The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

It's really no surprise msolga. You can be mean, tell lies and cheat all you like. Come Sunday, you go to church, repent, and be forgiven all your sins. You start with a clean slate to do it all over again. Simple really !

Ha! I think I spy another (lapsed?) mick? :wink:

No, msolga, but I did learn that from kids I went to school with.

Lucky you didn't learn it first-hand, like many of us did, bungie. Trust me on that! :wink:


A long Oz weekend & the politicians are taking a break from their usual shenanigans.

Rather nice, isn't it?

I sure hope the politicians enjoyed the long weekend in their taxpayer supplied cars and taxpayer funded fuel, while the rest of the motorists are being gouged at the petrol pumps.
But otherwise msolga, it has been rather nice!

I spoke too soon about the politicians taking a break. <sigh>

Here's young Kevin being really, really tough, for the benefit of the media. He's taking no crap from any union leader! He's in charge here!

I now fully expect him to tell those those mining industry bullies to get stuffed, too! I mean, as if they gave a cracker about anything but their own (huge) profits & their alliance with the Libs to ensure things go their way!

I'm absolutely sure Kevin will set them straight! :


Last Update: Sunday, June 10, 2007. 12:38pm (AEST)

Rudd issues warning to union leaders

Labor leader Kevin Rudd has told union bosses who have a problem with the way he operates, they can "go jump in the lake".

Mr Rudd says it is nonsense to suggest that if he becomes prime minister, the government would be controlled by the unions.

Speaking on Channel 10, he issued a warning to union leaders.

"My job, if I'm elected as prime minister of this country, is to govern in the national interest," he said.

"If an individual trade union leader has a problem with that, frankly they can jump in the lake."..... <cont>


http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200706/s1947146.htm

Ha! We posted at the same minute, bungie!

Things have changed!

No break, dammit!

Labor leader Kevin Rudd has told union bosses who have a problem with the way he operates, they can "go jump in the lake".
snip
Speaking on Channel 10, he issued a warning to union leaders.
snip
There are reports this morning Mr Howard held a fundraiser with business leaders at Kirribilli House last weekend.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200706/s1947146.htm

It seems kevin has become a "union basher" like the libs. Anyone who wants to be prime minister needs to hear all views, not tell people to go jump in the lake. Would he tell business leaders to go jump in the lake? If he thinks he will win votes from the business sector by "union bashing" he is very much mistaken. All he will do is lose workers votes who will probably vote Green. After all, the Greens do support basic workers rights. I also noted john wasn't doing any "business leader bashing" at Kirribilli House last weekend.
It's beginning to look like kevin will make a great liberal prime minister.

bungie, did you notice that we both posted the exact same story (with the exact same ABC link!) & came to the same conclusion? :wink:

I was going to say " great minds think alike" msolga, and I am sure yours is, but I am equally sure mine is not. A kindred spirit perhaps ?

I'm feeling particularly generous today, bungie, so I'll say fabulous minds think alike!
How's that?








(But he's behaving like a little twerp, isn't he? )

Fools never differ though, so its a judgement call.

Not that I would know (I'm stupid and dumb.)

That's a new one to me, dadpad!

We seem to be getting more than our fair share of foreign "advice" & attempts to influence our so-called leaders lately.

#1 = China:

China slams PM meeting

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd and the Dalai Lama meet in Canberra yesterday.

June 13, 2007

CHINA has reacted angrily to the Prime Minister's decision to meet the Dalai Lama later this week, implying that it could harm diplomatic relations.

In a thinly veiled threat issued just hours after John Howard said he would meet Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry called on Canberra to register Beijing's "strong dissatisfaction and staunch opposition" over the matter.

"The Dalai Lama is not a simple religious figure. He is a long-time political exile engaged in splittist activities and destroying national unity," Qin Gang told journalists in Beijing.

"We hope that the Australian government can deeply recognise this and proceed from the overall interests of maintaining healthy Sino-Australian relations and not allow the Dalai Lama to engage in splittist activities."

Mr Howard announced his decision to see the Dalai Lama as he visited Canberra yesterday as part of a national tour. The Buddhist leader received an unofficial reception in parliament where he highlighted China's human rights abuses in his native Tibet, and called on countries not to shy away from pressing Beijing about its plight.

He later met Federal Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd.

Both Mr Rudd and Mr Howard were initially reluctant to meet him. Mr Rudd changed his mind after Mr Howard accused him of hypocrisy having criticised Foreign Minister Alexander Downer for refusing to see him on a previous tour. .... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/pms-dalai-lama-decision-irks-china/2007/06/12/1181414299988.html

#2

A timely (& absolutely correct) expression of concern from a country which treats it's own illegal & cheap foreign workforce so impeccably!:

Alert on guest-worker 'slavery'
Anne Davies, Washington correspondent
June 13, 2007 - 8:05AM/the AGE

A US report has raised concerns about the abuse of temporary guest workers brought to Australia from India, China and South Korea.

While Australia retained its status among the top-ranked countries in dealing with people trafficking, US State Department investigators said they had reports about workers "whose labour conditions amounted to slavery, debt bondage amd involuntary servitude."

While the report praises Australia's efforts in tackling sex slavery and sex tourism, it says: "The Australian Government should devote more attention and resources to addressing allegations of labour trafficking, including in connection with its 457 (temporary visa) worker visa program."

The Howard Government recently toughened penalties for employers who exploit foreign workers. Last year former immigration minister Amanda Vanstone temporarily halted the granting of worker visas to the meat industry amid concerns of abuse.

This included employers demanding repayment of large placement fees, contracts that forbid contact with unions, and sub-standard living conditions. ... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/world/alert-on-guestworker-slavery/2007/06/13/1181414335498.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

#3

And will we (or 99 other potential countries) accept these Chinese men who have been released from Guantanamo Bay? Presumably they are no longer considered "terrorists"?
It'll be interesting to see how obliging our government will be to this request. Hell, it was hard enough to persuade our government to bring our own two nationals home from Guantanamo Bay!
But why on earth can't they resettled in the US?


Plea to take in Chinese Muslims
Sarah Smiles
June 13, 2007/the AGE

AUSTRALIA has been asked to grant asylum to a group of Chinese Muslim men who have been released from detention at Guantanamo Bay, amid fears that they would be executed if they are sent back to China.

Australia's Chinese Muslim community is urging the Howard Government to settle the men following a request from the US, which no longer considers them a terrorist threat.

.... <cont>

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/plea-to-take-in-chinese-muslims/2007/06/12/1181414299982.html

The good news is that there appears to be no new complaints or attempted bullying of Australia by Indonesia this week!