oakes would cut Hockey off and talk over him even show a little aggression just to bring him back in line and then allow him the answer the question. It looked to me that Kerry O'Brien was trying the same tactic but failing abismally, looking at the two interviews together one wonders whether Kerry O'Brien fancies himself. I thought Kevin Rudd was absolutely in charge, direct to the point, and wasn't going to take Kerry's crap.

Augustus

13/05/2010Bushfire Bill, The "7.30 Report Land" comment was good, I thought that maybe Kevin Rudd was taking private coaching from Keating. Seeing the two interviews between O'Brien / Rudd and Oakes / Hockey, it became very clear who has a plan and who doesn't, I am wondering if the budget reply won't be any different than the health debate. Unprepared, and will rely mostly on denigrating the Government along with Rudd and Swan in particular.

Steve of Adelaide

13/05/2010Yes, that '7:30 Report Land' comment was priceless - very Keatingesque, Augustus (like the moniker, I can't think of a witty one for myself so Steve will have to do). I certainly hope that this the shape of things to come for Kevin wrt defending his Government's record. I'm heartily sick of the free ride that the Opposition has gotten in the media thus far, which is, in my opinion, partly the Government's fault for not standing up for itself. BB, I think that any attempts to label this as Rudd's 'Latham moment' will fail. Having seen the polls rise for Rudd every time he looks more human (ie. Scoresgate), I predict that 'Kerrygate' will help him to seem more 'like one of us' in the voters eyes.

Bushfire Bill

13/05/2010As predicted, there is news (via PB) from Jor Hockey's presser that Rudd has a "a puffy shirt temper"... whatever that is. Rudd is either an unhinged Mark Latham, or he is a bully. Preferably both. Told youse so. Thank you Kerry O'Brien.

mick smetafor

13/05/2010those mining company investors must be a dumb lot or else they don't read ruperts news.the share price for rio,you know, that big miner that intends to shut up shop and go elsewhere closed today 1.8% up since swanny ruined their party.bhp and fortescue up a similar amount.funny that.i wonder if any of our astute journo's will point it out.

jason

13/05/2010BB, Ive been listening to the MPI in the house this afternoon and have come to the conclusion that "the opposition really do think the're the government" The reason being that for 12 years Howard told the media what a mess he was left with and then started the "Animal Farm Theme" Blue blood Liberal Good (we save money & kick the poor) Labor bad (they fix infrastructure and get into debt etc) even today peppered through the oppositions attack was the howard gov done this and that, in as much that the Howard gov had written the book on perfection when it comes to governing.Yet none of the current team as I've heard "We can make the hard decissions" in Abbotts reply to the budget, had the guts to tap Howard on the shoulder.You'd love to be in the front line of a war with the current opposition behind you!

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Steve of Adelaide and Everybody Maybe Kerry O'Brien's report might work for Kevin Rudd, it was good to see Kevin stick up for himself, that's what he should be doing all the time. [b]Some good links about 7.30 reportland[/b] Ruddquake: That’s not a meltdown. THIS is a meltdown. by Bernard keane Crikey As late as this morning the ABC was insisting it was a “fiery exchange”. http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/13/the-err-rudd-meltdown-that-um-wasnt/ 7.30 ReportLand, by Reb, Gutter Trash It was quite entertaining and I have to say, quite refreshing to see the usually contrived and composed Mr Sheen getting a bit hot under the collar http://guttertrash.wordpress.com/2010/05/13/7-30-reportland/ Budget Reply Predictions, by Rober Merkel, Larvatus prodeo Thankfully, this ridiculous beat-up about Kevin Rudd’s supposed “firing-up” (watch the interview here – it’s a forceful defence of the government’s record, nothing more, nothing less) will almost certainly disappear when Tony Abbott delivers his budget reply tonight. http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/05/13/budget-reply-predictions/ [b]Bootstrappers Reports:[/b] MPs defend Kevin Rudd's hot snap on climate on 7.30 Report Joe Kelly, The Australian “When Mr Rudd's record is challenged in any way, he spits the dummy - we saw it on the 7.30 Report last night,” Opposition finance spokesman Andrew Robb said this morning. “He gets defensive and he's starting to lose it.” http://www.news.com.au/national/mps-defend-kevin-rudds-hot-snap-on-climate-on-730-report/story-e6frfkvr-1225865979050 HERALD SUN PM Kevin Rudd fires up in television interview about climate change http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/pm-kevin-rudd-fires-up-in-television-interview-about-climate-change/story-e6frf7jo-1225865816115 NATIONAL TIMES BY PHILLIP COOREY Rudd displays a little ginger in his pop http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/rudd-displays-a-little-ginger-in-his-pop-20100513-uze5.html?autostart=1 abc Cranky Kevin gives insincerity the slip,By Jonathan Green http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/13/2898523.htm?site=thedrum Sydney morning Herald Rudd ignores question about cranky pills http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/rudd-ignores-question-about-cranky-pills-20100513-uz1r.html

BlockyPS

13/05/2010Hey Mick, Actually the mining stocks got quite savaged when the announcement was made. Down by 7-8% across the board. But like most things on the stock market it was an over reaction and the value of the shares are just regaining some of their lost ground. They’ve still got a lot of ground to recover tho and also keep in mind that today’s gains were made across the whole market not just the mining stocks. But established mining companies aren't going to have a problem adjusting to this. It will also have little effect on prospecting companies either, as they haven't started making profits yet and there are additional benefits that have been introduced for them. As I understand it, this change just levels the playing field between off-shore and on-shore mining, as off-shore mining has been taxed at 40% for quite some time. But there is truth in our miners being very much tied to China, so a hiccup their will have a significant impact on our economy. But a hiccup there will have a significant impact on us whether there is an extra 10% tax or not.

Bushfire Bill

13/05/2010[i]The aim of the last few weeks in Australian political reportage has been to slander Rudd's character so that the centrepiece of the election year, the Budget, will be destroyed before its ink is dry on the paper. Critics of the government won't have to set out why the Budget is flawed. They will just assert that Rudd is unhinged, desperate, panic-stricken, unable to deliver programs, and useless at seeing things through. [/i] Prophetic words, even though they are my own. Terry McCrann: [i]No China boom, [u]even just a China stumble over the next few years[/u], and Swan’s third Budget will collapse back into disastrous deficits.” (Herald Sun 12/5/10) [/i] The slightet hiccup from China over the [i]next few years[/i] will wreck the Budget. Daily Telegraph today: [i] [b]TV outburst: PM ‘losing control’[/b] 10:37AM KEVIN Rudd’s outburst in a television interview shows the prime minister is [u]losing control of his self discipline[/u], the federal opposition says. Watch[/i] Rudd's "outburst" last night is receiving as much attention as "Sauce Bottle-gate". All to belittle him and his achievements, and to wreck the Budget.

Ad astra reply

13/05/2010Steve of Adelaide If this is your first visit to [i]TPS[/i] welcome. Do come again. Thanks to all of you who have commented about the O'Brien interview. If only he could read your comments, he might not feel so sure that it was the brilliant interview that some Abbott Party supporters seem to believe. Kevin Rudd will come out of this positively despite the Abbott Party and media negatives. Even Ian MacFarlane couldn't bring himself to label it a 'Latham moment', as others have. I can't recall as positive a response to a Rudd interview as to this one. Lyn Thank you for your additional links - very informative and interesting.

Lyn

13/05/2010Bushfire Bill Bushfire Bill you have an extra special talent,copied below from your topic piece, [b]"Wake in Fright"[/b]:- [quote]The Budget is stillborn (the media will see to that).[/quote] So we see, it doesn't matter about the budget, it's stillborn, as BB said, the important news is Kevin Rudd lost his temper, (not) the bootstrappers do not care about our Government or how the country is Governed, proven by the Murdoch papers today. They don't care about a [b]maniacal Opposition Leader[/b], running around in red underpants, throwing wild statements at everybody, punching the air, they only care about Kevin Rudd has a bad temper.

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010"I think this is the week when I hope that we make the transition from effective opposition to credible alternative government." In your dreams, Tony. I hope it's the night when the scales finally fall from the eyes of the punters and media alike that this man is in any way a credible alternative to the Prime Minister. He was still writing the speech in Question Time today, ferchrissakes! So much for considered thought, research and editing. It'll probably just be another one of his manic motormouth efforts. 'Lower taxes, less spending and a quicker return to surplus'??? Pull the other one, Tony. Look, all I hear when I listen to the Opposition at the moment, is cattiness and bitchy one-liners. Like Hockey's latest that the Coalition left Labor with 3.9% Unemployment. 1) Is that true? 2) It totally ignores the exigencies of the Global Financial Crisis and the effects it has had on unemployment. Do the Opposition really believe that the populace is so blind that they are unable to see the GFC in the rear-view mirror when the Opposition come out with such glib put-downs of the government's efforts throughout the GFC? Might I just finish by saying that Karen Middleton isn't a journalist, she is a Coalition bootstrapper and Camp Follower. Her effort on tonight's SBS News was pathetic.

You must be kidding

13/05/2010Can't recall Latham ever losing it. Maybe someone could help and explain hen he did. As to the interview last night ... hmmm ... let's see the Prime Minister, the leader of our country, our statesman, the one charged with ensuring we don't have a partisan population because he leads for all of us got slightly miffed when challenged. This aggrieved him to the extent many of you congratulate his 'fire'. Why was he miffed? Well it seems O'Brien talked over him to lead him back to the question which not many other so called MSMs have the courage to do ... so here is the Prime MInister talking about health and the government when O'Brien the former Labor staffer was asking about the actual brand of K.Rudd. When brought back to this point the PM gets a little miffed ... or as many of you suggest a fire in his belly. He then talks about "7.30 land mate" which when reflected upon is a little condescending and obviously talking down on him particularly when O'Brien the former Labor staffer actually tells the PM that he to gets out of the studio. The PM with fire in his belly begins to raise his voice, rock back and forth and basically abuse O'Brien by implying for not being as supportive as he should be ... good on you many of you say and about time. He then tells us all that its not his fault about the ETS. But when challenged that he called lack of action political cowardice he further baulks and blames the coalition who did actually suggest that the PM await until the world decides ... which he called cowardice ... and he goes on about working hard etc etc ... fire in the belly you saw. What I saw was a Prime Minister renown for his control, lose control. I saw a PM display petulance with his words not statesman like rhetoric you would expect from the office of PM should be ... I saw a man under pressure. Maybe many of you see it as a badge of courage ... I see it adding another layer to who this chap really is and a step closer to him losing the leadership which should be around 18 months from now. No matter what you think of the MSM an interview like that will only make it worse for Rudd ... other MSM will now push him like O'Brien to get a similar bad tempered result and this will add further damage to his personal brand. Ask any PR person ... he did his personal brand damage last night ... it's just lucky most Australians were watching Master Chef ... and perhaps some of you intense folks should be as well.

You must be kidding

13/05/2010Just a couple of points Hillbilly The work force had a severe skills shortage in 2008 and the debate during June through to August that year was about lack of staff. So it seems when companies begin to cut back labour due to the so called GFC recession ... which we didn't get ... what happen was the vacancy rate disappeared and thus the unemployment rate did not increase to the 8% plus levels the government was predicting last year. So much for predictions. We are now back at that level again ... skill shortage and almost at full employment. As to your point about Karen Middleton ... she is a former staff member of the Labor Party. So if former staffers are turning against their party what is that saying ... a fish rots at the head first and I would suggest so does a political party.

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi You Must Be Kidding [b][quote]"his words not statesman like rhetoric you would expect from the office of PM should be .."[/quote][/b] Do you think these words said by you know who, are statesman like: Crap Shit eating grin Gutless Prime Minister Bla bla Toxic bore Liar Coward Spineless I guess if Mr Abbott becomes Prime Minister, and he travels to other countries representing Australia, meeting other leaders, he will use those words I have listed, maybe to Mr Putin, do you think. Nice type eh!

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010Call me an ignoramus, but could someone please explain to me how the RSPT affects the cost of SuperPhosphate fertiliser? Fertilisers contain NPK, the only one of that trio which is mined is Phosphorous. So, is what Abbott attempting to allude to is that the RSPT applies to Phosphate Mining, and ergo the RSPT will apply to it's Super Profits? Then what is logically supposed to follow on from that supposition, according to the Manic Monk, is that everything will become dearer, as everything is grown with fertiliser! Sounds like a load of baloney from Tony. I'm open to being corrected though. :)

mick smetafor

13/05/2010" They’ve still got a lot of ground to recover tho and also keep in mind that today’s gains were made across the whole market not just the mining stocks. " blockyPS those rises i quoted were made since the budget announcement so obviously those investors don't believe all the claims of doom and gloom.

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010This is my instantaneous take on Abbott's B-I-R: *Tony Abbott is making false assertion after false assertion re the RSPT and Mining decisions. So far, no policy from the Mad Monk. *Private Fee-for-Service Medical Clinics do not deserve competition from government-funded GP Super Clinics??? *Taxpayer-funded pre-election blitz costing $74 million??? And how much did Howard spend on pre-election advertising again? *Now he's comparing Apples and Oranges by comparing profit from the NBN with profit from Mining. Mining is a non-renewable resource. The NBN is a major productivity investment. *The 'Low Road' is amking assumptions about economic growth??? That's what governments are supposed to do!!! *Howard and Costello's surpluses WERE due to the Mining Boom! *"This reckless spending must stop"??? So, say no to good causes!!! What a hard-ass Abbott is. *The government have NOT said that the extra 3% Super will come from extra Payroll Tax. *"The size of government will always be 1% less under a Coalition government"??? *"The Armed Forces represent our country's best values"??? What a militaristic society? "Lower Taxes, smaller government, greater freedom"=less services, Tony. Funny how you didn't mention that bit. *Where's the proof that the local P&C could achieve better value and the economies of scale which lead to lower costs for the BER? *Abbott's recycling the old saw about 'Real Wages increased by 20% under the Howard government". Only if you realise that that figure was heavily skewed in favour of those earning the most money. *Now Abbott's on about his elitist Parental Leave Scheme. "Only the Labor Party increases Business' cost burden"??? So what's Abbott's PPL scheme 'Levy' then? *What a load of fairy floss this speech is. *The Means Test on Private Health Insurance makes economic sense! Which is why Abbott is against it I suppose. *Oh gawd, another Public Service employment freeze. And they say the PM overworks the PS. Remind me again whose government presided over the greatest expansion in Public Service numbers in the history of Australia, whilst promising to reduce their numbers before they came to government? *No more Renewable Energy Future Fund? In order to pay for the Green Army and the Private Health Rebate? *So, no costings, just empty rhetoric. *"Minimal Treasury Input" into the government's decision to introduce the RSPT? *Gee, abandoning the NBN will be a winner. Not. And how long had the nation been waiting for an NBN-type system under Howard? Telstra were in no hurry to do it, and wouldn't be again. Instead milking the status quo for all it was worth. My conclusion? Empty rhetoric, overblown hyperbole and essentially meaningless flim-flam.

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010Bernard Keane and the Sphere of Influence were not impressed with the B-I-R from Abbott, via Twitter.

Ad astra reply

13/05/2010Folks Tony Abbott's reply just finished. 20 minutes berating the Government; 10 minutes talking about what an Abbott Government would do: oppose/rescind the RSPT, sell Medicare, unwind some of the BER and give the money to parents groups, abandon the NBN, bring in his PPL, reduce the public service by 20% via redundancies saving $3 billion, and do as well as the Government in reaching a surplus. Almost no talk of savings except the public service cuts. He'll save nothing on the NBN, because as it's categorised as an investment that is not possible. He says Joe Hockey will announce cuts next week at the Press Club. So he's made no attempt to say where the calculated $15 billion in promises he's already made are to be funded, and nothing about how he's going to match the Government's return to surplus target. He seems to be putting most of his eggs in the RSPT issue, hoping that will win him enough support to be PM. His address was a disappointment as he almost entirely squibbed detailing the hard spending cuts needed not just to fund his own programmes and promises, but to compensate for the programmes he will oppose such as the RSPT. A very poor performance on the fiscal front. Expect the Government to dissect his speech forensically, but don't expect much from the MSM

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010Actually, Abbott said it again in his B-I-R. Phosphorous, Sand and Stone will be subject to the RSPT. I honestly never thought they were profitable enough to have attracted the RSPT. Since when have we started exporting, for great profit, Sand and Stone to the rest of the world? What are the commodity prices wrt Sand and Stone and Phosphorous?

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Ad Thankyou for your excellent breakdown on Abbott's budget reply. Abbott's reply was to be expected no detail, no costing, only what they would do, and lots of cheering, laughing, shaking heads, calling out from his army. Very Abbott unprofessional to say the least.

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Hillbilly Thankyou for your excellent take on the Abbott reply. Abbott [quote]meaningless flim-flam[/quote]. agreed

Lyn

13/05/2010Hi Ad Bernard Kean' response to Abbott's budget reply Abbott’s Budget Reply – content-free, but could it be a winner? by Bernard Keane Crikey Abbott’s tactic of making the RSPT the centerpiece of his election strategy is bold but risky, given evidence that at worst Australians are relatively equally split on the issue. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/thestump/2010/05/13/abbotts-budget-reply-content-free-but-could-it-be-a-winner/

janice

13/05/2010[quote] Empty rhetoric, overblown hyperbole and essentially meaningless flim-flam.[/quote] You're right Hillbilly, but then we didn't expect anything else did we? Ad astra, you can bet MSM won't be doing any dissecting, forensically or otherwise. If Labor can't get their forensics out via msm I guess they will have to resort to an ad blitz to counteract the deliberate misinformation Abbott outlined in his diatribe about the mining tax. Abbott merely glossed over the question of how he was going to fund his promises and reduce the deficit and simply passed the baton over to Hockey to announce cuts in his National Press Club address. Hockey has only a marginally better understanding of things fiscal as Abbott so it is the blind leading the blind in that regard.

vote1maxine

13/05/2010Abbott's B-I-R all smuggle and no budgie. :)

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010Lol, v1m!

AustraliaVotes

13/05/2010Abbott's "reply"' tonight was terrible. Mostly attack with hardly any policy details. When Rudd replied to 'bribe every voter' budget of 2007 he sort of attacked but there was policy detail. Having said all that, every first term Government seeking re-election going back 60 odd years has suffered a small (non-losing) 2PP swing AGAINST it and I can't see anything different happening this year.

gusface

13/05/2010Ad Apparently only you and me heard Abbott announce the medicare sell off. Perhaps we have superfine hearing? :)

Bushfire Bill

13/05/2010Abbott's vow to cut advertising spending seems to be a dare to the government to increase it... so he can lower it. I get the feeling that there's a bubble in here somewhere. The pressure is building so fast and furiously. Something's got to give. How can nothing continue to be seen as something substantial? The Coalition and their media mates are shooting off all their artillery in one last big push. It's all hands to the pumps and damn the hyperbole. The story they are weaving has to burst soon, or else be turned into concrete. They're existing on pure air, like the guru in India.

BH

13/05/2010HS - Karen Middleton has been unbalanced about Labor for a couple of weeks. I think she is miffed about the backflip on asylum seekers, but she certainly has it in for the PM now. We've stopped watching the political bit and only watch the international news on SBS now. Just channel hop while Middleton is on.

Grog

13/05/2010[HS - Karen Middleton has been unbalanced about Labor for a couple of weeks. ] Well she did tweet that she loves a contest: http://twitter.com/KarenMMiddleton/status/13307308318

gusface

13/05/2010Leave TJ and Kazza alone-they are about all there is to balanced journos Sadly

Jason

13/05/2010As the title of this subject said "Wake in Fright" No doubt the News Ltd hacks will have found a hidden message (dog whistle) the rest of us have missed in the morning, except for the unions that had a good ear "IR reform". As for "Action Man" we now have to wait for Shrek to face the press club next week, no doubt if he fails then it could be Robb, Joyce, Tuckey Bronny, Andrews although I think someone pissed in their gene pool it will matter not. The man is a weathervane. vote1maxine Your right

HillbillySkeleton

13/05/2010'How can nothing continue to be seen as something substantial?' BB, Prestidigitation. Abbott did it again tonight. People had the expectation, and Abbott didn't disabuse them of the fact, that he would be presenting a substantial B-I-R, complete with costings and firm policy prescriptions. But he didn't. What he did do,like the political sleight-of-hand artiste that he is, was then say, 'Well Hockey will do it next week...' The pressure is then off Abbott again to be specific. As I speak Tony Jones on Lateline has concentrated his commentary on the B-I-R by Abbott by saying it was a 'combative and critical' speech!!! Lauding it! Hayden Cooper said it was "vintage Abbott", and that "One great big new tax made him Opposition Leader, and he's hoping a new Great Big New Tax will make him Prime Minister". There is no criticism from these commentators at all. Instead they are crafting the latest chapter in 'The Road to the Lodge" for Tony Abbott. And why does Tony Jones think it's such a big deal, and honourable of Abbott to make a commitment to 'pay off government debt'? As if that should be the Holy Grail of all governments. Fair dinkum, he's trying to characterise Tony Abbott as Prince Valiant, when he's just a mean-spirited, little, Right Wing ideologue.

Colen

14/05/2010What a fantastic speech. Where do you think the cash for NBN is going to come from. Any thing built by Public sector is part of budget. You want to tell me that Julia's BER is investment also not out of budget. By the time they build NBN it will be out of date. Technology is doubling every few years. Anyway who is it for. The Hollowman and his Spin Meisters. After this speech Abbott's support will go up. Never mind the detail it's all in the delivery and he prepared well. Never mind that he was still writing it during Q.T. as HBS think. It was ready before and well rehearsed before hand. We will have a contest come August. Did anyone else see Rudd running to Tanner afterwards.

Johnny Button

14/05/2010Anyone see Sky News this morning reporting that both Lib and Labor private polling showing Abbott as being preferred PM in a number of marginal seats? God help us if that is true. No substance in Abbott's reply and whiff of Workchoices 2.

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Johnny Button Thankyou for commenting on The Political Sword, Ad Astra will be pleased. I hope you keep coming back here. Yes I did see Sky News this morning, how can it be possible for Tony Abbott to be elected Prime Minister. This media beat that is being conducted is making me suspicious of everything they report, including the polls. So far the Media is quite happy with Abbott's something nothing Budget reply, to be expected.

Lyn

14/05/2010[b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] ON the QT: Making Meltdowns out of Molehills, and Molehills out of Fertiliser, by Grog, Grog's Gamut If Abbott was hoping to convince people he knew his way around a budget balance sheet, he failed dismally. http://grogsgamut.blogspot.com/2010/05/on-qt-making-meltdowns-out-of-molehills.html Pollytrend for mid May – PM Abbott,by Possum Comitatus Pollytics an election held on the weekend we would have a Coalition government led by Prime Minister Tony Abbott. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2010/05/13/pollytrend-for-mid-may/ Melting not warming , by Tobias Ziegler, Pure Poison, Crikey Tim Wilson reads minds. First, Kevin Rudd:And the tone of Rudd’s voice suggests it wasn’t just in Copenhagen that he was getting sleepless nights and by the emphasis he put on the word “mate” it was probably code for something else. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/ Abbott harsher on the Public sector than Howard, by Mark, Larvatus Prodeo What we’re seeing is a brazen agenda to discredit public purposes in favor of corporate interests, and his conservative rhetoric about government eschewing worthy causes is only the tip of the iceberg. http://larvatusprodeo.net/ The Strange phenomenon of WONKDRINKS*by Mac, Ramblings of a political tragic I could indulge in a thing called Wonkdrinks (and meet the Crikey folk). Abbott sets up election fought on mining tax By Naomi Woodley, staff, abc Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has used his budget reply speech to set up an election fought on the Federal Government's proposed mining tax http://moderatelyleft.blogspot.com/ Fertiliser hits the fan as Abbott pitches for a return to the past by DAMIEN MURPHY, National Times A deathly silence settled over Canberra as Abbott announced that 12,000 retiring public servants would not be replaced. Real estate agents began planning moves to Sydney http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/fertiliser-hits-the-fan-as-abbott-pitches-for-a-return-to-the-past-20100513-v1uu.html Abbott questions Government's e-Health plan, iTnews Better access to faster broadband should not mean a new nationalised telecommunications monopoly and Telstra shareholders should not have their assets subject to coerced acquisition." http://www.itnews.com.au/News/174685,abbott-questions-governments-e-health-plan.aspx Abbott under-promises in a budget reply light on detail,by David Penberthy, The Punch The Opposition Leader had been on his feet for almost 20 minutes of tonight’s half-hour speech to Federal Parliament before he provided any detail of how an Abbott Government would rein in spending. http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/Abbott-under-promises-in-a-budget-reply-light-on-detail/ Coalition to freeze public service jobs by Emma Rodgers, ABC Mr Abbott used his speech to ramp up his "war" on the proposed 40 per cent mining tax and also criticised Government health funding, its cigarette tax and "reckless spending". http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/13/2898893.htm Shorter Abbott budget reply:BRING BACK JOHN HOWARD, by Mark, Larvatus Prodeo Abbott should have flicked the switch to policy positivism. Instead all we got was carping, negativism and a speech almost entirely dominated by attacks on Kevin Rudd’s record. http://larvatusprodeo.net/2010/05/13/shorter-abbott-budget-reply-bring-back-john-howard/ Address in Reply, Parliament House, Tony Abbott If elected, we will be faithful to the liberal conservative tradition. But we will strive to be better than the former government, not just a copy of it. We will be a contemporary government, not just a conservative one. http://www.tonyabbott.com.au/Pages/Article.aspx?ID=4067

mick smetafor

14/05/2010 blockyPS, my apologies ,you were right once and i was wwwrrrong twice.i got the dates wrong,too many glasses of red,a short attention span or just plain stupidity,take your pick.

sawdustmick

14/05/2010Colen, "never mind the detail" no truer word have you ever spoken. I am sure that all of us would like to vote for a PM that has no detail. I hope you use the same reflective thinking when you sign up for your next contract with a door to door salesperson.

HillbillySkeleton

14/05/2010The B-I-R was a whole load of hooey from the Half-Baked Howard clone. He copied Howard's pre-1996 pledge to cut PS numbers; which only saw the rise of the dreaded Private Contractor numbers, and I notice Abbott didn't say that wouldn't be the ultimate consequence of his cut to the PS. Contractors on contracts with terms dictated by the WorkChoices-loving Abbott, no doubt. Other antediluvian acts such as putting a halt to productivity gains for the nation off the back of the NBN rollout; no E-Health; and, according to the Herald today, a generous payment to keep women 'Barefoot and Pregnant' and at home in the kitchen, by making it financially more attractive to do just that. Long story short? Fiscally reckless, with Abbott seeming to rely on his ability to charm the pants off women while taking them away from the workplace during their fecund years. Also attempting to convince workers that they would be better off, in mining, working their butts off for the Mining Man(they should be grateful to have a job at all), as opposed to obtaining a better retirement savings deal; and beyond the Mining Industry, trying to convince the general workforce of economic Armageddon as a result of the sleek and well-fed Miners having to pay their fair share of Resource Rent. We'll see.

Lyn

14/05/2010HI AUSTRALIA VOTES Paul Taylor, thankyou for commenting on The Political Sword, Ad Astra will be pleased. We hope you keep comming back. [quote]every first term Government seeking re-election going back 60 odd years has suffered a small (non-losing) 2PP swing AGAINST it and I can't see anything different happening this year[/quote] I agree, you are right, it's surely not possible for Tony Abbott to become Prime Minister, you are correct, Abbott's budget reply was the worst this nation has ever seen, but you see he has the MSM backing. An army of journalists intent on bringing down the Government. I have included your blogg in my files, please write for us, we are interested in your opinion. Cheers

Ad astra reply

14/05/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx

Johnny Button

14/05/2010Cheers for the welcome Lyn. And more from Thought Bubble Tony. Quote from Phil Khoury SMH. "However, the Herald understands that on Wednesday night Mr Abbott was rolled by his shadow cabinet when he suggested including an idea for large cash payments for stay-at-home mothers of about $10,000 each. His shadow ministers, who were angry in March at not being consulted over the generous paid parental leave scheme which will give mothers up to $75,000 for six months, argued that splurging large sums on stay-at-home mothers would undermine the aim of the speech. ''Everyone around the table opposed it,'' said a source. An announcement about the scheme may be made closer to the election." Hmmmmm!Not that I have a problem with Stay at Home Mums, but how is this going to be funded? Will it be another tax on larger companies? And if so, how is this different from the mining tax (at least this is economically justfied)? Moreover, will this scheme alter the work/not work choices of individuals and families? Comments?

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Ad Here is Reb at Gutter Trash: [b]Tony Abbott will bring back WorkChoices,by reb Gutter Trash [/b]reb permalink [b]OMG![/b] [quote]Tony Abbott has announced that he will establish a “John Howard Institute”[/quote]http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/john-howard-institute-being-planned-20100514-v22r.html [b]Is this some kind of joke..???!![/b] http://guttertrash.wordpress.com:80/2010/05/14/tony-abbott-will-bring-back-workchoices/

AustraliaVotes

14/05/2010Hi Lyn, Thanks for the warm welcome. I will indeed wrtie for you. What are you interested in? As you can see from my "Results if Australia used FPTP" (http://australiavotes2007.blogspot.com/2010/04/2007-election-results-if-australia-used.html), "Top 10 PMs by length of service" (http://australiavotes2007.blogspot.com/2010/04/top-10-australian-pms-by-length-of.html)and "Is Australia over-governed" (http://australiavotes2007.blogspot.com/2010/02/is-australia-over-governed.html) I like using statistics. I'll open it up here and on my blog to requests and see what I can do.

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Johnny Button Hmmm!!!!! let the infighting begin again and again. Does anyone believe, that the Liberal Party could agree, amongst themselves on any policy, forget a costed Budget. Hence, no Policies, proof is in the pudding. Cash payments for stay at home Mum's, "well I never". So just keep having babies and stay at home, the Government will pay, how many five or six babies. The Budgie is mental.

AustraliaVotes

14/05/2010They can't even agree with themselves on the ETS. When it was Howard's policy they got angry when it was described as a tax. When Rudd was trying to get it through all they did was describe it as a tax.

HillbillySkeleton

14/05/2010'The Budgie is mental' An honest assessment,no doubt, coming from a fellow bird. :)

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Hillbilly You are wonderful, great sense of humour, I never thought of that, takes one to know one.

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Australia Votes On the ETS 41 - 42 in Abbott's favour, I bet he whishes he didn't vote for himself. But then, on second thoughts, does he, Leader fits with his inflated ego. Cheers

Colen

14/05/2010Hey Sawdustmick, Even door to door salesmen deserve to make a living. Isn't that what the $900 handouts were for.

HillbillySkeleton

14/05/2010I have just thought of the correct line for the Rudd government to use when trying to explain the RSPT: 'With this tax you will get: * 3% Extra Superannuation, or $100,000 more in your pocket when you retire * 2% Less Company Tax * $5000 immediate Small Business Asset Writedown * More Infrastructure * More money for everyday Australians from Our Resources And, without it, you get nothing, but Tony Abbott, PM.

Colen

14/05/2010HBS, You mean we will still get Kevin Rudd. Kevin07 or the new improved Kevin10? Which one? Just one of the jokes doing the rounds. Isn't this shocking: [quote][b] Make your vote count![/b][/quote] As a rule, I don't pass along these "add your name" lists that appear in emails, BUT this one is important. It has been circulating for months and has been sent to over 20 million people. We don't want to lose any names on the list so just hit forward and send it on. Please keep it going! To show your support for Kevin Rudd please go to the end of the list and add your name. 1. Mrs Rudd 2. s shocking:

HillbillySkeleton

14/05/2010Colen, That's just puerile. As is so much of the Right's 'humour', if you can call it that.

Augustus

14/05/2010lyn, here is another link for you http://smellytongues.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/“the-john-howard-institute”/

Ad astra reply

14/05/2010Folks Take a look at [i]I'm a wimp, Tony Abbott declares on Neil Mitchell radio show[/i] http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/budget/im-a-wimp-tony-abbott-declares-on-neil-mitchell-radio-show/story-e6frgd66-1225866735332?from=public_rss The beginning of the end for Abbott?

Ad astra reply

14/05/2010Johnny Button, AustraliaVotes Welcome to the [i]TPS[/i] family. Come often. AustraliaVotes, your links don't work - perhaps it's the brackets around them that are the problem. I get to your website but get a 'Page not found' message.

Chris

14/05/2010Having read the exchanges between Abbott and Mitchell referred to in the Australian Ad, I dread to think what sort of negotiator Tony Abbott would make if representing Australia on such issues as trade and climate change. Mitchell didn't have to try too hard to drag that out of him.

Augustus

14/05/2010Ad Astra, what was that about "Reckless Spending" "Cashsplash" $10,000 handouts for stay at home mum's in a election year brainfarts, sounds like the Howard programming is still ever present in Tony's mind. This what I have come to see for myself, the Coalition appear to be in a deep denial still even today, they will attempt to eradicate all trace of this government as though it never happened and they never lost the 2007 election. From what I have seen of Tony Abbott's reply to the budget, it was the health debate all over again. Unprepared and Negative

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Ad Here are to links to 2 of our regular commenters on The Political Sword. Chris Owens - Sportolotics and Matthew Lee - THEWETMALE INSTITUTE [b]Oh my GOD! Kevin Rudd is on a rampage and he is leaving death and destruction in his wake! by Chris Owens, Sportolotics.[/b] We, the media and the public together, turned a gentle, mild mannered soul, into a murdering cannibalistic gerbil rogering maniac. Still, it would have been worse under Howard. http://sportowens.wordpress.com:80/2010/05/14/oh-my-god-kevin-rudd-is-on-a-rampage-and-he-is-leaving-death-and-destruction-in-his-wake/ [b]Sensationalism ------GONE MAD , bY Matthew Lee, THEWETMALE INSTITUTE[/b] A common critique of the media has always been its tendency to sensationalise and trivialise. http://thewetmale.wordpress.com/2010/05/14/sensationalism-gone-mad1/

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Augustus Thanks for another good link, I will watch this one for awhile. Where do you find them??????

Colen

14/05/2010Chris, The Lib's have a Cabinet. You don't rely on a Panel of 5 to make the decision's nor one person (for the gal's). You have a working group and that's why the $10,000 was rolled. Some people learn the lesson to consult. Other's consult but ignore the results of the consultation or never implement them.

Chris

14/05/2010Colen, I'm more concerned with the fact that Mitchell was able to drag from Abbott a near admission that he wanted the $10,000 payment policy in the first place, not that he was rolled. If the shadow cabinet decided it wasn't a good idea (and it wasn't), then Tony Abbott should be able to keep a poker face and deflect attention away from it in interviews, which he couldn't do.

HillbillySkeleton

14/05/2010It's amazing, but the 'wimp' incident is getting a big run on the nightly News Bulletins!?!

bilgedigger

14/05/2010Tony Abbott's Budget Reply is notable for what it didn't say rather than what it did. He passed the ball to Joe Hockey next Wednesday at the Press Club. Parliament does not sit next week so there is no opportunity for the kind of scrutiny that Parliament could bring to anything Joe Hockey says on Wednesday and it is to be left to the media to report in any way they wish. We know for the most part how that will be. Channel 7 News has reported that "a senior Labor source" has unleashed a vivid criticism of Kevin Rudd which was purportedly made to Daryl Melham this morning at the airport. How true it is, is open to debate. This item was followed by an item on the Morgan Phone Poll which has supposedly found another 9% drop in support for Kevin Rudd, plus a smaller percentage drop for Julia Gillard. I'm now beginning to wonder if there has been some push-polling going on as a background to recent polls. This is a favourite ploy of conservatives and apparently used in previous elections.

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Ad And Hillbilly [b]The wimp is getting his just dessert[/b], and I am loving every minute, the video is on the below links, the scary, fiendish laugh is on display again. A wimpy budgie, hee, hee, hee, Paul Bonjorno reported the 3aw interview on 10, then channel nine reported also. His disastrous interview this morning with Neil Mitchell — when Abbott stuffs up, he really stuffs up  Ad put this link up at 1.28pm: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/in-depth/budget/im-a-wimp-tony-abbott-declares-on-neil-mitchell-radio-show/story-e6frgd66-1225866735332?from=public_rss His disastrous interview this morning with Neil Mitchell —  when Abbott stuffs up, he really stuffs up  http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/14/abbotts-mix-of-the-savvy-and-the-inexplicable/ Abbott caught out dodging truth on reckless spending MARK DAVIS, national Times Tony Abbott: I'm a 'wimp' Opposition Leader Tony Abbott comes to grief on Radio 3AW, trying to wriggle out of a policy backflip on supporting stay-at-home mums. http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/abbott-caught-out-dodging-truth-on-reckless-spending-20100514-v2w6.html?autostart=1 Abbott wimps out over shadow cabinet row by Emme Rodgers, ABC Mr Abbott declined to elaborate, saying: "I've done the best I can and I'm sorry I'm a disappointment. I'm sorry mate, I'm being a wimp, OK." http://www.abc.net.au:80/news/stories/2010/05/14/2899367.htm?WT.mc_id=newsmail

Rx

14/05/2010Hillbilly wrote: [i]It's amazing, but the 'wimp' incident is getting a big run on the nightly News Bulletins!?![/i] Hi, since I never watch it any more, does this include the ABC? (I have my hat ready + sauce, if so!)

Daisey May

14/05/2010I wonder if sections of the media are foaming at the mouth because the Government is spending less on advertising these days? A report on Crikey showed how newspapers have dropped nearly 4% this quarter and there are reports of cuts at the egregious Herald Sun as well. The recent transcripts that emerged from the Guthrie v News Ltd case are a riveting read. They offer a glimpse into the world of News Ltd politics. It appears that being a rodent from the sewers is no impediment to being a guttersnipe in the world of big business. The judges opinion of Hartigan in particular was scathing. I wonder if Murdoch runs the risk of alienating large chunks of the electorate with all the Rudd bashing. Someone should point out to Hartigan that roughly 50% of the population vote Labour and wouldn't take too kindly to being accused of voting "incorrectly"

bilgedigger

14/05/2010An addendum to my earlier post. ABC News puts a different complexion on the news item re a comment made to Daryl Melham by Bob Hawke. They report it as Hawke making the comment that it "breaks his heart to see whats happening to the Party" and then purportedly speculating about the ascension of Julia Gillard. ABC has also reported on the outcome of a case in Melbourne where Bruce Guthrie and News Ltd. and one of its Editors, Peter Blunden, were the recipients of some stinging comments from Justice Kaye who presided over the Court. Perhaps tomorrow we will see the full reporting in the papers which support our "Right to know" of the imputations on the veracity of both John Hartigan and Peter Blunden (both News Ltd.) in the comments from Justice Kaye. (also reported today at Crikey in greater detail - worth reading!)

Augustus

14/05/2010bilgedigger, What push polling!, surely not http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollytics/2010/05/13/smokes-votes-and-pm-approval/

Augustus

14/05/2010HS, maybe Tony hasn't been on the bike this week, endorphin withdrawl, brain fuzzing up, doh! the real Tony Abbott http://www.dailygalaxy.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/05/03/homer_simpson.jpg Lyn, a wimpy budgie nice one

gusface

14/05/2010The ministry of disinformation AKA the MSM have tried a beat-up re Hawke I think they have just erased all their good? work in one foul swoop 100 seats here we come ps an angry Bob is worth ten stupid abbotts

Rod

14/05/2010[The ministry of disinformation AKA the MSM have tried a beat-up re Hawke] With that paragon of mistruth Bolt leading the way. What a joke when an unfounded whisper from a lib staffer is reported as news and spun as fact. News limited want us to pay! for this crap when they introduce a pay wall, come off it. I get more reputable and factual news with better articles and views from People magazine and Zoo than News. And wasn't this the organisation that gave us the fabricated Grech email.

Johnny Button

14/05/2010Evening All, Good blog from Jack the Insider today. Points out Rudd's deficiency in having an inner circle of advisors rather than relying upon all the members of the Caucus. Good point made about using the experience of Hawke and Keating. Keating, prior to 07 election, was annoyed with Labor's over-reliance on private polling and focus groups for policy. Solid policy leads to election wins. http://blogs.theaustralian.news.com.au/jacktheinsider/index.php/theaustralian/comments/never_too_old_to_ask_for_help/

Rod

14/05/2010Also note that most of the summary of Abbotts budget speech was correct. No taxes on miners. Getting rid of medicare and public health. "I love you like a brother" aka Workchoices Mark III. Money to the rich in the form of the super 75,000 baby bonus. Scrapping of super for the workers. Nothing about the guided missles for border protection but I expect joe will talk of that with the scrapping of the GST on meat pies.

gusface

14/05/2010Rod "the i love you like a brother" is perhaps a seminal statement? or a statement from the seminary?-who knows what Tone will say next and what it really means?

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Gusface Now, what have you been up to on twitter "You fury little thing you"

gusface

14/05/2010Sorry Lyn My keeper was away today so i thought i would feed bananas to the monkeys for a change :)

Lyn

14/05/2010Hi Gusface I thought you were scared of monkey's, I'm scared of cats, I tawt I saw a puddy one.

gusface

14/05/2010I am I am but someone needs to keep the monkeys fed- ps having hawkie energised is the best thing the MSM has ever done for labor :)

Lyn

14/05/2010Gusface Bob hawke is pretty crankey, with the Eavesdropping, snivilling little Liberal. Even Airports have ears - lovely leadership specualtion, Political Owl "Bob and myself were doing nothing more than discussing the usual Canberra press gallery rumour mill. The fact that some Liberal staffer has deliberately eavesdropped on this conversation and misrepresented it to the media just shows how desperate the Liberal Party has become." http://politicalowl.blogspot.com/2010/05/even-airports-have-ears-lovely.html

FFreddy

14/05/2010Mark Simkins extremely brief summary of the days political events on ABC TV News tonight (in Adealaide) included no audio ,let alone vision, of Tony Abbott's appearance on Neil Mitchell today. It was only mentioned at the end of his summary with the comment "...TA is himself under pressure over revelations he was rolled by shadow cabinet over cash payments to stay at home mothers". That was it ie. no mention was made that the cash payments were $10,000.

gusface

14/05/2010Atch lyn i think i fed the monkeys a few green ones-the bellyaching is beginning already Oooops :)

Grog

14/05/2010"Solid policy leads to election wins." So that's Tony done and dusted then :-)

Augustus

14/05/2010It is beginning to look like Tony Abbott's Lycra sheen is beginning to fade, his budget reply seems to have disappointed lots of people in particular the swingers, good at posturing but no substance and is looking more like trying to con us into voting for him rather than giving us a reason to vote for him, I think his budgie just went limp. Kevin Rudd maybe a boring tit but at least he has presented us with a plan.

AustraliaVotes

14/05/2010To ad astra Yeah, it's the brackets. Are you able to edit the comment? I don't see anything that allows me to edit it. Perhaps I'll just put the links again Request thread - http://australiavotes2007.blogspot.com/2010/05/request-line-is-open.html 2007 results if Australia used First Past the Post - http://australiavotes2007.blogspot.com/2010/04/2007-election-results-if-australia-used.html Top 10 PMs by length of service - http://australiavotes2007.blogspot.com/2010/04/top-10-australian-pms-by-length-of.html Is Australia over governed? - http://australiavotes2007.blogspot.com/2010/02/is-australia-over-governed.html

HillbillySkeleton

14/05/2010Speaking of tits, Did you see the vision of that vainglorious 'wimp', Tony Abbott, hogging the limelight in the ABC studio, so obviously and calculatedly drinking a glass of water in front of the camera so as to block out vision of Chris Bowen? There is one thing that Tony Abbott feels in his waters, who the bright up and comers in the political firmament are.

AustraliaVotes

14/05/2010Perhaps Hawke can say it was a "short jocular conversation" :p

Rx

14/05/2010Here is another link to the 3AW story of the Wimpy Weathervane coming to grief. http://www.3aw.com.au/blogs/3aw-generic-blog/tony-abbotts-budget-reply/20100513-v08d.html

gusface

14/05/2010HS BOWEN IS THE NEXT GEN Tone just realised he was in the presence of a superior being :) ps mesma and leigh are the best tag team labor has got.you know its true

Augustus

14/05/2010HS, no I didn't but it doesn't surprise me one bit, and I guess that is what we are seeing, "raised ones self above ones station"

HillbillySkeleton

14/05/2010Might I also add that that horror of a Deputy Opposition Leader, Julie Bishop, comes off, to my eyes, as one A Grade arrogant bitch. She talked over and constantly interrupted Mark Arbib on Lateline tonight, yet when she was prattling on with her vile and vicious Liberal Talking Points, attempting to besmirch the character of the Deputy PM, Julia Gillard, a better woman than Julie Bishop could ever hope to be in a million lifetimes and a more competent minister than Julie Bishop ever could dream of being, Julie Bishop kept putting her arm up to block Senator Arbib from cutting in on her, as she was telling outright lies, I might add. The Coalition make me so mad! They are vile to a man and woman and I hope the electorate does not sleepwalk into this election because it will turn out to be one mighty collective hangover when they wake up in the morning and realise what they have done, if they elect the Coalition to government.

Augustus

14/05/2010To quote Julia Gillard to julie Bishop "you get respect you have to earn it"

Augustus

14/05/2010sorry that should read "you don't get respect you have to earn it"

gusface

14/05/2010Augustus I like it :)

Augustus

14/05/2010Gusface, it's what I teach my children

gusface

14/05/2010Augustus As should all parents :)

Augustus

14/05/2010Here is the interesting thing, I don't particularly like Kevin Rudd but I don't disrespect him and feel he is trying to make a difference, it's about managing the country and not one's ego, denial is not just a river that flows though egypt.

Johnny Button

15/05/2010Grog Here! Here! No policy at all from the mad monk....he will be toast. I'm still coming to after Mesma hypnotised me during LL.

Rx

15/05/2010Hey Lyn, Here's another for your Daily Links ... [b]"Someone lend this man an economics textbook"[/b] By Ben Eltham, New Matilda, 14 May 2010 [i]Economic credibility is a continuing problem for this Opposition. In the two-and-a-half years since losing office, no-one in the Coalition has been able to advance a credible alternative economic agenda[/i] http://newmatilda.com/2010/05/14/someone-lend-man-economics-textbook

Lyn

15/05/2010Hi Rx Thanks heaps for the link to New matilda, very much appreciated. I will put it in today's links a bit later. Cheers

Lyn

15/05/2010[b]TODAY'S LINKS[/b] Weekend Talk Thread, by Dave Gaukroger, Pure Poison, Crikey On the tele this Sunday at 8:35am we have Laurie Oakes interviewing Tony Abbott. Barrie Cassidy will interview Wayne Swan on Insiders, with Laura Tingle, Lenore Taylor and Michael Stutchbury on the panel. Updat Stutchbury out BOLT IN. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoison/ Swan glides in to rescue Rudd, by Laurie Oakes Herald Sun All that stuff in sections of the media about rants and tirades and loss of temper was nonsense. Comparisons of Rudd's performance with a Mark Latham brain snap were ridiculous., http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/swan-glides-in-to-rescue-rudd/story-e6frfhqf-1225866976733 Nurture that anger, Kevin Rudd and 7.30 Reportland, Crikey Abbott is a half-baked weirdo consumed by paranoid delusions. You’ve allowed him to get away with this for too long, http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/14/nurture-that-anger-kev/ Stop Murdoch, Legislation is easy: ban Foreign ownership of AUSTRALIAN MEDIA should do the right thing for Australia's democracy and ban foreign ownership. http://stopmurdoch.blogspot.com/ Anti-Kevin: a great big new trick, by LENORE TAYLOR Abbott has framed the next election not around what he is but what he is not,not around what he will do but what he will not do http://www.nationaltimes.com.au/opinion/politics/antikevin-a-great-big-new-trick-20100514-v4ch.html Someone Lend This Man An Economics Textbook By Ben Eltham, New Matilda But Hockey seems to have forgotten what he said last year, and is now attacking the Treasury projections for not being conservative enough. http://newmatilda.com/2010/05/14/someone-lend-man-economics-textbook Morgan: 51.5-48.5 to Labor, by William Bowe, The Poll Bludger 36.6% is pretty bad, but still 49.7% TPP is not so bad. I think what’s casuing the most confusion is that Rudd and the ALP had such high figures for so long. Now they’ve come back to the pack. http://blogs.crikey.com.au/pollbludger/2010/05/14/morgan-51-5-48-5/comment-page-2/#comment-468449 Climate action argument the nude ball of politics by Chris Uhlmann, The Drum Abandoning the idea because of Senate obstructionism ignores the fact that the Prime Minister could seek to have both houses of Parliament dissolved and then put the matter to the people at an election http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/05/14/2899102.htm?site=thedrum Abbott's big donor under fire from angry Greens MALCOLM KNOX, Sydney Morning Herald. Mr Abbott's biggest donor was a company controlled by Kerry Jones, the former convener of Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. It donated $51,500 in 2007 following a fund-raising dinner. http://www.smh.com.au/national/abbotts-big-donor-under-fire-from-angry-greens-20100514-v4h9.html The Drum reader Koesonya explains how to be The Opposition : The Orstrahyun, by Darryl Mason Govt presenting the budget: Won't work! Liars! Great Big New Tax! Debt crisis! Armageddon! http://theorstrahyun.blogspot.com/ The Addy refuses to run Sex Party’s Abbott ad, by Matt de Neef, Crikey opposition leader Tony Abbott clinging desperately to the leg of a woman in fishnet stockings. http://www.crikey.com.au/2010/05/14/the-addy-refuses-to-run-s-x-partys-abbott-ad/ Abbott may adopt Henry's tax reforms, by Sandra O'Malley, The West Australian But there was a part of the Henry review which I think has significant merit, at least in principle, and that was the cuts to personal income tax and the changes to the welfare system, designed to ensure that we are a society with appropriate incentives to work. http://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/a/-/breaking/7237606/abbott-may-adopt-henrys-tax-reforms/ Lewis Black, Glenn Beck and that WIMP TONY ABBOTT, By Dorothy Parker, LOON POND self-confessed wimp Tony Abbott, all strut in his budgie smugglers and on his bike, but a gutless wonder - as we used to say in Tamworth , http://loonpond.blogspot.com/2010/05/lewis-black-glenn-beck-and-that-wimp.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+LoonPond+%28loon+pond%29

HillbillySkeleton

15/05/2010Augustus, This one's for you and your kids: :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Ub4RS-IeEQ&feature=related

Ad astra reply

15/05/2010LYN'S DAILY LINKS updated: http://www.thepoliticalsword.com/page/Lyns-Daily-Links.aspx Thank you Lyn for yet another great set of links.

Ad astra reply

15/05/2010AustraliaVotes Thank you for re-posting your links. They almost always work if unencumbered with additional characters such as brackets. Sometimes a long URL is abbreviated by the programming, but it still works. [i]TPS[/i] uses an off-the-shelf blog engine with which it is not possible to amend individual posts. I can only delete unsuitable posts such as spam. We have been fortunate here to have had no offensive posts.

Augustus

15/05/2010Thanks for that HS, much appreciated. Lyn, "opposition leader Tony Abbott clinging desperately to the leg of a woman in fishnet stockings", he wishes!

bilgedigger

15/05/2010Although News Ltd. in The Australian is still repeating the Hawke story today in The Australian it still remains to be seen just how true it is, and even if it is, whether it has any importance in the overall scheme of things. What is more interesting for me today is to get to page 7 of The Australian before seeing any report on the outcome of the Guthrie v. News Ltd. Supreme Court case referred to in my post and then to read the airbrushed version published by News Ltd. There were a number of comments made by Justice Kaye as reported on Crikey.com yesterday, which did not make the article,as follows: On Peter Blunden (Editor of the Herald-Sun) "Justice Kaye in a further rebuke said Blunden's evidence 'does not survive scrutiny.'" On John Hartigan (head honcho of News Ltd) Justice Kaye "had reservations about a number of features" of Mr. Hartigan's evidence. Justice Kaye is also reported as having said "In my view Hartigan was an unreliable witness in respect of the negotiations that proceeded the formation of the contract" (see the report in Crikey for further extracts). The version of News Ltd. in today's paper does not represent fully what was the true outcome of the case. With damages of over %550,000.00 in favour of Guthrie plus payment of all his costs, it will be interesting to see how this is represented in the financial year reporting of News Ltd. The costs of running a Supreme Court case with top silks is not cheap and is likely to add another very substantial amount on top of the damages awarded. No much change from $1 million, if any. Today I'm also still thinking about the cunning tactics of Tony Abbott in his "Budget Reply Lite" in sketching out in aa few comments what he would do and then passing the ball to Joe Hockey to come to his defence and flesh out the direction his "Real Action" would take. Apart from trying to pull the wool over the eyes of voters as to his economic credentials and his capacity to lead a fight, it looks to me a bit more like the school-yard bully who throws a punch and then runs away so that the bigger boys can take over. There is a name for that kind of behaviour which is akin to the cowardice he is happy to throw around as often as he throws his punches (and runs away all too often). For mine, I'm happy to now refer to him as "Mr. Hit-and-Run" but I don't think Joe Hockey or others in the Opposition will be too happy for too long to play the role of ambulance paramedics to clean up the messes he makes.

Ad astra reply

15/05/2010Folks I've just posted something for the weekend: [i]But, but, but...[/i] There are no prizes for guessing who that is about.

Ad astra reply

15/05/2010bilgedigger That is exactly what we've come to expect from News Limited. That will be all we will see in their outlets about the 'Guthrie affair'. I agree with your assessment of Tony Abbott as 'Mr Hit-and-Run'. Next Wednesday should be interesting at the National Press Club as Joe Hockey tries to explain the Abbott Party savings that will match the Government's, compensate for the revenue that will be lost in abandoning Government initiatives, and in addition will pay for Abbott's $15 billion of promises. Joe will need a very large 'magic pudding'.

Ad astra reply

15/05/2010Folks I'll leave this post open for a while, until spam predominates.

Ad astra reply

15/05/2010Folks As we're attracting only spam now. I'm closing comments.
T-w-o take away o-n-e equals?