Oz Election Thread #4 - Gillard's Labor

Still paying close attention.
Will comment after the press conference finishes.

Still there, hinge?
What do you make of it all after that?

Ah. Confused. Multiple alternate universes are branching before my eyes.

Tweet stream was interesting.

I think a new election is firming in the odds - except that I think both major parties would suffer swings against, which wouldn't resolve anything.

The resolve of the independents is interesting/impressive, especially considering their divergent views. I hate to say it but Katter made sense a couple of times (mostly about what it's like to be a party backbencher).

It was a joy to hear what people thought with little regard to party line, future negative election ads, or covering up for past (and future) mistakes.

There's a kind of leap of faith, particularly from Oakeshott, about not knowing what it will look like but let's give it a go. Adam Bandt impressive too, (if only for sitting next to Katter and pointing out that if Katter got his wish and the mining tax was squashed it wouldn't help Australia, because the rest will move to renewables and who will buy our coal then? Better to fund R&D into renewable tech and sell that. Imagine having secondary industry again....)

Watching a coin spinning slow motion in the air...
heads or tails?

PS in 25 years Chris Ullman will be the new Barry Cassidy.

I guess you're working, or busy at this minute, hinge.

I was just thinking, watching that, what a shame (for the voters) that our political leaders, during the actual campaign, were not able to have their policies scrutinized in the same way by the press gallery as happened here. I would have liked to have seen Abbott, Gillard & yes, Bob Brown, too ... up there & responding to very much the same questions these 4 were addressing. The "debates" were superficial to the extreme, ... farcical, by contrast.

I think voters might have had a far better understanding of the "mining tax" & the implications for taxation & tax reform if we'd had access to real discussion like this. Same on the respective party positions (or lack of) on carbon emissions, asylum seekers, etc, etc, ...
It was extremely frustrating, watching the discussion of these issues & others after the election was over, in this forum, rather than during the campaign itself, with the actual leaders. No wonder they got away with mindless jargon like "no big tax" & "moving ahead" rather than supplying the electorate with real information on their respective positions ...

I think (as a potential bloc which might well decide which party governs the country) I can see real differences between Katter & Oakshott. Katter wants to have it both ways: parochial local hero answering only to his own constituents & getting the best deal for them, while, at the same time committed to "the good of the nation". Totally contradictory positions. He is too much of a self interested wild card, I'd suspect, to have the discipline to commit to a " bloc party line", even if he says he will. Bandt (Greens) is in a different position altogether, obviously, not being an independent. His agenda is clear cut & tied to the Greens' policies. I'm glad he made the rather obvious point that the Greens won a huge endorsement of their policy, nation-wide ..... as opposed to the local endorsement by voters of the other 3.

Ha. We cross-posted.
Will read your comment now.

On Chris Ullman ... he enjoys enormous respect now. (Very familiar with his work. He was a producer on Jon Faine's morning program on 774 not so long ago. He's a very sharp cookie, rising fast.)

I think Annabel Crabb tweeted or retweeted that Katter had arrived at the NPC in a black leotard shouting 'Bow to the Bob!'

Yes, but wasn't it refreshing, though?



Yep. I think he's "the brains of the (bloc) outfit".
I actually can see him sitting on combined-party committees & making a positive contribution. He's making a big impact at the moment. If he can stick to his espoused principles, I think he's got quite a future in federal politics.
I'm very glad Andrew Wilkie is now pretty definite. Even though he'll be an independent independent, I think he's the perfect foil for Katter's potential excesses.



You asking me? Ha!

OK, I'll have a go. I think Bandt (0bviously) & possibly Oakshott will opt for Labor. After extracting some "commitments".
Wilkie probably will, too. I seriously cannot see him supporting the Liberals. He'll be the toughest negotiator of the lot, I'd say.
The other member of the "bloc" (why do I keep forgetting his name?) will probably opt for the Liberals, as will Katter. Though who knows anything for certain with Katter? I think there may have to be a special pork-barreling deal sealer in his case, which ever side ...

OK, your turn now!

Catching up on your earlier posts, hinge.



That's very interesting re Entsch!

Bob Katter as a kid;

Santa, I'm not a greedy boy, I'd just like a toy sword, and a bike, and a hat.
...oh, and a cake the size of a hospital in the shape of a hippopotamus.

Ha, Eorl!

Where've you been?

Good to see you!

Silently lurking, very much enjoying you and hinge.

Oh that's a relief!

I thought you might have gone into a deep, uncommunicative depression after Saturday!

Any thoughts on hinge's burning question, Eorl?

Hinge's "Multiple alternate universes are branching before my eyes."
...is the most profound thing I've seen since election day.

If one of the indies has pizza and doesn't sleep well, it could change the future history of the world permanently at this nodal point.

and I think the pressure on these guys is monstrous. Gillard and Abbot have been building strength for leadership in the furnace of public fire for months, these guys woke up with it on Sunday.

Yes, I know!

The sheer weight of the responsibility must be overwhelming! How they must hate having all this attention .... the future of the nation, thrust upon them!

OK, any for real predictions?
Never forget, you were the person here who predicted the hung parliament!

Alright then, I'll predict a nice firm-looking deal with Gillard (since she must go to the GG and say, "I can't do it, try Tony" and I can't see her doing that)

Then that falls over in less than 3 months, then back to the polls.

But I'm really making stuff up. It really is unguessable.