Oz election thread #3 - Rudd's Labour

Crikey says:


Gather ye now among thy tribes and among thy families and then shalt thou rest, for the year runneth its course. Put aside therefore thy labours and place thy trust in thy investments, and possibly thy investments in thy trust.

For it came to pass that there were great changes in the land. For John was their leader, yea even unto eleven years and the land was covered in darkness and darkness was upon the face of the deep and there were troubles in the land without number, and there was war. And the money-lenders cranketh up rates, despite John's claim that he keepeth them from being cranked. For John was old and weak and thought only of the past, and he was sore afraid and his confusion was manifold. And he knoweth not what to do.

And John sayeth unto Peter, ?'You are the anointed one. You will take my place. So get thee hence and wait.' And Peter goeth ?'Why promiseth thou me this? And why, having promised, deliverest thou not? For we have had this conversation before and it shitteth me.'

And John smiled. And did nothing. For he knew that Peter pulleth not the skin from a rice pudding, and that he doeth nothing and abideth his time, which was fruitless.

But John gathereth about him the Pharisees and he spake unto them, saying ?'Bretheren, there shall be a reckoning. And mighty shall be our victory over those who oppose us. For we have found an infidel in Queensland and his name is Haneef and he is a healer of the sick. And he shall be deported without trial. For there will be no trial. For there will be no charges. For he has done nothing wrong. And he is not the infidel.'

And the people saw this. And they shook their heads. And yea, though John be old and hopeless, he walketh still each morning in the suit of track, and he waveth to his people. And his people waveth back. But after John passeth by, his people turneth each to the other and they sayeth each privately ?'lo, he looketh a great tool.'

But the scribes saw not. Nor did they write. For they mostly contemplateth the Lillies of the field and the Marshes and the Warnies and the Abletts and the Judds. For obsesseth they with sport. For those who record events in the land are concerned with the line that is bottom. For that is the way it works for ever and ever. Amen.

So the scribes sensed not what the people knew. But there was anger in the land. For the people haveth John up to here.

For there were those who would come across the sea and they were placed in the centre that is detention.

And there were those who were in the land since time immemorial and John spoke not to them.

But John spoke freely to others. For he told them stories. For example he told them there were unbelievers, who would attack the land. And John said they numbered many millions and would smite us, for they were evil and full of hate and we were the lamb of God and had done nothing. For John gave his people a fridge magnet.

For John faileth to understand the metaphor of the burning Bush.

For there was also a plague which causeth the land to become warmer.

And this was a huge surprise.

For this was not understood by science until thirty years previously.

But John denieth this three times. For John calleth this a drought. But the people suspecteth something more permanent. For they worked on the land. And neither were they born yesterday. Nor cometh they down with the last shower. For there was no shower.

For who was John kidding?

And there was great confusion in the land and the people were sore afraid.

And then John introduced new laws; that man might profit not from his own work but from the work of others.

And the people sayeth to John ?'John. You are great and have all power and are wise and we wish to use the band that is called broad.'

And John shruggeth his shoulders and spake unto the people as follows; ?'What band is it that is called broad. I know nothing about any such band. Now begone, as I have to call George. ?'

And the people giveth up. For they knew that cometh the reckoning, fixeth up they John in spades.

And there was a crack of thunder and a mighty wind and lo, there was a light in the east. A bright light. And there were three wise women. And they were Julia and Penny and Nicola.

And they came upon a house in Canberra and they said ?'Prepare ye. For a child will be born, whose name shall be called Kevin. And even though he perhaps be not thy saviour, he be something to be going on with.'

And great hosannas rang out and booths opened for the reckoning, and great was the polling therein. And there was slide of land and he that is called Kerry announceth a swing to the ABC. For verily it was so. And the people looked at their work and saw that it was good.

For John was defeated and lost, and ebbeth he and his kind like the tide. And lo, Peter had a note from his mother and was excused leadership duties. And electeth they Brendan, who knoweth fanny adams and who loveth Brendan with all his heart.

And so it was that Kevin became a leader. And he spake unto his people and they fell into a swound for Kevin haveth many qualities but he hath not brevity.

For the people did not need a lecture. For they understood the problems. For they put Kevin there, rather than the other way round.

But the three wise women saw. And they took Kevin out the back and explaineth they things very firmly to Kevin. ?'Kevin' they said. ?'There is a time to every purpose. A time for speaking and a time for shutting thy face. We will give you a signal. For boreth ye not thy people.'

And Kevin recogniseth that he had fallen among friends and he was pleased. For he had learnt to read signals.

And the people rested. For it was a time of feasting and gift-giving and crippling debt. They would eat and drink. For they would need to be ready for work when they got back.

For the place was a shambles.

From The Book of Kevin 12; 15-73; The Gospel According to the Crikey Psephological Observation Unit.

Loved it, Deb!

Crikey! Kevin's everywhere! At once!
Stop him, someone! The man's possessed! :

Rudd visits Iraqi PM


December 22, 2007 - 9:04AM

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, on a surprise visit to Baghdad today, assured Iraq of a long-term partnership but stressed his combat troops deployed here would head home by June next year. ... <cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/world/rudd-visits-iraqi-pm/2007/12/21/1198175344087.html

Well, well, Mr Andrews!:

Haneef given green light, 'would like to return'


The prisoner: Mohamed Haneef, who at the time faced a charge of supporting terrorism, being driven out of the Brisbane watchhouse on July 23.
Photo: Eddie Safarik

December 22, 2007/the AGE

FORMER terrorism suspect Mohamed Haneef is free to return to Australia after the Federal Court yesterday dismissed former immigration minister Kevin Andrews' appeal against the decision to reinstate the Indian doctor's visa.

But the new Immigration Minister, Chris Evans, has reserved the right to change the Migration Act and potentially mount his own appeal to the High Court.

A full bench of the Federal Court, sitting in Melbourne, yesterday unanimously upheld Justice Jeffrey Spender's ruling in August that Mr Andrews had misinterpreted the Migration Act's character test when he cancelled Dr Haneef's visa in July.

The judgement, which effectively reinstates Dr Haneef's visa, could have implications for other migrants who have had their visas revoked on similar grounds. ...<ont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/haneef-given-green-light/2007/12/21/1198175340651.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

I think he's doing a lot of exorcising!!!!

Indeed!

And good!

But will he rest on the seventh day? :wink:

One-year control order on Hicks


Terry Hicks.
Photo: Lee Besford

Penelope Debelle, Adelaide
December 22, 2007/the AGE

CONFESSED terrorism supporter David Hicks wants to become a "model citizen" and will abide by strict anti-terrorist controls imposed on him yesterday by an Adelaide court.

Hicks will be fingerprinted three times a week and is banned from leaving Australia after he leaves jail next Saturday.

His lawyers did not oppose an interim 12-month control order sought by the Australian Federal Police, the second such order imposed in Australia under new anti-terror laws.

Hicks will begin reporting to an undisclosed South Australian police station from January 31, the first Monday after his release from the high-security Yatala Labour Prison.
His lawyer, David McLeod, said Hicks intended to become "a model citizen" and would obey the eight-part order.

"I think you will find that David's position is that he simply wants to assimilate back into society," Mr McLeod said. "He has had six long years to consider his past activities and by any view of them, 5½ years in the world's most notorious prison plus six months in isolation in the toughest part of Yatala is punishment enough.".......

.....Hicks' father, Terry, said the reporting provisions were restrictive and would interfere with Hicks' hopes of finding employment and studying at university.

"David's been through six years of bloody hell, so what's another 12 months?" he said ...<cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/oneyear-control-order-on-hicks/2007/12/21/1198175340660.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

... & now for the bad news!

Yikes! Some of us are going to have to learn to love living on beans & toast, I think!

Inflation forecast bad news for rates
Economics correspondent
December 22, 2007/the AUSTRALIAN

INFLATION will rocket to 4 per cent by March, making further rate hikes a near certainty in the new year.

Internal forecasts obtained by The Weekend Australian reveal Treasury expects inflation to remain above 3 per cent - the top of the Reserve Bank of Australia's target band - throughout next year.

The alarming outlook suggests home buyers could face mortgage rates of close to 9 per cent early in the new year.

Interest rates have risen 11 times since 2001, lifting standard variable mortgage rates from 6.05 per cent to 8.55per cent in the last six years of the Howard government.

Former treasurer Peter Costello almost certainly knew during the election campaign that inflation was heading above 3 per cent, although he relied on year-average figures published by Treasury to assert that price rises would remain below the Reserve Bank's ceiling.

However, Treasury has recalculated its internal forecasts since the November 24 election, using the latest official inflation figures for the September quarter and the latest national accounts.

And the new figures show the outlook has become much worse.

The forecasts were presented in the past fortnight to a meeting of the Joint Economic Forecasting Group, which combines representatives from the Prime Minister's Department, the Reserve Bank, the Finance Department and the Australian Bureau of Statistics. It is chaired by Treasury.

The new forecasts explain the level of concern expressed by new Treasurer Wayne Swan about rising inflation in his speech to the Australian Industry Group last week.

"I warn you we face an extended period of elevated inflation," he said.

Mr Swan refused to comment on the forecasts yesterday, but his speech last week revealed he had been advised by Treasury officials that the underlying rate of inflation would come under pressure over the next 18 months. ...<cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22962101-601,00.html

So after Mr Rudd beat Mr Howard, I moved on to watching other elections in the rest of the world, including, of course, the U.S. Things in Aus seemed settled down with a lot of yall happy to see Howard go.

I play on-line scrabble where there is opportunity to chat (the only reason I play). An opponent tonight was from Aus and at some point I mentioned Rudd.

She went into a tirade against him (while continuing to beat the hell out of me in the scrabble game). Recession within a year. F*cking unions.

Which brings me back to this thread where, it seems to me, yall eat your young when they are very, um, young.

We've got plenty of those weasels here. They're only too happy to work their 38 hour weeks, and take their 4 weeks paid annual leave, and their maternity leave, and their paid sick leave, and work under OH&S rules, and earn their overtime and weekend penalties, while taking every opportunity to rail against the very unions which won all these benefits for them.

Oh, I know that, Wilso. I was just scrolling through the last few pages here and thought I detected a broader disgruntlement with Rudd already. But I went through it all again. Ain't as bad as I thought.

We're suffering from the policies of the previous government. I've got no issues with Rudd at all.

Interestingly enough, Labor is inheriting the upward soaring interest rates from the Liberals (and they can't say that the rest of the worlds interest rates are soaring), and may get caught in a US lead recession (if the US goes into recession), or an Australian recession caused by Chinese mortgage meltdown/recession (their banks have 40% bad debts apparently) leading to a decline in need for raw materials, a collapse of prices, and with Australia's current high lending, an inability to pay debts....


...and who do you think will get blamed for all this?

Then again, maybe he will become St Kevin and lead a charmed life...

You think some of us haven't given Labor a fair go (given it's so early in the piece), rjb?

Perhaps.

Some of the things I'm not totally sold on (like Labor's education policy) I wasn't happy with prior to the election. I would also like to see swifter movement on the promised IR reforms.

But, I gotta say, things feel a lot, lot better now that Howard has been banished!

Absolutely spot on Wilso
They don't want to be union members, but when the unions win a pay rise, they are there with their hand out.
They are just having a free ride at others expense.

People just tend to voice their opinions here, and no politician Kev included, is ever going to satisfy everyone.

I was specifically thinking of the cartoons. They don't "translate" easily for the casual observer of another country's politics.