The NEXT coming Oz election thread!

As an outsider , but still v interested neighbor, Your political cartoons dont rely on wit but more on frontal attack. Thats good when everyone is ticked off. It makes the avg voter angry.

There's a bit of wit, from time to time, farmer ... but you've gotta know the nitty gritty details, I guess. As well, things have gotten quite bitter, ugly & divided in Oz politics, for quite some time now, under this government. I guess the cartoonists have just gotten blunter & more cynical as well. (Haven't we all? :wink: )

I admire our cartoonists a lot. During Howard's "glory days" (not that long ago!), when he was getting away with blue murder & the journalists were either fawning over him or too intimidated to report fearlessly, our cartoonists were really brave in their commentary. I wondered, sometimes, how they got away with what they did!

Australia seems to go through phases for many things. If you go back a decade in our advertising industry, many of the ads were hilarious, but humour isn't used as much as it used to be. Cartoons are much the same, they go through phases were they are very witty, and other phases where they are very cynical...we're going through a cynical phase now, and that's probably a reflection of the general public and media attitude towards the Howard govt.

I know all the polls suggest a labor victory on Saturday, but these sorts of predictions can be a negative. I know some swinging voters who want bonzai to go, but don't want a landslide for labor either, so they may be inclined to vote for bonzai again. Kevin seemed a bit tame and anti-union for my likings and the greens started to look like an alternative. Having thought about it some more, I think to ensure the end of this anti-worker/pro-business government, the labor vote needs to be maximised with as many first preferences as possible and the greens as second choice. ( just my opinion )
The coalition deserves to lose this election and the icing on the cake would be for bonzai to lose his seat also.
The labor party had an enormous array of ammunition to use and it's still sitting in the drawer .... why ?...children overboard ... awb ... etc etc .. As for this thread post election .... I dare say it will be used to be critical or otherwise of whoever wins on Saturday.

Cheers all

Glad you mentioned the Greens. Only yesterday I started thinking that it might be a good thing to vote for the greens in the Senate.

One of the great disappointments for me of this election campaign is that Labor didn't keep a strong campaign against climate change. More and more scientist are coming out saying we have to reverse our emissions and sooner, rather than later.

(Howard of course, isn't disappointing on climate change, because I expected nothing less of him than him to be fudging and blustering and then doing nothing about it)

Do they still have the ban on political advertising in the last 24 hours before an election? I hope so.

I do believe it is the last 3 days Wilso, both Mr. Howard & Mr. Rudd gave their final public speeches today.

Still getting election advertising tonight. Will this be the last. I must say, if Labor wins, it will be despite their campaign tactics, which I feel have been sadly lacking.

I'm already in post-election mode and I've made up a nickname for K07: 'Krudd'. Hey, it's australia - he's a tall poppy! Now I have to think of one for post-bush bonsai.

pssst Hinge...you were only kidding right? ...KRudd/Krudd has already been copyrighted by lots ('n lots) of people replying to online newspaper columns

Strangely enough, only those that appear to dislike Kevvy have used Krudd...fancy that

D'oh, didn't realise - I guess it's obvious. If I don't see on A2K it doesn't exist for me.

Very relaxed & comfortable of you, hinge! :wink:

Me, I'm starting to suffer from a bad case of pre-election jitters!

Jeez, what's the country coming to? I mean racism worked a treat in the 2004 campaign, didn't it?!
Remember "Children Overboard"?.

These people are utterly disgraceful & I can't imagine why JH is acting so shocked & outraged by their actions. This is just more of the type of nasty, sneaky stuff that we've come to expect from the Libs ... appealing to the lowest common denominator when all else fails.
What really disappointed me in Howard's reaction to this ugly fiasco is that he didn't properly apologize to Australian Muslims. THEY have been very restrained in their response to being maligned in this way.

Anyway, compared to 2004 the response to this latest episode is really heartening. We've come a long way! :

Liberal shame over fake pamphlet


Just a prank? ... Jackie Kelly, her husband Gary Clarke and a tear-out from the leaflet.
November 22, 2007 - 9:41AM/SMH

Outgoing Liberal MP Jackie Kelly says a bogus pamphlet that portrays Labor as sympathisers of Islamic terrorists and was distributed by her husband was just a "Chaser-style of prank".

The Liberal Party was flailing last night after a senior NSW party official and Ms Kelly's husband, Gary Clarke, were implicated in the dirty tricks campaign involving race hate in Ms Kelly's former western suburbs seat of Lindsay.

The ALP has written to the Australian Electoral Commission demanding action be taken after Ms Kelly's husband, Gary Clark, and NSW Liberal Party state executive member Jeff Egan were caught distributing bogus pamphlets in Lindsay portraying Labor as sympathisers of Islamic terrorists.

The two were among a group of five caught and photographed in the act by Labor sleuths on Tuesday night.

Speaking on ABC radio this morning, Ms Kelly said she did not approve of the pamphlet, but labelled it a "Chaser-style of prank", a reference to ABC TV comedy team The Chaser.

"I think its intent is to be a send-up but obviously it hasn't worked," she said.

"I think if you read it you'd be laughing. Most people who have read it have said 'That's a Chaser-style of prank'."

Ms Kelly said the "prank" was "really immature stuff" that would not influence any voters.

Ms Kelly described her husband's actions as "skylarking" after a few beers.

"I'm a bit upset with him, but no, look I love him," she told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"He hates the unions with a passion and after weeks and weeks of letterboxing, what gets to be boring material, of a repetitive message that we get them to letterbox all the time, they come up with their own skylarking over a few beers and think that something's funny," Ms Kelly said

Ms Kelly also accused Labor members of going after the Liberal workers who were distributing the pamphlets.

"An ALP goon squad, which I understand was led by some unionists, have chased down and hunted down and tried to intimidate. I understand there was even a fight,'' Ms Kelly told ABC radio today.

Labor's national secretary, Tim Gartrell, names Mr Clark, Mr Egan and Troy Craig, president of the Glenmore Park Action Group, in his complaint to the commission, and urges the matter be referred to the Australian Federal Police and NSW Police.

The scandal was the last thing John Howard needed as he tried to resuscitate his campaign before Saturday, and will likely overshadow his final speech to the National Press Club today.

The bogus pamphlet carries the ALP logo and is from the non-existent "Islamic Australia Federation". It applauds the Labor Party for supporting Muslim terrorists.

It thanks Labor for supporting the Bali bombers, who it says were "unjustly" sentenced to death, says Labor backs the building of a new local mosque, and praises the party for allowing Sheik Taj el-Din al Hilaly to live in Australia.

"We gratefully acknowledge Labors [sic] support to forgive our Muslim brothers who have been unjustly sentenced to death for the Bali bombings," it says.

"Labor supports our new Mosque construction and we hope, with the support and funding by Local and State governments, to open our new Mosque in St Mary's soon."

Labor's candidate for Lindsay, David Bradbury, called it "a disgraceful act". The ALP campaign spokeswoman, Penny Wong, demanded the Liberals reveal what level sanctioned the behaviour. "People who are very senior in the NSW division of the Liberal Party are involved," she said. ...<cont>

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2007/11/22/1195321873077.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap1

Check out the Liberal ads in that SMH link above!
Saturation coverage all day long!

Must be why I'm having trouble sleeping. That or my exam this Monday. I'm feeling a bit like Damocles at the moment.

.... & another boatload rescued off-shore:

You will post results for those of us not fortunate enough to get AUssie radio.

PS , what are some Australian stations that have live streaming broadcasts?

Kirribilli House 'for sale'
Mario Xuereb
November 22, 2007 - 3:50PM/the AGE


The fake advertisement from the Domain real estate website.

Voters haven't turfed him out yet, but Prime Minister John Howard is already on the way out - or so it would seem.

An internet prankster has listed Kirribilli House, the Prime Minister's official Sydney residence, on online real estate website Domain, owned by Fairfax Media, publisher of The Age.

The stunning harbourside mansion on Sydney's North Shore, which Mr Howard has favoured over The Lodge in Canberra, is marked "open for election" and lauded for its "impressive waterfront views".

"Far superior to any old Lodge in Canberra, this house fits a family of five and provides the ultimate abode in which to be relaxed and comfortable," the listing reads.

"Perfect place to view Sydney's fireworks - especially during events like the APEC long weekend . . . ideal for extra-curricular fund-raising activities."

The listing also features a photograph of Mr Howard walking at the rear of the home and a man standing outside Kirribilli House wearing a "Kevin 07" T-shirt.

It continues: "Tried twice before to evict the current tenant and it's looking like it's third time lucky".

Kirribilli is listed as open for inspection, you guessed it, on election day. ...<cont>


http://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007/kirribilli-house-for-sale/2007/11/22/1195321932510.html