The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

The "spending" tactic is simple. Target the marginal (for the Libs) seats & spend up big! Like that hospital in Tasmania last week that was destined for closure because of lack of funding to support it. A winner with grateful locals! :

... & there are so many marginal seats! These are the ones that look like they could well receive a windfall from JH! (In Oz this sort of vote-buying/voter bribery is called "pork barreling") Our taxes at work. :

The solution to the states' over-crowded, over-stretched & under-funded (by the federal government!) public hospitals? Outrageous. And Howard declares, time & time again that his government is the most "economically responsible" choice! What a joke!:

Or they'll do their level best to keep this "issue" alive until after the federal election, more like it. .....
Clearly the "terrorist" scare tactic is working - with some people, anyway. The question is, how many votes will it deliver to the Libs?
I wonder how the British police feel about being implicated & used to support one side in an Australian election campaign?:

'We've only just begun on Haneef'
August 04, 2007/the AUSTRALIAN

AUSTRALIAN Federal Police chief Mick Keelty has vowed to track down "every lead and piece of evidence" against Indian doctor Mohamed Haneef, warning that the terror investigation could take years to complete.

A defiant Mr Keelty has also strongly defended the AFP against mounting criticism of its handling of the case, saying most of the allegations have been "unfounded and unfair".

"Mistakes happen ... police are human," Mr Keelty said. "(But) the AFP in this matter have acted appropriately and in accordance with community expectations of us."

In an exclusive interview with The Weekend Australian, Mr Keelty also revealed that contrary to some reports, British police were still actively involved in the joint investigation with Australian authorities on the Haneef case. .... <cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22186214-601,00.html

OK, then .... what does Kevin Rudd & his Labor team have to say in response to this media assault by Howard & co.?
Where the hell is Kevin, anyway?
Clearly the latest Howard campaign strategies cannot be met with his usual "me too-isms". I mean, is he going to to agree that all of Australia's woes can be attributed the the Labor states? And where does he stand on the latest Haneef developments, the pork barreling to win votes?
Is he going to finally <gasp> take a strong stand on anything?
I suspect we'll only know that after the next poll.
Sad, isn't it?

kevin who ?

Aw come on now, bungie!

Kevin R, whose deputy is Julia .. er .. some-one!

You know, those guys who are determined to remove bad, nasty words from the trade unionists' vocabulary! :wink:

I notice that JH is going on about how the Federal Govt is fiscally responsible, and the States are in debt...odd...wouldn't the sensible balance/solution be to increase the Federal Funding to the States?

Well, yes!

Of course.

But then he couldn't play the great hero on a white charger, rescuing rural hospitals going down the gurgler due to lack of state funding, could he? :wink:

This man is outrageous! What a cheek! :

PM won't rule out further state interventions


Illustration: Hinze
August 5, 2007/SMH

Following the Federal Government's efforts to wrest control of Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory and its announcement last week to take over the Mersey Hospital in Tasmania, Mr Howard has not ruled out further interventions.

Mr Howard said the Commonwealth would spend up to $45 million to keep the Mersey Hospital - in the key marginal Liberal seat of Braddon - running after the State Government earmarked it for downgrading.

He said the Federal Government had a duty to intervene when state governments weren't meeting their responsibilities.

"Where the states and the territories have not done their job, it's our job to come in and do a better job," Mr Howard said. ...<cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/pm-wont-rule-out-further-state-interventions/2007/08/05/1186252533436.html

Childcare next poll bonus
Stephen Lunn, Social affairs writer
August 04, 2007 /the AUSTRALIAN

THOUSANDS of parents will receive a childcare cash bonus of up to $4200 from the federal Government as they prepare to go to the polling booths.

The Howard Government will begin handing out the one-off bonus through Centrelink from next month -- just weeks from the start of the federal election campaign -- as part of its budget measures to help families cope with crippling childcare bills.

Under the old regime, parents were forced to wait up to two years for a 30 per cent rebate on childcare through the tax system.

The pre-election bonus -- about $800 for each child on average but potentially as high as $4200 a child -- will be a double win for parents as it lands in their bank account about the same time as the 2005-06 rebate is delivered via their tax return. ... <cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22186291-11949,00.html

Labor hits back at PM's rates claim
August 05, 2007
The AUSTRALIAN

LABOR has hit back at the Federal Government after it blamed the states for pushing up interest rates.

Ahead of an expected interest rate rise this week, federal Finance Minister Nick Minchin today said the Labor states were putting upward pressure on rates by accruing too much debt.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is widely tipped to raise interest rates by one quarter of one per cent on Wednesday.

Senator Minchin said the Federal Government was minimising upward pressure on inflation and interest rates.

"Our fiscal policy settings are such that we are minimising the pressure on inflation and interest rates while we observe that the state Labor governments all going into deficit, racking up debts,'' he told the Ten Network.

"They're going to rack up $80 billion in debt over the next four years, so we are concerned about the extent to which state Labor governments are putting upward pressure on interest rates.''

Later, the Liberal Party launched an ad on internet video website YouTube called Labor can't manage money, attacking the states' escalating debt.

"Never forget, it is governments who borrow money and get into debt who put upward pressure in interest rates,'' the ad says.

Senator Minchin indicated he did not think the expected interest rate rise later this week was warranted, pointing out underlying inflation was running at 2.6 per cent.

"From our point of view, their job is to keep inflation between two to three per cent and that's where inflation is,'' he said.

However, National Australia Bank chief executive John Stewart today said he thought there was a 50/50 chance the RBA would lift rates this week.

Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd said Prime Minister John Howard and the Federal Government were trying to pass the buck.

"Mr Howard seems to now be saying that if there's a problem with interest rates in Australia, it's because of the states, it's because of anybody else apart from Mr Howard,'' he said.

"I find that a very interesting exercise in the blame game.'' ...<cont>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22192869-1702,00.html

This current Liberal blitz is so over-the-top it's sort of fascinating!
What else will they blame the Labor states for?
What marginal electorate/s will they throw millions of dollars at next?
And how will they scare us even more?
And how much of this will they actually get away with?
Stay tuned, it's getting hotter & wilder the more desperate they get!

Interest rates go down = great Federal management
Interest rates go up = bad State management



Queensland Health in crisis (Beattie offered it to the Fed Govt) = No way
Marginal seat losing hospitalsize = you beauty

$3000 Baby Bonus = last election "winner"
One off $4500 Baby Bonus = lets try buying votes again

Am I being too cynical ?

edit : oh yes, and try and create another Tampa...hmmm...maybe by targetting aboriginal problems...but only in the closest election year we've had mind you. The other ten years we were in power...well you know, you can easily miss these things sometimes.

No.

The Libs asked for advice from their experts & the got it.

Too bad it was leaked in today's newspapers, though!

Ah, poor JH! Enemies within his ranks?:

Howard too old, promise-breaker: leaked document
Posted 10 hours 26 minutes ago
Updated 9 hours 18 minutes ago


Savaged in leaked report: Prime Minister John Howard (File photo) (AAP: Glenn Cordingley)

The document, compiled by pollster Mark Textor, proposes a five-point strategy to win back voter support, focusing on blaming the states for perceived shortcomings and mistakes.

The document highlights significant disillusionment with the Liberals over "broken promises and dishonesty".

In contrast the pollsters found that voters saw Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd as compassionate, human, genuine and likeable. .... <cont>

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/08/06/1997219.htm

.... The internal polling shows that the Prime Minister is seen as old and dishonest by voters who are turning to Kevin Rudd.

The pollsters say the Coalition should attack Labor's links with the unions and the state premiers.

Health Minister Tony Abbott seems to be acting on that, saying Mr Rudd will owe the premiers if he wins.

"He will certainly be the premiers' patsy, because he will owe them big time for the political interference that they've been running on the Government," he said. ....<cont>

http://www.abc.com.au/news/stories/2007/08/06/1997644.htm

The report also described Kevin Rudd as a younger, fresher version of JH!




A chip off the ol' block? :wink:

It'll be very interesting to see if Howard & the Libs persevere with these current tactics, given that we all now know where the ideas came from .... & the sneaky thinking behind the fighting rhetoric!

Pretty funny, hey?