Oz Election Thread #4 - Gillard's Labor

@hingehead,

Quote:

Who won, the reft or the light?

...or maybe it was the riddle, hinge? Smile

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@hingehead,

hingehead wrote:

Also appalled by the idea that the government killed some tradesman's assistants in the roof insulation scheme. If that were true why aren't Abbott and co in jail for our Iraq conflict dead, or for locking up Cornelia Rau, or anyone of a hundred other fallouts from the Howard years?

One thing that has always bugged me, was the irony of the home insulation scheme, in that the
companies with their snouts in the trough, and taking short cuts, would have been by and large, conservative supporters.
Same with the rorts and excesses of the school building programmes.
Scoring political points knows no bounds.

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A promotion coming up for Bill Shorten? (Not exactly a good look for Labor, at this point in time, I would have thought ...)

(meanwhile the media rumour mill tells us that Andrew Robb is about to challenge Julie Bishop for deputy-leadership of the Libs ...)

Quote:

The Parliamentary Secretary for Disability Services, Bill Shorten, is expected to be promoted to the junior ministry.

Mr Shorten helped engineer the ousting of former prime minister Kevin Rudd and a promotion to cabinet would be seen as Ms Gillard rewarding the plotters, something she promised would not happen.

Ms Gillard said she would announce her new ministry early next week

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/gillard-minister-steps-down-20100908-150ur.html

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Ha.
Leunig's take on our new Labor government.
(sorry, I think you might need to be Australian to understand it.)

http://images.theage.com.au/2010/09/08/1913093/leunig08cod-620x0.jpg

1 Reply

@msolga,

Moir's (SMH) take:

http://images.theage.com.au/2010/09/07/1912129/0809cartoon-600x400.jpg

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Andrew Robb has decided not to challenge Julie Bishop.
This update is from the Australian, so it must be true! Wink

Quote:

Andrew Robb backs down from challenge to Bishop for Liberal deputy job
UPDATED: Samantha Maiden
From: The Australian
September 08, 2010 6:06PM

LIBERAL frontbencher Andrew Robb will not challenge Julie Bishop for the deputy Liberal leadership after earlier sounding out colleagues. ...

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/pyne-backs-julie-bishop-amid-speculation-of-andrew-robb-challenge/story-fn59niix-1225915967619

1 Reply

@msolga,

Now would be a lovely time to contact your elected representative.

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@laughoutlood,

For some perhaps, laughout ...
A waste of time for those in those eternally "safe" seats, of either persuasion. (Like me.) We're just not important in the grand scheme of things ... Neutral

Meanwhile, another rumoured development, this time courtesy of the Hun (Herald-Sun), of all places! Surprised

:

Quote:

UPDATE 6.15pm: FORMER prime minister Kevin Rudd is expected to be made foreign minister in an overhaul of Julia Gillard's Labor frontbench.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/i-will-hold-my-bush-coalition-together-vows-prime-minister-julia-gillard/story-fn5ko0pw-1225915608217

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@msolga,

Oh I dunno, msolga.

Policies which benefit the electorate should be put to all politicians, especially those in power.

Try calling a mate of a mate?

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@msolga,

That's a bit sad - Steve Smith seemed very competent, hope the poor bastard doesn't get defence now Faulkner's on the way out.

1 Reply

@hingehead,

Yes, I don't imagine he'd be feeling exactly pleased with losing his portfolio to Rudd.
Did you notice in one of my earlier posts that Bill Shorten looks likely to be promoted, too?

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@msolga,

I did, and I don't like it. Haven't made up my mind if he's a player or the real deal.

Coming up through the union movement has pluses and minuses. No better apprenticeship for politics, but I worry that it's also the only apprenticeship available for labor hopefuls and that it can breed groupthink. Being in bed with Arbib shows his party machine savvy, but not any sort of judgement.

1 Reply

@msolga,

Combet on the other hand...

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@msolga,

Surely the libs we look at a reshuffle?

On an age basis you'd have to think that it's more likely that a by-election will happen in a liberal held seat?

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@hingehead,

Right so, I've been in Hobart since Tuesday morning. Have I missed anything?

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There are any number of islands north of Darwin that Howard severed from Australia post "children overboard" that we could use for accommodating potential asylum seekers.

The concept would provide work for the locals as well as lessen the cost of transport of the potentials.

1 Reply

@hingehead,

Quote:

I did, and I don't like it. Haven't made up my mind if he's a player or the real deal.

(Talking about Bill Shorten here & the possibility of a cabinet "promotion" within the new Labor government. Sorry about the late response, hinge. I was rushed off my feet yesterday ...)

No, I don't like it, either. It smells (stinks?) of rewarding him for his role in deposing Rudd & installing Gillard. And rewarding (at least one of the) Right machine who were directly responsible for a really stuffed-up election campaign. Labor policies, what Labor policies? They are completely out of touch with what the electorate wants. Those operators are well & truly on the nose, both within & outside the Labor Party. If Gillard wants to move on & create a better ALP, then strategically, promoting any one of those ratbags is a detrimental step.

Quote:

Coming up through the union movement has pluses and minuses. No better apprenticeship for politics, but I worry that it's also the only apprenticeship available for labor hopefuls and that it can breed groupthink. Being in bed with Arbib shows his party machine savvy, but not any sort of judgement.

Yes, I understand what you're saying. Some of our most inspiring & effective Labor politicians have been ex-union members. But then, look at the AWU (Shorten, Howes). The AWU, in my opinion, has played a really negative role within the ALP. They (along with the NSW Right) have driven the party & the government further & right ... to the point that many (like me) have had no option but to lose faith in Labor as a progressive, reformist force in Oz politics. And where are our left ex-unionists to counter their negative influences? I suspect there's not much of a future for really bright left union leaders in the current climate. The right has had too much power & influence by far. Gillard used to be left, remember? Neutral

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@hingehead,

Quote:

Combet on the other hand...

Perhaps his big moment has finally come, hinge?
He was totally wasted in Rudd's government, but I believe he has the drive & the ability to make a really big impact in the Climate portfolio. (And you can't have a mere ex-union hack in a position as important to Labor's credibility as this one will be!)

I've been a Combet supporter for quite a while. He has street cred! Smile

And for excellent reasons.
(If you trawl back through the pages of this thread, you'll see that I preferred him as our next Labor leader over Julia.
The trouble is that he's a member of the not-so-important NSW left. Enough said. Wink

)

Quote:

PM eyes Combet for climate
September 10, 2010
PRIME Minister Julia Gillard is expected to bring high-flyer Greg Combet into cabinet to be climate minister, as Labor tries to rebuild credibility on an issue that helped sow the seeds of its poor performance at the federal election last month.

Mr Combet, the former ACTU chief who assisted in the climate portfolio during his first term in Parliament, is seen as one of the government's best trouble shooters, most recently in his handling of the mop-up after the home insulation debacle.

His big challenge as climate minister would be to help win acceptance for a carbon price after Labor's failed efforts to get an emissions trading scheme passed through Parliament during its first term.

Penny Wong, the minister who oversaw the ETS process and then had the difficult task of selling Ms Gillard's unpopular plan for a citizens assembly on climate change, is believed to want a change of portfolio. ...<cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/federal-election/pm-eyes-combet-for-climate-20100909-15374.html

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Finally, a bit of a rant ...

I am (already!) sick & tired of constant media commentary, masquerading as reporting, like: "the first cracks appear for Labor" ...

.. because, for example, Tony Windsor has said that he's concerned that the "mining tax" should be on the tax summit agenda .. or that Bob Brown has said that he might support some worthy Liberal Party initiatives ...

For heaven's sake, they have every right to make such statements! But it does not automatically mean that the Labor government is about to fall in a heap!

The likes of Windsor, Oakeshott, Wilke & the Greens have endorsed Labor as the best option for government over the alternative ... they didn't agree to sell their souls & agree 100% with anything & everything that Labor might propose. They are NOT members of the Labor government & will continue to push their own agendas. Those which voters elected them to push. It's as simple as that. And that's how it should be.

I am becoming mightily disgruntled with certain political commentators who assume that Labor will not see out it's full term & that we'll inevitably have an early election. And who are putting this slant on every little article they write. I think they should settle down & report on what actually happens. They may be right or they may be wrong. But I think some of these articles smack of opinion/wishful thinking rather than professional political reporting.

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@Builder,

Quote:

There are any number of islands north of Darwin that Howard severed from Australia post "children overboard" that we could use for accommodating potential asylum seekers.

The concept would provide work for the locals as well as lessen the cost of transport of the potentials.

Hey, Builder, really good to see you again! Smile

And it certainly looks like East Timor is not exactly enthusiastic, hey? Wink

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Oz Election Thread #4 - Gillard's Labor

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