The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

Oddly enough, dlowan, I know what you are talking about re Oz politics in your last post.
Emerging from the fog (Brigadoon like) after our election that didn't, didn't go the way I had hoped,
johnboy watches other countries and the issues that confront them.
The economy in the US looks pretty good, at least for awhile, although we are up to our eyeballs in personal and government debt. We can probably get away with a shell game (do you know that phrase?) longer than yall can.
Nice chatting with yall; no screaming. -john-

psssst rjd: are you talking to me? Olga?

rjb

"Shell game"? No, I don't know what that means? Got a minute to enlighten me?

Meet Tim Costello, brother of Peter Costello, Oz federal treasurer:

Tim Costello takes on world poverty
By Suzanne Carbone
November 25, 2003/the AGE



.... For the past 20 years, the Baptist Church minister and anti-gambling campaigner has taken his fight for social justice to the streets of Melbourne and his message has been heard Australia-wide. Now it is time to make his crusade global: his world vision is a war on poverty.

Mr Costello becomes chief executive of World Vision Australia in January, taking over from Dr Lynn Arnold who becomes World Vision's vice-president for the Asia-Pacific region. The organisation approached him for the job ....

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/11/24/1069522534808.html

... And here's Tims brother, Peter! Well known for his smirk & less than charitable budgets:



Talk about black hats & white hats!

Perhaps Peter Costello, our Treasurer, has more in common with the Minister for Workplace Relations, Tony Abbott. Both are committed true-blue conservatives! These two are known collectively as Abbott & Costello.

Evening. What I meant to say is that there IS no screaming on this thread, as it happens, not that there shouldn't be if yall disagree with each other about things in Oz. I met many Aussies in my hitchhiking days and they and the Americans were tied for second/third place as the most obnoxious tourists.
Did I ever tell you I spent a week in Sydney?
SHELL GAME: yall probably have the same thing but under a different name. I've seen it on five continents. Three walnut shells, under one of which is placed a pea. The dealer slides them around, faster and faster, and then invites the victim to pick which shell the pea is under (for a bet of course). The victim will usually lose because, midst the shuffling around, there has been a sleight of hand and nothing quite turns out to be where it was expected to be.
johnboy disappears back into the fog, his fog. But I'll be watching. Thanks.

I love Tim Costello.

Man, they must be an intyeresting family, right?



I REALLY dislike Abbot.

REALLY REALLY REALLY.

I actually think our economy is, in its smaller way, more solidly based than yours is, RJB.

We also have high levels of personal debt (my credit card is doing its best to contribute to this) - but our budget is in surplus.

I must confess a fondness for Tim Costello, too, Deb! He spoke at a seminar I attended a couple of years ago & I was instantly smitten! Down to earth, so direct, so un-up-himself .... & wearing a crumples shirt, looking like there was no time for "grooming" that morning. But best of all, it was what he said. Furthermore he ACTS on what he believes! Very inspiring.

I've often wanted to be a fly on the wall at a Costello family get together! Must be fascinating!

I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY share your feelings about the mad monk!

Nah, we don't scream at each other here, rjb. Nothing obnoxious about us! Though where the other Oz posters have vanished to, I have no idea. I suspect they don't want to dwell on our current political circumstances. However, being a masochist, I will persist! :wink:

Thanks for explaining the shell game. Sounds familiar!

Don't take TOO long to emerge from your fog again, hey?

Run, Mark Latham, run! Before those vultures in the ALP & the media destroy what's left of your health & sanity. What a thoroughly disgusting spectacle, watching the unfolding of this witch hunt!

... So it's back to the future with Kim? <big sigh>


..Don't ask me what the answers are. This is just so, so depressing!

I can't ask you, msolga, what the answers are because I don't even know what the questions are.
What's new and outrageous about politics in Oz?
"Run, Mark, run." What's that about? -rjb

rjb

Of course you're confused, on the other side of the planet & all ...

This is a very quick (& I guess, Olga-biased) explanation:

Mark Latham was installed as the Labour Party (ALP) leader last year, when the previous leader was deemed to be, to put it politely, an electoral liability. Latham narrowly won the leadership & was pretty much given a free hand in the election campaign. He didn't do a bad job, really, considering the viability of the Labour Party at the time. But as you'd now know, there was a huge swing away from Labour as a result of the election & toward the (conservative) Liberals.
A mortifying loss, that left the ALP in disarray & indulging in "blame games"to figure out why & where to next. A lot of what would normally be internal in-fighting & lobbying has been very public, via the media. In fact, it's virtually been a Latham witch-hunt, to force him to leave. He has enemies!
So, during January, we've seen relentless media reports of ALP worries, the deficiencies of Latham (whose been very ill & probably very depressed!),his absence from public life, concerns about his fitness, opinion polls ..... IMO public comments that should have been resolved privately. Now, as a result of all this, Latham is virtually being forced to resign, in favour of any number of not too terrific alternatives. (my opinion.) It has been particularly ugly & distressing to watch the process & none to complimentary to the ALP. I don't think it will win them too many votes, nor enhance the ALP's credibility with the electorate.

My objection to all this is 2 fold. I think it's a despicable way to treat a leader, even if the electorate didn't respond favourably to his campaign. For a while there he looked like a winner, the salvation of the ALP. I found many any of his new policies progressive & desirable, though I'm not exactly a Latham "fan". But he obviously didn't win over the electorate, for a variety of reasons, not just a rejection of his policies.
So, now widely considered a loser, the ALP his going for his jugular - viciously! An honorable withdrawal seems a reasonable expectation in the circumstances. Also I believe the ALP has done itself a great deal of harm, publicly, as a result of this very public witch-hunt. I suspect that there'll be much more ALP instability ahead. This is extremely depressing to contemplate: the prospect of years & years more of Liberal rule. And no prospect of a viable opposition to oppose Howard's excesses.

Sorry, I'm in a rush, rjb ... this is off the top of my head. Other Oz A2Kers might well disagree of my assessment of the situation.

Lots of comment like this, in response to the ALP situation. Cartoons, articles .... It's a field day for the media.

Thanks, msolga. Your last post and the cartoon before that clarified things for me. Mr Latham carried the flag for the ALP and he lost. Out come the knives within the party. I reckon the same thing is going on here in the US with our Democrats.
I didn't realize Mr Latham is in ill health. Um, was he ill when he was running? Was that, could that, should that have been an issue during the campaign? -rjb-

rjb

Glad you made some sense of that. It was very rushed & off the top of the head!
... And I've just realized that I've called the ALP the "Labour" Party, rather than the Labor Party (as it's spelt in Oz.) For some reason I make that mistake all the time .... Guess I must prefer "Labour".

More later. On the run here!

Maybe some other Oz folk might like to say their their bit, too? We don't all agree, you know .... :wink: