The dying days of the Fourth Reich: it's the 2007 AUSTRALIAN FEDERAL ELECTION

I am also watching out my front window, waiting for some Liberal Party foot soldier to put an election poster up by my house so I can diss the conservative fool and shove that cardboard up where the sun don't shine.

But knowing my neighborhood, I reckon The Greens will get there first.

But would the Greens bloke use cardboard???

You're right. Bob Brown probably will send out a YouTube vid instead. It should be the Democrats who'll get there first.

Hey, remember the Democrats?

Proof that Julia Gillard is a socialist and possibly a communist that wants to be the next Stalin: she has RED hair!!

DAY ONE:

John Howard is down and hip with "the kids" - promising tax cuts on YouTube!

a tax cut ain't gonna do it this time johnny (or ever for that matter)

Never underestimate the stupidity/gullibility of the Australian public, Jimbo.

I really havent been paying any attention: is it looking impossible for the Libs to get back in? Its just we were all so confident last time round and well, look what happened...

... and what he said.

Yeah but this time we got someone SANE leading the Labor Party.

Could Rudd be the John Kerry of Australia though?

nar he's hillary

I mean he's the nerd who speaks a weirdo foreign lingo and can't kick a football, I mean what kind of real Aussie is he?

wayne swan for PM

The 'Right Leadership' line seems set to be the Libs bumper sticker slogan.

At lweast they didn't pick something really smug and self-righteous....

I'm more concerned about the Kruddmeister as the John Howard of the ALP. Which means that by some time around 2025 his zero-impact personality might have osmoded into enough voters' minds to be seen as a potential Prime Minister.

I should mention that my local MP is totally hot and very much rootable.

LOL at the English papers going "look at John Howard for calling an election unlike THAT WIMP GORDON BROWN".

And not because John Howard has been putting it off for months and *had* to finally call it.

This is why we need another Republic referendum. This time, one not rigged by Howard.

Foreigners: feel free to ask questions. I will respond with obscure jokes, I promise.

Foreigners: feel free to ask questions. I will respond with obscure jokes, I promise.

In Australia, is it necessary to have no charisma to be in the running for prime minister?

Yes since 1996, I'm afraid.

In the good old days, you need to be an alcoholic to be in the running for PM.

If you elect a new leader, will your countrymen please fuck off out of East London en masse?

I should mention that my local MP is totally hot and very much rootable.

-- King Boy Pato, Monday, 15 October 2007 11:12 (2 hours ago) Bookmark Link

.jpg plz

"I should mention that my local MP is totally hot and very much rootable."

I never knew you lived in Fabulous Phil Ruddock's electorate?

If you elect a new leader, will your countrymen please fuck off out of East London en masse?

Perhaps a new PM could negotiate a population exchange with all the Brit backpackers in Bondi?

Can we just drown both groups somewhere off the coast of Madagascar?

Although that chain of Ozzie pie shops in London have some good eating. Like a less council Greggs.

Pato election commentary. This thread is going to be GOLD. Please post pics of the candidates.

question: if im a US resident but an Australian citizen, do I need to vote?

Sadly, not that genuine stud (or that gay sex symbol himself, Wilson "Ironbar" Tuckey) but the rather lovely MP for Adelaide.

If you elect a new leader, will your countrymen please fuck off out of East London en masse?

That would be about the same time when your countrymen fuck off out of East Sydney en masse?

Aw shit, someone beat me to that cliche.

that would please a lot of people. (xpost)

if im a US resident but an Australian citizen, do I need to vote?

No, they changed the law so nobody under 50 can vote (I was told this by Triple J).

"if im a US resident but an Australian citizen, do I need to vote?"

The H of R and Senate seats you would vote in are both determined by where you live in Oz, and as you don't live in Oz at all, I would guess not. It might depend on whether you own property use in Oz, or how long you've lived elsewhere and whether you intend to return.

(KBP, is 'East Sydney' also known locally as 'West Dunedin'?

roffle of the day from JOHN LAWS of all people: he interviewed howard and rudd on his show this morning. an early talkback caller commented that he sounded quite pally with rudd and antagonistic toward howard, and asked if laws was getting paid by the ALP. lawsie asked the dude if he was being paid to be a fuckwit!!

Of course 'Disgusted of Drummoyne' wasn't being paid to be a fuckwit, Lawsy.

At least nowhere near as much as you are.

Paying Laws to be a fuckwit is like paying a rhinosceros to be ugly.

I never knew you lived in Fabulous Phil Ruddock's electorate?

I live there this week! Call me, Phil!

King Boy Deporto, not Estie.

Ask King Boy more questions, overseas people.

I should mention that my local MP is totally hot and very much rootable.

samez, she in middle: http://www.anthonyalbanese.com.au/images/400Richmond.JPG

Phwoar!!

KBP, is 'East Sydney' also known locally as 'West Dunedin'?

West Dunedin is the entire coastline from Sydney to Cairns!

I don't know why gangstas be hatin' on John Laws. Hegot dat bling bling, yo.

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200706/r154265_554938.jpg

What's that shining in his glasses? A gold plated console?

This morning on Kochie and Mel the phone in poll voted 90% to 10 in favour of spending the $30+ billion on better services rather than the tax cuts promised by Howard & Costello. It looks like Joe Public's going to need more convincing than getting their own money taxed then handed back to them.

OMG the public in thinking sensibly shock

is lawsy's ring a GOLDEN LION???

Yes, it appears so. There appears to be a ring of gold plating around the microphone too.

i think it's a gold plated behringer

Gold suits him: It, too, is malleable, flashy, cold, lacking in intelligence and bought and sold every day by influential stockholders.

Rudd has just announced a plan to release $6 billion [nine zeros] of Commonwealth land for housing. The subtext being that you can give anyone $20/week but it's freaking useless without somewhere to live.

Regarding polls: Even the Herald Scum website's poll [will Howard's FREE MONEY OMG policy make you vote for him?] was at 60% on 'no' this morning. Looks like the usual bait-and-switch tactic is not working this time.

Oooh, and Howard has just said he will only have one debate, and it will be this Sunday, and there will be no worm.* Not a good move, if his shambolic appearance on last night's 7.30 Report is anything to go by.

<i>* so clearly Howard will not attend</i>

when did the australian turn into an andrew bolt inspired howard fanzine?

Quote from Howard: "If (Rudd) doesn't turn up, I'll still talk for an hour and a half."

PLEASE do that. PLEASE. And watch the ratings nosedive because you're talking for an hour and a half.

when did the australian turn into an andrew bolt inspired howard fanzine?

1996?

u should see the Rudd adverts up here in Qld. That guy is SO Queensland.

http://img03.picoodle.com/img/img03/8/4/26/f_BillyMooreWm_699669a.gif

etc.

"when did the australian turn into an andrew bolt inspired howard fanzine?"

No later than 1975.

At which stage the Blot was still being bullied at high school. Frank Devine (father of the dreaded Miranda) and Alan Reid were the Merde's chief mouthpieces then.

"Blot" seems somehow appropriate.

Blot's blog is insanely idiotic. Competely insubstantial rant after completely insubstantial rant, all stated as though it were all incontrovertible.

He tones down his opinions for Insiders because he knows they'd never hold up against the mettle of proper journalists.

I remain baffled as to how ppl like him get away with the shit they spout, I mean how is he not getting his pants sued off?

He works for Murdoch.

Blot is an A-grade clot.

At the Melb Writers Fest last year he took exception to some comment Hannie Rayson made, and walked out.

He was sitting about half a dozen seats from one corner of the theatre, and walked out of the door in the opposite corner. Show-boating clown.

Both my flatmates work for Murdoch :/

At the Melb Writers Fest last year he took exception to some comment Hannie Rayson made, and walked out.

and that is how conservatives mount an argument.

What was he doing at the Writers Fest anyway? Shouldn't he be hating on all the artists?

Guessed it in one.

Howard and Costello are still demanding Labor release its tax plan immediately. On day three of a six-week campaign. This bullying tactic can't be going down too well.

Aussie pie shops in London, where? I want a floater.

I want a floater.

-- Ed, Tuesday, 16 October 2007 07:35

Oh, I say.

LOL at the Liberal voting bogans of the mortgage belt having a whinge at RED KEV's $6b land scheme because it will devalue the properties that they have put a mortgage on (that they can't afford if the rate goes up 0.5% - that's the kind of stupidity that "Howard Battlers" are famous for).

Because HEAVEN FORBID that Generation Y should be in any danger of owning their own home or any type of land within 50km radius of any major city.

Thankfully, I get in inherit property so I'm pissing away my twenties. Huzzah! Vote Greens!

My husbands parents bought us a nice big house to live in....but there are strings attached....HUGE INVISIBLE STRINGS...but they are there, oh yes.

when did the australian turn into an andrew bolt inspired howard fanzine?

What do you mean "when"?

The fact that Andrew Bolt gets PAID to write that extreme right wing tripe is an indictment on journalism in this country.

Aussie pie shops in London, where? I want a floater.

Outside Shepherd's Bush tube.

It is a tad unfair to associate the Australian with the Blot. The Oz's intellectual and ideological avatars are a Causescu-esque Mr-and-Mrs team called Dennis (The Menace) and Angela Shanahan. Rabidly reactionary the Oz may be 99% of the time, but at least there are SOME two-sentence paragraphs, and not that many of the all-tortured-verb headlines that are such a constant feature of the more batshit-insane right-whinge bleat sheets.

Andy the B wields his poison crayon for one of those, the Melbourne daily tabloid Herald-Sun, which is a slightly less rancid version of the Fleet St Sun or Mirror - I suppose a bit like the Daily Mail.

It is not, however, the worst newspaper in Australia by a long chalk. That would be either the Sydney Telegraph (Telegraft?) of which one Piers Akkermann is the leading light, or the Hobart Mercury.

Floaters? As I remember from Minder, the under the Hammersmith fly-over was quite a good spot to start looking.

My husbands parents bought us a nice big house to live in....but there are strings attached....HUGE INVISIBLE STRINGS...but they are there, oh yes.

-- Kate, non masonic,

I imagine they would be strings as thick as ropes. What a dilemma.

A pie and pea floater from Harry's cafe de wheels would be nice right now.

Andy the B wields his poison crayon for one of those, the Melbourne daily tabloid Herald-Sun, which is a slightly less rancid version of the Fleet St Sun or Mirror - I suppose a bit like the Daily Mail.

I'm related to people who call that 'the paper.' They bring up something boring and inane that happened in the past week, like some kid in Meadowvale Height Springs winning first prize in a doughnut-making competition, and when we say we haven't heard about it the response is always 'DON'T YOU READ THE PAPER?!??'

Because it's in-laws I've not yet had the balls to say 'NO, ACTUALLY, WE READ A PAPER THAT COVERS IMPORTANT THINGS LIKE THE FUCKING WAR YOUR FAVOURITE PRIME MINISTER STARTED ON TUESDAY.'

The Scum got better last year/early this year when that new editor took over, but better doesn't mean good enough. It's still toilet paper with Howard-loving sewerage disguised as news (after all the primary school doughnut-making competition winners, obv).

Floaters? As I remember from Minder, the under the Hammersmith fly-over was quite a good spot to start looking.

Ugh that's a nasty flyover. Hello welcome new tourists, here's a giant dirty slab of concrete.

Wouldn't The Advertiser be the worst paper in Australia? I could say that but I won't because before Murdoch purchased it in the eighties, it was a good centre-left paper with an awful lot of soccer results. I've seen the proof.

Sunday Mail (SA) is easily the weirdest paper in Australia in terms of focus. From the usual ranks of the rabid Murdoch right-wingers to that camp leftist man about town, Peter Goers.

I almost exclusively read The Age and Crikey online as my major news sources, which says an awful lot...

A pie and pea floater from Harry's cafe de wheels would be nice right now.

I don't think so. You can only get real pie floaters in Adelaide.

OBVIOUSLY

I read the Fairfaxes and the ABC, and try to get international sources as well, but never any Murdoch (apart from George Megalogenis's blog, but I have ads turned off). Crikey is a paid source; I should just pay, really.

Another point I should make here is that everyone I know who supports Howard -- even marginally -- reads a Murdoch paper. Every. Single. One.

xpost

I admit to reading Bolt's blog for a laff now and again.

Anyway, final proof that morans vote Howard.

Recently I've been checking Blot's blog (with ads off obv) just to see how the rednecks justify the unjustifiable. Everything's a conspiracy theory to him, and he never understands why nobody sees things his way.

NOT SO BOLD PREDICTION: Germaine Greer will write an article in the Guardian sometime in the next week or two where she'll state that Australians are fucking stupid if they vote Howard in again. Bolt and the Murdoch Gestapo spend the next week whinging that she has no right to write about Australia blah blah blah.

Newspapers in Australia are really dire. There's The Age I guess, but apart from that there's absolutely nothing to compete with the best of U.S. or British newspapers. Half the non-Australian stories they just buy from British and American newspapers anyway.

Yep.

The Age was beautifully even-handed until Rudd became ALP leader, at which point it went gung-ho apeshit Rudd crazy. I'd be really annoyed at this, if it weren't for Howard being a complete arsehole and every Murdoch outlet licking his knob.

So: tax cuts will save the day for the liberals? What do you think? They can always renege on all promises after the election, as is traditional.

It's not going down well so far. I think the allure of a tax cut has worn off since the last five didn't help anyone much, what with property/rent prices and interest rates and petrol negating the gains. Also, since WorkChoices most people are suspicious of anything Howard does.

And yes, non-core promise.

Has Rudd agreed to Howard's one-sided debate? FUCK.

But who honestly gives a flying ferret's fart about the 'mess-dabate' anyhow? Is there one instance of one single person anywhere in Australia ever changing their vote because one candidate did a better line of inane patter with George or Ray or Red Kezza or who-the-hell-ever than the other? As WOFTAM's go, The Debate is in the same league as Celebrity Big Brother.

No Worm, No Credibility

If anyone writes about Howard's decade in power, feel free to use that as a title.

Love how John Howard wants his debate on pay television only. Obviously people too poor/too intelligent to sign up for programmes of the genre "World's Blankest Blank" don't deserve to watch and listen to John Howard for over an hour.

Aren't you worried that K to the R seems like a bigger conservative than anyone in the Liberal camp?

Well, I think he might just be a little to the left of folks like Tony Abbott, Kevin "Enoch" Andrews and our old favourite, Wilson "Ironbar" Tuckey.

But not that left, mind you!!

Here comes the new boss...

He's just a stooge in The Plan:

November 07 - Ruddster wins election.
December 07 - Ruddster is "assassinated".
January 08 - Comrade Gillard, Beloved Mother of the Nation, decrees that the Socialist Republic of Australia will nationalize every Bunnings Warehouse.

"Well, I think he might just be a little to the left of folks like Tony Abbott, Kevin "Enoch" Andrews and our old favourite, Wilson "Ironbar" Tuckey."

And the judges have called for the developed print....

Rudd will develop a very mildly socialist leaning or two once he's safely in situ. I hope. He'd damned well better, anyway.

Aren't you worried that K to the R seems like a bigger conservative than anyone in the Liberal camp?

Oh come on. The chance of anyone being more conservative than Howard is so tiny it's not worth thinking about.

Here's a useful little swing-o-meter tool gadet:

http://www.abc.net.au/elections/federal/2007/

*gadget

Rudd continues to turn down Howard's stacked debate.

Brilliant.

But think of the children!

(overboard)

Status is at play here. In 1998, 2001 and 2004, Howard had the high status position.

Rudd has taken that away. Since December, Rudd has very much been in the high status position, with Howard and his minions darting around him trying to throw him off-course. Rudd and the ALP have not been moved by this.

Monday's tax policy was the culmination of the Coalition's low-status behaviour: desperately chucking big money out there to blind everyone, then bullying Rudd and Swan into leaping early. Fortunately the ALP has said it will not move until it's ready - again, staying resolute, in control, relegating the Liberals to low status.

Howard's televised debate tactic is the same, and this is why it's absolutely crucial that Rudd stands his ground and refuses to attend a loaded debate. By refusing and sticking to his terms he remains high status, and as long as he remains high status he has immense power.

I should add that 2004's violent Latham-Howard handshake swung Latham even further into the low status position (i.e. publicly losing his cool), and from that point it was all over.

hahaha oh guys

Almy, that makes sense.

JH is not cuet enuff to be lolcat

lolbaboon perhaps

Experts predict the death of the entire Liberal party (state and federal) if Howard loses this election

John Hewson's hacking into Howard for being an extremist too. Brilliant reading.

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2006/08/07/wilson_tuckey_narrowweb__300x460,0.jpg

can i has aborgine to tie down and beat with ironbars

Y'know, they COULD be right that a massive split could happen in the Liberal Party. I often wonder what the wets/moderates will do without John Howard who is the only reason why the party has stayed stable on a Federal level. Combine that with the shift to the far-right and the party being totally fucked on a State level in, er, pretty much every state.

MAYBE DON CHIPP MIGHT COME BACK FROM THE DEAD??

I'm so pissed at what Howard has done to that party. Not that I'm a raving Lib or anything but at least it once understood social responsibility to a degree, and didn't go round abusing gheys and chinamans and everything else it doesn't understand.

Before he got into power I was warned by a friend who said he'd do all this. At the time I thought he was ranting.

As Menzies biggest fanboy, Howard being the one to bring about the annihilation of the Liberal party as an appealing irony.

Just to backtrack a bit... the West Australian is CLEARLY the worst newspaper in the nation by a long shot. REF: Ben Cousins in DRUGS SHOCKAH hysteria knocking any other 'news' like federal election off the perch

Do you know the biggest news story the Herald Sun has ever published?

War in Iraq?
World Trade Center?

No, SIXTEEN pages of Wayne Carey rooting Anthony Stevens' wife.

I wouldn't expect any less from those fine publications.

I just looked at all those LOLpollies pictures and they are *so fucking dreadful* that I'm no longer voting Greens in the Upper House.

I did chuckle at this one, through...

Howard has told Rudd to 'grow up.' Gillard has responded by calling him out for schoolboy tactics, retaining the high ground.

I'm telling ya, status is where it's at.

Hockey calls unions irrelevant, which explains why he's attacking them. He looks better with green horns.

"So: tax cuts will save the day for the liberals? What do you think? They can always renege on all promises after the election, as is traditional."

Well, they did say _if_ the strong economic growth continues, so when that inevitably peters out, they can fuck their promises right off the way they always do.

Got a SSAE envelope from bloody Alexander Downer yesterday, along with various bullshit screeds. Our dog once crapped on his front lawn. I wonder if he can be persuaded to crap into an envelope?

Alexander Downer is a talking pudding

who travelled back in time for some reason

to fetch his party leader frin the 19th century obv

from

Housing affordability figures and IMF world economic outlook report both released today. Both grim. The former makes the government look ignorant, the latter makes it look impetuous.

Oh and for all Costello's cries of GILARD OMG COMUMISM he was once a member of Australian Young Labor and did the same student union work as Gillard.

http://reasonsyouwillhateme.com/images/dfiu.jpg

How's the situation in the seat of Bennelong these days?

Last I heard [1? week ago] McKew was winning by a clean margin.

That is so fucking sweet.

i don't think it's quite so clean now, but who knows what will happen.

http://img85.imageshack.us/img85/7303/071018homehowardmarx1bcww6.jpg

Any way he's wiped out is fine by me. General election loss, Bennelong loss, errant bus, whatever.

James Morrisson are YOU from THE ADL??

Now being bombarded by anti-union ads every ad break. How antiquated is the liberal approach? These anti-union scare mongering tactics - I just can't see them cutting any ice with the under 50's.

I'm really not sure whats wrong with unions. Can someone explain?

if you believe the dickheads over at gearslutz, they ruined working life for everyone

man who knew that sound engineers were such right wing fuckwits

Can anyone take an image from the TV next time the "70%" of ministers are trade unionists" advert comes on? I think it would make for a great Labor version of 'Guess Who'.

Unions?

Goodness, I thought they were there to protect the worker.

xpost

Husband says, the only people who are anti-union are people who earn too much money...with the communist manifesto in one hand...bong in the other.

I'm really not sure whats wrong with unions. Can someone explain?

-- Kate, non masonic, Thursday, 18 October 2007 10:52 (9 minutes ago) Link

Too much union means enforced strikes and picket lines and something else I can't remember. Too little union means WorkChoices and other cockfarming pursuits.

70% union members? Sounds pretty fucking good to me. Sic 'em on the ACCI, the fuckholes.

It's always the heads of massive companies saying how good WorkChoices is for workers, like they'd know.

Because god knows that a government run by people who have links to trade unions are just going to screw people over. Unlike a government hand in glove with big business who make people's lives wonderful and joyous.

Fucking zakly.

This week I've noticed a lot of people under 40 ask what the union thing is all about. Chances are they'll discover that the unions are ultimately there to protect workers, and that their weakening has coincided with the rise of WorkChoices. If this happens, the Coalition's union scare campaign will work against it in a huge, huge way.

ACNielsen polls released tomorrow. First to be taken in the campaign, so probably taking into account the very early reaction to Costello's tax cuts (i.e. before economists pointed out how dumb the tax cuts are).

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1243/531437213_769ee8dd68.jpg

Howard gaining slightly in polls. Polls taken between Monday and Wednesday. Early shock of tax cuts, probably.

That's much better than any Green LOLpollies.

People are stupid, AA. Plz to remember that? And taxes are obscene right now - well, obscene for a conservative government at any rate.

Link to ACNeilsen poll:

http://au.acnielsen.com/news/200512.shtml

Dear Mr King Boy: yes indeed am from/in Adelaide. For my sins.

People are stupid, AA. Plz to remember that?

well doy, otherwise howard wouldn't be there now

In fact, I think Rudd releasing a tax policy today (not yesterday, not next week) would be the best thing he could do. I'll explain why later when I have some effing time.

Please explain?

The economy is Howard's and Costello's ground, as is reflected confidently in opinion polls.

If the ALP announces its tax policy today, it'll put economics to bed in week one and move the campaign focus onto health, education, environment and housing for the next five weeks -- all areas in which the ALP is favoured in polls.

If it were released before today, it would have looked like a rushed response, and it would also have appeared as though Costello's bullying had scared the ALP.

Oh, and a tax policy release today will get Saturday morning headlines. Easy and prominent coverage on a day when less news is being gathered.

I get what you're saying, but Howard and Costello will be very, very quick to remind us all of their "awesome" tax cuts.

True, but over five weeks it'll lose its punch. Particularly when the ALP releases its more cautious tax policy with funding for schools and hospitals, effectively neutralising Howard's big trump card.

That's my call anyway.

It merely underlines why I think the ALP should release its tax policy today. I'm not saying it's going to win Rudd the election. :)

Interesting comment from Michelle Grattan:

The Government would have hoped for more bounce from the tax package. But people are blase about tax cuts. And who wants to admit to taking a bribe?

The message of this poll and this week? The Government has a very difficult but not impossible task.

In my view, if the ALP stays on message and cautious (and, importantly, retains its status) it may not lose much ground at all.

"And who wants to admit to taking a bribe?"

A small percentage of those people who'd want to actually take said bribe, unfortunately.

Yer, let alone those who don't have to admit taking a bribe because ballots are SECRET. Sexy ms grattan is a bit dim sometimes.

ALP's tax plan!

$2.3b in education tax rebates for pri & sec schooling. Six-year plan to reduce four tax thresholds to three (40%, 30%, 15%). $400m to cut waiting times for elective surgery. Total rebates $31b, just under what the Coalition announced.

AMIRITE

nice

So close to the Coalition's that it effectively neutralises the whole economy issue. Bang. The polls should stabilise now, if this announcement gets enough press.

It's getting enough press.

Well done Almy. You must be the expert commentator on ILX at election night.

yes, i am deeply impressed.

Yay!

The polling is a bit misleading, considering the Coalition was guns blazing on day one but the ALP's campaign really hasn't started yet

I reckon two weeks before election day we'll get a sudden avalanche of ALP ads about the big stuff: WorkChoices (the elephant in the room), nuclear power stations, Al Gore, etc. I think they'll make a lot more difference than FREE MONEY, and Howard really can't come back at any of it.

This year's different to previous elections in that the ALP has far greater support this year, which means more financial backing, which means a bigger warchest for the campaign.

And more yummy ads for all!

"Sexy ms grattan is a bit dim sometimes."

I'd guess 'sey ms grattan' is one heck of a lot more sexy than dim 99% of the time, and I've never found her specially sexy....

Man I need to watch more TV, I'm missing a lot of this.

Nice ALP policy though - good work.

If the Libs still win after all this, I will despair at the state of humanity and move to Patagonia.

agreed, ms grattan is ace.

Trayce: What you've missed is that Howard is still a racist cunce.

costello's getting a bit repetitive with the whole "you copied us" thing. "oh, so you have a tax policy too, we already have one of those! copycats!"

Predictable too. And incredibly childish. But economy is all the Coalition has left, so they'll run it into the ground and hopefully BORE EVERYONE SHITLESS with it.

Yeah cause no one really understands it anyway innit. They'd rather be told they were getting a new school or something.

ABC headline:

Coalition, Labor tax policies 'virtually the same'

Exactly the headline the ALP wanted.

No comments about the debate yet?

i didn't watch it, how was it?

roffle, channel 9 used the "worm" and had the plug pulled by the authorities!

Howard's people pulled the plug through the ABC and the Press Club.

Today watch Howard deny any knowledge of it.

Oh and Kate, Rudd won the debate convincingly. Howard's performance was utterly appalling. All he did was sling mud at Rudd and avoid questions. I mean REALLY avoid questions. Even Rudd pulled him up on it about four times, right in the middle of the debate. By contrast, Rudd pointedly answered questions and avoided negativity for the most part.

From the SMH

http://www.smh.com.au/news/National/Howard-Rudd-face-off-in-election-debate/2007/10/21/1192940904527.html

"According to the Nine Network's controversial "worm", Mr Rudd won the debate with 65 per cent of viewers' approval, compared to Mr Howard's 29 per cent.

The worm tracked the reaction of 90 swinging voters in Nine's Sydney studios to the leaders' comments."

Swinging voters eh? They swing on a zephyr. They're like Melbourne weather.

Started the debate, expecting to switch off after about 20 minutes, but stayed to the end. Quite interesting. Rudd looked comfortable, upbeat, mostly on top of things. Howard looked distinctly uncomfortable the whole time, avoided answering direct questions repeatedly, and his own questions to Rudd were feeble. He looked, as my wife said, like a bad-tempered little boy being forced to do something he really didn't want to.

Didn't he? He waved his arms around loads as well.

I expected Howard to do less well than Rudd, but I didn't expect him to be the angry quivering mess that he was. Really, really frustrated and not in any way cogent.

And yeah, his questions to Rudd were bloody stupid. The one about Rudd and Bush: what the fuck was he (or his people) thinking?? Boughing under pressure is understandable, but these questions were written before the debate; what this tells me is that Howard's got bugger-all to use against Rudd and is just desperate.

Howard's weird and dopey closing statement was another wasted opportunity. Teaching history in schools, what the fuck?? How is that in any way a closing statement? This was written in advance as well, and betrays a government in freefall.

Howard's six-week campaign was designed to expose Labor's mistakes before voting day, but I suspect it'll backfire significantly.

What bothers me about this whole Howard's version of Australia's history thing is the potential for it to be some insipid watered down version of events where the white man did no wrong and everything was just dandy. Goodness knows the current curriculum (at least here in QLD) glosses over all the bad stuff enough already.

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyep.

I wouldn't trust that prick to spell the word indigenous, let alone mount a truly unbiased and sensible history agenda for kids. Evidently brainwashing adults through the Murdoch press is not enough.

Have we had this? Old, but Rudd interviewing Rudd:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHPij5Q9geQ

What about Rudd eating his ear wax?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aQ8YiIV1AI

I am NOT going to click on that.

I was disappointed Rudd didn't let Mr Hat say anything.

"Prime Minister John Howard has denied any responsibility for a decision to pull the Nine Network's broadcast feed during the live televised leaders' debate."

http://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/i-didnt-kill-worm-pm/2007/10/22/1192940956744.html

Gee there's a surprise. It's like TAMPA never happened.

Kev's getting cocky.

Newspoll shows Labor on 58% TPP to Liberal's 42%, and Rudd on 50% as preferred leader to Howard's 37%. Thereby eliminating last week's perceived Liberal 'comeback' in the polls. WATCH YOUR GOVT BLOW ONE (1) FUSE AND GO KRAZY.

Right on cue...

http://www.theage.com.au/news/federalelection2007news/howard-offers-pensioners-4bn/2007/10/23/1192941039664.html

They're getting desperate, aren't they? Next thing you know, a Jewish Sudanese bloke will have burnt down the Reichstag Parliament House.

Yeah but moley, the grannies are all voting for him anyway so I don't know how much difference that's going to make.

Oh and yes, fake terrorism threats are ready to pounce. Just wait for it.

70% of the Labor front bench is ex-union officials.

The poster of Christopher Pyne in our local supermarket has had the added speech bubble "I eat poo!" for 3 weeks now, and nobody has taken it down. This amuses me beyond all reasonable bounds.

Brilliant.

He sounds like his throat is lined with poo when he talks, so perhaps it counts as substantiated recourse.

Do you think Rudd will match the pensioner spendfest?

Indubitably.

Yesterday's Newspoll showed -- for the first time -- Rudd gaining on Howard in terms of economic approval. He absolutely does not want to lose this momentum, however transient it might have been. Economic management wins elections in this country, fact.

70% of the Labor front bench is ex-union officials.

Did I read somewhere that the appropriate response to this is that the liberal front bench is dominated by silver spoon private school nancies who have never done a hard day of work in their lives?

Pretty much.

Also that 70% figure is wrong, as Costello admitted on national television on Sunday morning. Not that it's stopped the bastards using it ever since with increasing saturation.

By the criterion these arsewipes are using, *I* was a union official because I was a member of student union.

Wasn't joining the student union compulsory up until a few years ago?

Yep. Not that it stops Howard et al calling me an ex-union official.

btw I adore the thread title.

By christ if I really was a union official I would have banned hacky sack on the lawn outside the arts common room.

If I were a union official I would've banned meetings to discuss the end of year office party using STRONGARM tactics if necessary.

^^^ THIS

I MEAN CHRIST I AM ONLY HERE TWO DAYS A WEEK NOW AS IT IS, YOU THINK I HAVE TIME TO PUT ASIDE MY REAL WORK AND ATTEND A MEETING FOR A PARTY THAT NO BASTARD IS EVER HAPPY WITH JUST SO I CAN GET THE BLAME FROM VARIOUS DEPARTMENTS, YEAH THX.

Imagine what it would be like if Labor got in with its OMG GIANT UNION SPATULA.

In fact I'm tempted to start a picture thread depicting the disastrous consequences of union power.

http://www.happyworker.com/smile/be-a-happy-worker-m.jpg

That happy worker in the cubicle on the far right is checking ILX!

Which one, Snooze Bloke or Cheeseburger Girl?

TS: Snooze Bloke or Cheeseburger Girl?

Remember those ads where various worker bots are relieved that they can ring the fairness hotline and have their contracts assessed under the 'Fairness Test'. What a joke. My partner rang that hotline yesterday because she'd been asked to sign a 2 page contract which effectively had her as a contractor working a 60 hour week for this company. The first thing that happened was that a recorded message told her that nothing she was told could be relied on as legal advice. The second thing that happened was that she was put on to a 19 year old stoner who told her 'Gee, I don't know. You're a props builder? I don't know. Do you carry things or build things? Both? Well which one, it can't be both! Maybe you should have a look at our website. Hang on, I'll speak to me supervisor. *click*'

Sounds fair.

Last month my work compulsorily sent us all an official government information bulletin explaining the fairness test and what our rights are. The salient points were (a) the bulletin contained fuck-all information, providing only the useless phone number that your partner called and (b) IT WAS OBVIOUS POLITICAL CAMPAIGNING. Even the HR manager who sent it agreed that it was just an ad for the government.

http://www.theage.com.au/ffximage/2007/10/25/wbRATES_wideweb__470x314,0.jpg

loooooooooool

70% of a Labor government would be former trade union officials.

But did any of them live at home until 32 like our beloved PM?

"70% of a Labor government would be former trade union officials."

That ain't the half of it - 100% of ANY Rudd cabinet, INCLUDING the PM, the Deputy PM, the Treasurer, the Foreign Minister and the Attorney General, would ALL be CARD CARRYING MEMBERS of the AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY!!!!!!!!

Watching the news this evening my mother says "that Joe Hockey is such a lovely man"

... she wasn't being sarcastic. God.

Regardless of your political philosophy, moral philosophy, sexual orientation or even your species, Joe Hockey is NOT an attractive man.

Not even in comparison with John Howard or Peter Reith or Fabulous Phil Ruddock or Wilson Tuckey.

(But given the choice between the Hockmeister and Bronwyn Bishop....)

The Australian 'Big Brother' grand poo-bah has been given the elbow and replaced with two dimwit morning DJ's.

All Rudd/Howard has to do now is convincingly pin the blame on Howard/Rudd for this development, and all other issues will become instantly irrelevant.

I'll vote Liberal if they ever introduce the death penalty for Kyle Sandilands and Jackie O. Or, even better, Ryan "Fitzy" Fitzgerald.

Who's up for an ARIAs running commentary tonight?

No thanks, I think I've put up with enough Silverchair this year already.

Well my daughter is adamant we're watching the Veronicas. As for the Chair, cheer up - this is almost certainly the last year.

Back to POLITICS, I was driving past Yatala Prison today - proud home of Evil Terrorist Mastermind David Hicks. I seriously lolled at all the Liberal posters on Grand Junction Road on the other side of the jail, like that's going to do them any good.

Now, if you're planning a little Election Night shindig, maybe I humbly suggest that you put this record on to get the party started?

http://www.triplem.com.au/media/shows/getthis/images/getthis_johnlawscover_400x.jpg

I HAD that record! I SAMPLED it on the I&S track 'Point of No Return'!! Oh jeez, what happened to it? King Boy, do you have the inner sleeve photos?! Can you put 'em up??

No, unfortunately not - I found this gem lying around on the internet!!

Golly, I really wish I had it through (and the rare Alan Jones cover of Spandau Ballet's To Cut a Long Story Short).

That doesn't exist, you made it up.

It exists. It's a compendium of his poetry, read by him, and interspresed with whimsical arranged music peices that would not be out of place in a Neil Diamond or Englebert Humperdinck middle eight. I found it at folkways. My dad probably sold it at a Bondi sale for $1 along with all my other valuable records. Someone out there has it.

Your father is the worst man alive.

Fuck politics, this is fascinating.

Did anyone ever see that christmas album he put his arse face to? That was bad enough.

Because I'm home sick today I can watch the debate and relay information to you all LIVE, including what the worm's doing.

Dat crazy worm.

12:34 Old bloke is talking about nothing

oooh they're shaking hands

they've lost the coin!!! OH NO

Wayne Swan won the toss and will speak first

Swan's worm is flatlining, going up slightly

why is the debate in the middle of the day?

"economic plan for all australians"
"enhance national prosperity"
"investing in people"
"climate change + water = challenges yu0"
"downward pressure on interest rates"
"economic conservative" <-- worm dipped at this point
"low taxes"
"economic wankspeak blah blah"
"market reforms"
"prosperity"
"mining boom"
"golden opportunity being squandered"
"11 years of inaction on hospitals/schools/infrastructure"
"inflation & interest rates rising"
"skills crisis"
"rba has warned you fuckers Y0U DO NOT LISTEN"
"education and training" <-- worm loves this, goes spastic
"broadband"
"fair + balanced" <-- OH NOES SHUP YOU MENTAL
"enterprise level bargaining" <-- worm dipping, probably bored
"working families have never been better off my arse" <-- paraphrasing
"my package is enormous"

Worm moderately positive most of the way through. Costello looks like jabba the hut for some reason.

He's STILL talking and I need to go to the toot.

why is the debate in the middle of the day?

-- electricsound, Tuesday, 30 October 2007 12:40 (4 minutes ago) Bookmark Link

Because it's in the normal press club luncheon slot, and because nobody wants to see accountants talk for 90 mins

Costello is getting positive worms omg

"good economy better"
"climate change"
"harness economic resources"
"literacy & numeracy" <-- note absence of critical thought
"find cures of tomorrow"
"diseases which we can't treat properly at present" <-- e.g. being in the Liberal party
"look after pensioners"
"jobs"
"unemployment rate is lower, budget is in black"
"good fortune wasn't luck ffs, no accident you cunce"
"gst is good" <-- worm collapses; first negative all day in fact
"i have a plan!!! no really"
"more competitive tax system"
"figures marginal tax rate money fiscal primary forecast dowaward pressure etc etc" <-- worm doesn't understand this either but LOVES IT
"extra technical schools"
"young people will get technical training"
"training time for small business"
"$168 million over five years for training vouchers etc"
"aged & disability pensioners, carers, retirees" <-- worm likes this
"strong economy"
"IN PER PE TU I TY"
"provisioning for the future"

Worm moderately positive again. Compare & contrast this with howard's blatherfest last weekend

Stephen Lewis, News Ltd: "Should Aus sustain four automotive manufacturers?"

WHO CARES

No surprise the Murdoch journalist asks the pointless questions

Costello answering first, getting moderate negatives from the worm. Fucknose what he's saying. He looks lost actually.

Worm ended on a high for Costello there.

Swan: "future for manufacturing in this country". worm is giving him a big wet gob job

woah and I think it's swallowing now

Paul Bongiorno, Ten News (oxymoron): "Will Swan commit to not mounting a challenge within first 18 months of govt, and will Costello not mount a similar challenge" (audience erupts in laughter)

Swan:
"I commit to being Rudd's treasury secretary" <-- OOPS
"treasurer for >10 yrs; no interviews to biographers" <-- jab at Costello; worm v happy

Costello:
"won't commit to not challenging to Rudd, because i need to challenge economic inexperience" <-- worm grumpy
"i will serve howard into next term, or as long as we work together" <-- worm lukewarm, knows lies when it sees them

Laura Tingle, Fin Review: some shit about GDP and inflation rate targets, i dunno

Swan:
"howard ignores everything" <-- worm happy
"skills infrastructure education blah blah"

Costello:
"10 surplus budgets" <-- worm wanes
"labor did this, labor did that <-- worm hates this
"i give credit to previous labor for deregulating home mortgage interest rates & cutting tariffs" <-- worm goes FUCKING SPASTIC
"can swan do the same" <-- worm plunges to flatline

Swan:
"I also credit '80s labor for reforms" <-- worm is all over this shiznit

Costello:
"we are ace and we got no help from you fucks" <-- worm flatlines

Some bloke from AMP(?): "reinstate trade unionists in reserve bank board?"

Costello:
various shit about trade unions <-- worm flatline
"70% labor cabinet trade union blah" <-- worm bored

Swan:
"i am not a former trade union official you penis" <-- worm happy
stuff about a unionist on the reserve bank board <-- worm loves this

Another News Ltd gimp: "swan will you kill the economy by removing workchoices?"

Swan:
"costello is a lying poo" <-- worm flatlines
"we want fairness & balance, this is not inflationary" <-- worm bored

Costello:
"our IR laws are PERFECT" <-- worm dropped so hard it fell off the screen. THIS WILL BE NEWS
"cannot roll back changes, risk risk omg" <-- worm says no
"deregulated market, full employment, pressure on inflation" <-- worm slightly negative

Karen Middleton, SBS: "would you reconsider tax cuts?"

Swan:
"no but we are balanced" <-- worm bouncing up & down
"we have a health & hospital plan, education revolution etc" <-- worm gleeful

Costello:
"our tax plan is for da future" <-- worm grouchy
"labor voted to do bad shit in 1993" <-- worm flatlines, probably bored

Costello is getting positive worms omg

This is spectacular, especially out of context =)

Also:

Costello:
"our IR laws are PERFECT" <-- worm dropped so hard it fell off the screen. THIS WILL BE NEWS

Are you serious, did it really!?

Tim Colebatch, The Age: "foreign debt is a concern?"

Costello:
makes gag <-- worm unhappy
"commonwealth govt has no net debt, therefore no issue shut up" <-- worm unhappy
"o'seas borrowing is because of investment surge" <-- flatline
"we = teh saving" <-- slight positive

Swan:
"i am concerned with foreign debt" <-- worm very happy
"declining productivity growth"
"need to lift export performance inc. services, therefore reduce foreign debt"
"superannuation is good" <-- happy

(xpost - yep)

Sue Dunleavy, Daily Nazigraph: "as PM, what will separate you from howard (three differences please); if no differences, why change ffs"

Costello:
a joke about rudd, loads of smirking <-- bad worm
"TEEEEEEEEEAM" <-- bad worm
"tax reform, IR reform, super reform, docks reform" <-- evidently no worm reform
"we don't always agree" <-- cue odd couple music
"continuity of policy"
"rudd is all me-too" <-- flatline
(note the lack of three differences here)

Swan:
"costello would make workchoices worse" <-- worm is ON HELIUM

Phil Coorey, SMH: "fed govt has money, states don't, so give some back you fuck"

Swan:
"no"
"hospitals, blame game" <-- worm floating
"work WITH states ffs" <-- worm floating

Costello:
"all gst goes to states" <-- flat
"labor is bad for some reason" <-- flat
something I didn't understand <-- worm goes up
"labor state govts are shit" <-- worm dips
"labor = mismanagement" <-- WHAT THE FUCK

u have finally found perfect vocation: pro liveblogger

Karen Middleton, SBS

I believe i once shared a uni student office with her, she was a very smart woman.

As an aside to the John Laws rekkid further upthread, I once had in my possession a red coloured 7" of his with the tale of "The Bradford Fairy Godmother", which was a five minute advert for Bradford Insulation. There were a couple of poems on the other side. I gave it to a friend ages ago who probably didn't even have a record player. :(

BTW Almy, I speak for us all I am sure when I say you are entertaining us magnificently today.

Shane Wright, Westralian: "defend your tax cuts in the face of inflation pls, coz nz did same thing and the whole country sank into the ocean"

Costello:
"full employment > mass unemployment" <-- flat
"low unemployment is still a problem" <-- flat, also WHAT THE FUCK
"our tax plan = teh rox0r" <-- worm happy
"building capacity, take pressure out of system" <-- worm happy
"budget in surplus"

Swan:
"labor shortages" <-- worm has orgasm

xpost hurrah! I probably would lose mooentum if nobody were reading this

Someone from Dow Jones: "how to make rba board appointments transparent"

Swan:
nice things <-- worm happy
"open + transparent" <-- worm happy

Costello:
"labor = disingenuous" <-- worm happy

Some guy who wasn't introduced properly: "spend on health + education > tax cuts?"

Swan:
"people want both" <-- worm spunks again

oops

Costello:
"people want tax relief" <-- worm wants costello relief
"prices are going up" <-- worm agrees
"state govts = evil" <-- worm dips
"people want help" <-- worm happy

Clinton Porteous (yes that's his real name), Courier Mail: "liberal polling is shit, interest rates have risen despite your LIES, why should anyone trust costello ffs"

Swan:
"I have more experience now than costello did when he became treasurer" <-- worm v happy
"we don't take polls for granted" <-- worm happy

Costello:
"i am prepared for unforeseen events" <-- worm slightly negative
"fuck experience, it's all about policy" <-- flat
"can't turn our backs on IR policy" <-- flat
"i am made entirely of play-doh" <-- flat

The antics of the worm are quite seriously the single most exciting thing about this never-ending, Godless campaign.

Vote Worm [1]

someone from 7 network: "aistralians have never been better off my arse, also what about me-tooism"

Costello:
blathering about stuff <-- worm gone to sleep
"look after pensioners" <-- worm dreaming of eating chocolate in chocolate land

Swan:
"howard = teh liar" <-- worm goes to jupiter
"housing affordability crisis is REAL" <-- worm happy
"we are in touch with working families" <-- worm happy

Costello hasn't landed a single punch on Swan yet.

Michelle "HOT CHICK" Grattan, The Age: "costello must keep howard's promises or die"

Costello:
"yes ffs" <-- flat
"we deliver, we are DHL" <-- flat
"we invest in schools and shit" <-- worm wakes up
"stronger economy" <-- worm goes back to sleep

notably costello is fumbling at this point

Swan:
"libs broke promise about keeping interest rates at record lows" <-- worm ejaculates

Closing statement happy fun time

Costello:
"we are funky, we are tssssssssssssss hot, we eat sex for breakfast"
"we take action on climate change"
"we build schools, no really"
"small business = engine room of aus economy"
"economy = enabling mechanism"
"economy = better std of living"
"i am passionate" <-- ew
"ambitions omg"

worm moderately positive for most of this

Michelle "HOT CHICK" Grattan

Swan:
"stronger economy"
"end blame game"
"support those who can't afford to support themselves"
"don't re-elect stale govt which will do anything to get re-elected"
"increase skills etc"
"i won't blame someone else like HE does"
"working families"

worm fucking effusive nearly the whole time

worm results released on a current affair tonight. fuck that shit.

What happens to the worm now? does it take a holiday or is it killed and eaten?

Worm is put into battery in anticipation of the next debate between foreign ministers Alexander Downer and Robert McClelland.

Worm is put into battery in anticipation of the next debate between foreign ministers Alexander Downer and Robert McClelland.

DAT'S GOOD EATIN'

That's great that Swan did well. (even though he's a little bit of a knobhead)
Thanx for the sweet sweet liveblog action Almy!

It kept my mind off the physical pain for a couple of hours :)

Swan didn't flub once in the whole 90 minutes, and Costello didn't land a punch on him in the whole 90 minutes.

The explicit reason Costello wanted this debate was to show up who he perceived to be a weak shadow treasurer. It didn't work.

Thanks, dear Autumn - that was fab
Also, did anyone see Howard on 7:30 Report last night. He seemed particularly feeble. A shame it wasn't on commercial TV so all the knobs who vote for him could have seen him coming apart at the seams.

It's not big or clever, but I had fun doing it...

http://home.iprimus.com.au/jrsmorrison/Images/PoliticalWit.gif

Please feel free to email that on to like-minded Howard-hating persons, by the way.

Are you the trumpet player from Hey Hey It's Saturday?

No. Weirdly enough, you are not the first person to ask.

Howard on last night's 7.30 Report was pointless. He started with "let's talk about the future" and went on about the past for THE WHOLE INTERVIEW. Kerry even tried to pull him back by saying "you're talking about the past again". Made no difference.

JM that gif amused me greatly. But as moley will tell you, i have an odd sense of dad-humour.

Adam, yer cracking me the hell up here. Good to have you back on deck.

I must tell Nick off for blanking you the other day btw ;P

You're so kind. Don't worry about Nick, I only really met him twonce.

xxxxxxxxxxxxpost That gif is fantastic.

Wow, Rudd was a bit crap on 7.30 Report tonight.

I just realised there isn't a single Liberal Party poster anywhere in my suburb. I love living in a suburb full of university-educated trendy lefties and lesbians.

dear adam: I love your worms

dear everyone: thank you for this thread while I am not around to see the carnage myself

Hell I am around and I'm not paying attention.

Trayce, the typical Australian voter haw haw haw.

When Turnbull falls out of line, Howard puts him in a box. When Costello falls out of line, Howard capitulates to divert attention. Yet despite the mess that today was, Abbott is still doing media, still putting his foot in his mouth (view tonight's Lateline for more) and looking worse by the minute. I suspect Howard's routine punishment for Abbott is to pull his ears every time he does something stupid.

My older brother went to the same school as Abbot (a few years after though, he didn't know Abbot). Run by a cabal of ultra rightwing strap-wielding sadistic Jesuit priests. The sort of Catholic schoold where boys were made to kneel down and pray for victory before rugby matches. According to my brother, either you rebel, or...

...take it up the arse?

That too, probably.

Seriously, of the people in my brother's year, half of them turned out like Abbott, and the other half are former drug addicts or dead. (I'm exaggerating, but it's a bit like that.)

Tony Abbot = LOLERS

Just saw this comment in response to George Megalogenis's column in (shudder) The Australian:

It simply isn’t possible that the Coalition has no influence or control of inflation and the ALP does. Either both parties have some control of inflation, in which case Howard has to take some responsibility for tomorrow’s likely 6th rate rise in 3 years - or neither party is responsible for inflation, in which case the ALP poses no risk to interest rates. Howard can’t have it both ways.

Most sensible thing I've heard in weeks, and eminently digestible. Rudd could use exactly this paragraph to gain enormous purchase.

His backflip yesterday was staggering. Suddenly worsening inflation is beyond his control. Um, sorry?? So downward pressure is all your doing but upward pressure is out of your hands? Yet upward pressure under the ALP represents bad management? Idiot.

My older brother went to the same school as Abbot (a few years after though, he didn't know Abbot). Run by a cabal of ultra rightwing strap-wielding sadistic Jesuit priests. The sort of Catholic schoold where boys were made to kneel down and pray for victory before rugby matches. According to my brother, either you rebel, or...

-- Zelda Zonk, Wednesday, 31 October 2007 23:45 (5 days ago) Bookmark Link

I am also an old boy of this school

But I am much younger than Abb0tt.

It's a lot more liberal these days, of course.

I've just started reading Megalogenis's book 'Faultlines' at the moment on the recommendation of a colleague.

I'm getting worried that Howard spending $3bn on south-east Sydney's roads that would be better spent on public transport infrastructure will mean that all the Campbelltown bogans will forget about their mortgages and vote for him again. Thoughts?

Probably.

Agreed that all this road spending only adds to the very climate change issue he and Rudd are trying to neutralise. Roads fill up, they don't ease shit. Meanwhile Melbourne and Sydney have disintegrating public transport systems that are not getting nearly enough attention, not to mention the distinct lack of train lines.

:(

Yeah I was looking at that graphic in today's Age about what each party is promising to spend money on in Melb on roads... and all I could think was "wait, what about train lines and more trams fuckers?". Geez.

Fuck your Melbourne train lines. Adelaide is still on DIESEL for fuck's sake and nobody is willing to put up the money to convert it to at least 1920s technology. Also: more trams even if I have to read a million letters in The Advertiser from bogans about having to wait FIVE MINUTES at the intersection of North Terrace and King William Street.

Rudd scores total points with his "hey, I've mentioned plans to housing affordability...and the other guy hasn't..." line, btw.

Newspoll shows coalition gain of one point, world ends.

Interest rate rise and ALP advertising blitz about to kick in.

"Is Mr Rudd going to walk behind you and copy your walk as well?" one of the men asked Mr Howard.

"He won't be able to keep up with you, bro," another added.

u_____________u

As if ^that's not going to be on the news tonight too.

I think it's too late for that to hurt Rudd now.

I just realised, that Newspoll was taken between Friday and Sunday, which is when Garrett's fuck-up was the ONLY focus of political news. So probably a slightly false reading.

i hope so. i wonder if labor need to make more of coalition's sophistry, help voters be offended rather than swayed by it. it's so hard to know whether people see it as just that, or not. attacking garrett for not being as smarmy and calculating and disingenuous as they are should be something that backfires on them, rather than helping them.

Definitely. Most Australians have nothing against Garrett, even if they don't agree with his activism. Attacking him is rather like stabbing a teddy bear.

I still don't even get why the Garrett thing is news. As though, if it was Labor's HORRIBLE SECRET PLAN, he'd casually tell it to some right-wing radio fuckwit. First time I've ever respected Richard Wilkins when he came out and said it was obviously just a joke the way he heard it.

Why does no one in the media understand "margin of error"?

I guess most people here are aware of this, but Ross Gittins has been providing consistently excellent coverage for The Age/SMH for the past couple of months. He's very left-leaning but he's not afraid to point out when Labor are being morons. Most importantly he actually knows about the things he is talk about, which is pretty rare for a commentator.
Yesterday's column on John Howard's class warfare I thought was pretty fantastic. Other OTM columns:

Why affordability allowances are crap and don't work
Rudd = Howard Jnr
Howard's focus on economic growth is dumb and won't do anything anyway (Gittins has a great series of columns where every couple of weeks he will point out that John Howard has no influence over interest rates bar the inflationary impacts of his tax cuts, and that the Reserve Bank couldn't give a shit what he thinks)
Tax cuts are shit and don't help Howard's battlers anyway (see also here

Downer , our FUCKING FOREIGN MINISTER, calls Rudd a 'show-off' for speaking Chinese to Chinese people in China

Nearly everything I hate about Howard's cabinet is distilled right there.

Downer is an overgrown spoilt brat, the kind of petulant, whinging little shit who would bleat 'It's not fair!!!!!' and go running to teacher every time he gave another kid too much lip and got a thick ear for it.

Was it really just 13 years ago that more than half the Liberal Party though this man was a potential Prime Minister?

otm, i find him the worst of the lot. one election i saw him being interviewed at home with his family and he had a teenage son who was exactly like him, a simpering smug plate-faced prig with the exact same namby-pamby voice as his father, it was horrifying. junior said modestly that he thought he might like to go into politics as well. i was imagining tellys being smashed all over australia.

Ross Gittins is one of the better commentators but I find the Rudd=like Howard meme to be extremely unpenetrating, based on very basic analysis. Really, it's just what opposition leaders DO. John Howard in 1996 basically promised to be like Paul Keating with less touchy-feely social justice bullshit (obviously that stuff was v. important but the average voter disagreed).

If anything, if you want a Labor leader who was exactly like Howard, look no further than Mark Latham, whom the left WUVVED.

Rudd's good for a bloke from Nambour.

Really, it's just what opposition leaders DO.

Then once they get in they just change it all?

Howard did. In the 1996 campaign he pretended to not be a ranting fucking racist anymore.

LOL Forever at Don Dunstan building a freeway through the Downer Family Mansion, btw.

Back in 1970, but still.

Webber: yeah, pretty much. But there are things you can get away with saying from Government, and ONLY from Government and you look like a loony if you say them from Opposition. (One of these things is TAX CHANGES, for instance).

You might not see any changes until Rudd's second term, but you will see them. Howard's first term didn't annoy me too much at all, and I don't even care about the GST.

I agree, and I even voted for Howard in that second term.

I dunno if I said this but if there's no interest rate rise tomorrow, despite all the relevant parameters demanding one, it'll look incredibly suspect. Howard will be blamed for interfering whether he has or not. Whatever happens tomorrow, he cannot win.

I love moments like this.

Well there we go.

the rate-rise we had to have.

Howard has apologised for the rate rise.

APOLOGISED.

How his spin doctors are planning to turn THIS into a positive is anyone's guess. I really do think he's fucked now.

Mr Howard said the reason rates had increased was that there were concerns about inflation in the economy.

He said those inflation pressures were coming from three sources.

"The continued strength of the economy, the very fact that our economy is growing strongly, is a predominant cause for this interest rate increase," he said.

The two other ones are unimportant, you guise.

Ah, but in this brand new development (and after several months of him talking up his economic strength (i.e. all he's got)) he has just told the Australian public that he stuffed up. ON THE ECONOMY.

Surely most of his party is crying right about now.

Also his "GO FOR GROWTH" slogan has suddenly vanished.

ha!

I can't wait to see how Murdoch's papers paint this.

ONLY HOWARD CAN SAVE US NOW: EXPERT PANEL

LIBERALS THE SENSIBLE CHOICE IN TOUGH TIMES

RUDD EATS BABIES: SOURCE

Also his "GO FOR GROWTH" slogan has suddenly vanished.

Wait, it's still there, just obscured by an Australian flag.

Hey I just realised something:

"The continued strength of the economy, the very fact that our economy is growing strongly, is a predominant cause for this interest rate increase," (Howard) said.

What he's saying here is "go for growth" = "interest rate hikes"

Presumably that means a vote for Howard is a vote for higher interest rates.

Just wow.

Ross Gittens

So Howard could have called the election well before yesterday's meeting of the Reserve Bank board, but he didn't bother. That may go down as one of the great miscalculations of modern politics.

Rather, he chose a campaign slogan, Go for Growth, that's now proved embarrassingly inappropriate and has had to be ditched. He wanted to claim the credit for the economy's rapid growth and promise that under the Libs it could continue indefinitely, leading us back to full employment.

also

A fortnight ago Howard and Costello were claiming the inflation rate was at its lowest in almost nine years. Now they say there's a lot of inflation in the system so only they can be trusted to manage this "more challenging and difficult economic outlook".

Yep, and until today that would have been difficult for the average Jo(e) to digest. A rate rise followed by Howard APOLOGISING is the most digestible event this year.

And the election's in 2.5 weeks.

lol

http://www.smh.com.au/ffximage/2005/12/13/johnhoward_wideweb__470x313,0.jpg

poor john ;_;

HE AM CRY.

Presumably that was taken earlier, when he realised he's actually gay and will have to stick his doodle into men.

More immaturity: this came into our letterbox today...

http://home.iprimus.com.au/jrsmorrison/Images/100_23.jpg

On Insiders at the weekend, George Megalogenis noted that Liberal advertising doesn't have Howard on the front. I notice yours doesn't, and the one we got yesterday didn't. Meanwhile, every ALP brochure has Rudd all over it. It's a sign that Howard's own members have so little confidence in him that they're going it alone.

Oh and it seems to apply to billboards as well. The only billboards carrying Howard's face are the ALP ones attacking him. MAJOR shift from previous election campaigns.

If anything, if you want a Labor leader who was exactly like Howard, look no further than Mark Latham, whom the left WUVVED.

Almy, are you watching the environment minister debate? Apparently it's on now?

Nah, I'm at work, that other debate was a sick day :)

The Austrailan's headline today: 'Business back PM on rates'. So I wasn't far off yesterday.

Ah that's a shame. I did enjoy the last one.

P'raps I'll liveblog election night, if I'm not out on the streets hugging people and getting pissx0red.

i see that johnny is now trying to claim that 'sorry' is not an apology. hmmm

Oh god, really??

Yesterday he also claimed his interest rate promise in 2004 isn't important, but what is important is the "aggregate impression" of what he said. "Aggregate impression" clearly means "I lied, but OMG LOOK A GORILLA!! <runs>".

TS: "aggregate impression" v "core promise"

The Austrailan's headline today: 'Business back PM on rates'. So I wasn't far off yesterday.

Yesterday's front page of the Daily Telegraph site was "Rates up, but more leave on offer!"

Nevermind that the leave is unpaid and most employers would be willing to give you unpaid leave beforehand anyway (or do I just have a knack for working for people that aren't collosal jerks?)

The IR laws already have provisions for all the leave you could ever want, anyway. It's called "firing you without notice"

v "two-day promise"

xpost

Does anyone honestly trust anything Howard's front bench says anymore?? With interest rates and GST and non-core promises and moving goalposts about inflation/interest rates being good/bad, why the galloping fuck should we suddenly believe this crap about unpaid leave?

Yeah totally. They frustrate the fuck out of me.

For Howard these semantic non-issues are a time-waster at best (or least bad). The master of the "'hey-look-a-gorilla!' then run away" moment is campaigning from behind this time and the more he blusters the less convincing he sounds.

otm

I reckon the ALP's already got it now, but with the current pressures on the Coalition I'm expecting at least one of them to seriously, massively fuck up, in a really really really big way. You know, saying something incredibly dumb (or aggressive) at completely the wrong time, far worse than Abbott's performance last week, and 2-3 days before polling day.

The ALP must be treading on eggshells right now, knowing the crown is just about theirs. Chance of major fuck-up is minimal.

Yesterday's front page of the Daily Telegraph site was "Rates up, but more leave on offer!"

It's entertaining just watching how biased the press is getting right now. Murdoch's rags are desperately trying to turn shit into gold -- so much so that it would look pathetic even to the people who read that shit -- and Fairfax is flaming Howard at every opportunity.

All this bias has been obvious to some of us for months, but neither side is pulling any punches now.

Something like a Latham handshake xp

Oh Jim yes! Look at this from The Age:

He said he was sorry the rise happened but was not apologising for it.

"I said I was sorry they occurred. I don't think I used the word apology," Mr Howard told reporters.

"I think there is a difference between the two things. I think we've been through that debate before in the context of something else."

GEE I WONDER WHAT THAT COULD BE.

As Fred said above, this would have worked for Howard back when he had the upper hand. Labor has successfully painted him (rightly) as a tricky liar, and playing to stereotype like this is just more proof that he knows no other way of functioning.

And pulling this shit two weeks from an election? We're not mugs. It shows how desperate he is to get traction on any issue at all, even the only issue he had a hope in hell of commanding. Now that he's lost economic credibility, all that's left for him is to lie and abuse and flounder in public.

xp Yes, EXACTLY like that. That happened, what, only two days before the election?

I reckon Rudd and all his ministers will be rock-solid (especially after Garrett's blunders), and the Coalition's will start panicking and distancing themselves from Howard, knowing it's their last chance to get a gold star in the history books.

A guy at my work reckons Howard will quit on the 23rd for this very reason. He doesn't want to be remembered as the prime minister to suffer the largest swing in history.

Jack Marx is back.

http://thebulletinelection.ninemsn.com.au/jack_marx.htm

Brilliant.

I think what's significant this time around is that Labor is equipped to debate economic management. Previously Howard could say what he liked and get away with it. Now, Rudd holds him to account for every lie, and knows exactly what he's talking about. This has already wrongfooted the Coalition several times.

Never underestimate the greed/stupidity of the average Australian, though. They've fallen for obvious Coalition bullshit so many times there's no reason to think they won't again.

God, I'm nervous. If Labor doesn't win this time I think I'm off to Sweden.

i'm reminded of the election in futurama

i'm nervous too, i am not going to count on anything.

you can count on some sort of debrief on this thread, at least

true, i am going to stay home on election night and watch tv and read this thread!

Nerves?? I am going out of my head. I wanted the bastard out in 2004, and it didn't happen, and I've been beying for blood ever since.

The pure and simple truth, which I've tried to explain to many people over many years, is that the chances of ANYONE being as furiously bigoted as Howard are so incredibly remote as to make no odds. He's so far to the right he's alienated most of his party. No living ex-PM supports him, even the Liberal ones.

The reason to vote for Rudd is clear: If he turns out to be half the lying, racist, gay-hating arsehole Howard is, we're halfway there.

I am sick to fucking death of being ashamed to be Australian, I really am.

(and I was once a Liberal supporter)

Hey, and I didn't even mention all the wars he started.

Can you tell I'm angry? ANGRY!!

I really dislike my (labor) mp but I still will vote for her (or the Greens)

(Actually probs the Greens coz if I don't my brother's gf will beat me to death)

Never underestimate the greed/stupidity of the average Australian, though. They've fallen for obvious Coalition bullshit so many times there's no reason to think they won't again.

On Today Tonight/ACA last night they had the inevitable story about interest rates, but a few people were still staying "better the devil you know". What the fuck is wrong with bogans.

Also I don't know if it is more hilarious that bogans are blaming Howard for rate rises (sample quote: "I expected it with the government at the moment") or frustrated that they are annoyed that their cost of living is going up; oblivious to the fact that THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT OF INTEREST RATE RISES is to get these people to downgrade to a house they can actually afford, and stop living off credit cards, and generally SPEND LESS THAN YOU EARN BECAUSE IT IS BREAKING THE ECONOMY

BTW people should be watching ACA tonight, it looks like they are going to have an epic story where they systematically tell you why every foreign race is evil.

frustrated = frustrating

I suspect most people will have federal leaders in mind when they vote this time. National politics hasn't hogged newspaper headlines all year for nothing. :)

xpost

Sadly, not that genuine stud (or that gay sex symbol himself, Wilson "Ironbar" Tuckey) but the rather lovely MP for Adelaide.

-- King Boy Pato, Monday, 15 October 2007 13:50 (3 weeks ago) Link

very lovely. noting that her electorate offices are in NAILSWORTH

from her website:

Kate has also spoken in parliament about victims of international crime, eating disorders and broadband, among other issues.

what a victim of broadband?

they are annoyed that their cost of living is going up; oblivious to the fact that THE WHOLE FUCKING POINT OF INTEREST RATE RISES is to get these people to downgrade to a house they can actually afford

True, but there's no such thing as a cheap house anymore, unless you live in Oodnadatta.

This is where the "interest rates are lower now than... etc etc" line falls flat on its face.

BTW people should be watching ACA tonight, it looks like they are going to have an epic story where they systematically tell you why every foreign race is evil.

Wait there while I feign surprise.

online gamblers

facebook addicts

xpost

Oooh, Turnbull would appear to be losing Wentworth.

Just imagine if this is a comprehensive slaying. Just imagine.

gambling/facebook = internet victims, rather than broadband ones?

xp

very lovely. noting that her electorate offices are in NAILSWORTH

Yeah - the Libs would have their electorate office in UNLEY.

Speaking of Kate Ellis, not that I need any more encouragement to vote for her, but she sent me TWO fridge magnets today...compared to the shitty letter that the Fourth Reich sent to me yesterday.

Whatever who r you? *curious*

noting that her electorate offices are in NAILSWORTH

-- whatever

Ha! I just got that one. Took a while.

I thought it was because Nailsworth is home of The Big Scotsman??

Ah, the Big Scotsman. I used to live just up the road from that. It is truly hideous.

By the way, what DO you people here do on election night? Our tradition is having a few like-minded friends over, eating comfort food and getting horribly pissed to dull the pain (and it's been pain every time--the first election I was old enough to vote in was '96, when Howard got in).

Usually we watch the ABC and cry.

Last night I realised a couple of things:

1. Is the rate rise good for Labor? Given the amount of time and energy Rudd and his ministers have invested since Wednesday talking about it, I think that answers the question. Expect Labor swings. (Incidentally, Sportingbet's and Centrebet's odds are still fiercely against the Coalition.)

2. Everything Howard has gotten away with since 1996 is biting him on the arse right now. First indigenous affairs (the weird Damascus road conversion two days before he called the election), then the findings about Haneef's extradition being rigged, then his interest rate promise on Wednesday, and yesterday his refusal to say sorry. It's a bit like his life is flashing before our eyes. Expect more.

3. Last night on Lateline, Rudd mentioned being influenced by prime ministers including Whitlan, Hawke and Keating. If Latham or Beazley had mentioned any of them in a positive light, it'd have been political suicide. This more than anything indicates how much perceptions of Labor have changed since 2004.

Regarding sorry not being an apology: Howard's been playing this game for decades. He knows that if he says sorry in any context, the country will (a) see it as an apology and (b) will draw links to his stubbornness over the reconciliation issue.

The fact that Wednesday's "sorry" was definitely an apology, and that he is now definitely backpedalling, shows just how greatly he's lost his touch.

Oh, and he's blaming Labor for taking his "sorry" out of context, a statement which will piss off Labor, all the press and every voter with a mortgage.

http://www.pollbludger.com/689

"I am the Prime Minister, I am not an English teacher," Mr Howard said.

You're the one playing semantics, you ugly fuck.

Morgan's showing Labor gains (hurrrr) in its brand new polls. Its face-to-face poll shows a 22% lead. That's not a typo.

Also I think the Liberal party is considering taking its brand off handouts. IT'S OVER CUNCE.

So "go for growth", or whatever the fuck bullshit it was, is still being used by the libs?

22% lead = 61/39 split. I tried putting it into Antony Green's ABC election calculator but it literally goes off the scale. I forced it go the other way and it said 123 seats to 25.

xpost Yeah, because some mental in the strategy dept has decided ANY economic discussion is automatically a positive for the Coalition. Based on polling of course.

And here's the woman who got knocked over:

http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200711/r198876_758930.jpg

Oh fuck and he just walked away from her!!

There's your caring prime minister in action, two weeks from an election.

As Mr Howard was chatting to two elderly women, a young woman ran up behind him and screamed that he was a "scumbag".

"You will not be getting my vote," she yelled, prompting the two other women to assure the prime minister "you will be getting mine".

See, this is why ppl like my parents still vote liberal. They see idiots like this who scream abuse, link it IMMEDIATLELY with the left, and dismiss labor/greens as a bunch of insane morons.

re: pushing people over

Latham did basically the same thing and we thought it was great.

Of course we did - Latham's not Howard.

Did anyone see the doctored "Alien vs. Predator: Whoever Wins, We Lose" (with 'Latham' and 'Howard' replacing the names, done very convincingly) billboard(s) during the last election

They see idiots like this who scream abuse, link it IMMEDIATLELY with the left, and dismiss labor/greens as a bunch of insane morons.

Exactly. You won't see such attitude from gentlemen like Andrew Bolt, would you?

Oh yes, The Greens have a sing-a-long advertisement now. Gold!

I just found out that Malcolm Turnbull is a worse Environmental Minister than Rudolf Hess was - thanks, Shaun Micallef!

I think it is too late for me to register to vote for this.

If the latest Newspoll is any indication, none of us will need to vote.

There's only one Newspoll to go! That's got to be scaring the bejeezus out of the Coalition.

Today's the official launch. If it spends too much it's branded even less economically responsible; if it spends too little it's at risk of being shown up by Labor (which will probably be conservative (geddit) with spending).

Either way, the polls ain't changing, which tells me everyone's made up their mind and just given up listening. Even I'm sick of it. What's it now, 11 months?

http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j171/mdanielwalter/img_197_p.jpg

^^^^^^^^
My Greens candidate who i could very well vote for because I dislike the Labor woman. He's what I like to call "eccentric".

nice hat

And that's a tame outfit for him :/

I thought the Greens were trying to move *away* from the 'crazy nutbar' image.

Not in Northern NSW.

Plenty of crazy nutbars on the global warming march yesterday. Nice ones though.

Quite a shift, after seeing Kevin Bloody Andrews at the Remembrance Day event. I didn't hear what he was saying (too far away) but he probably asked what all the nig-nogs were doing here.

Coalition launch in just under an hour! Being picketed by disabled protesters, which could make interesting viewing.

I predict another ALP policy.

(from the Coalition, I mean)

Are they waiting until Australia finishes off the Sri Lankans then? :)

Dunno. It's been going half an hour, but evidently all that's happened is Costello bagging out Labor again.

I can't wait to see what Howard does to scupper his own launch. Going by his track record and increasing panic he'll shit on the lectern and lick the finance minister.

Hey, apparently Vaile called Rudd's education revolution "communist." Then he said "OH NOES WE'VE WORN A HOLE IN THE BOTTOM OF THR BARREL"

"I want to be Prime Minister again" says Howard. I guess the "PLEEEEEEEEEEASE PLEEEEEEEEEEEEASE" begins next week then.

crikey update today, on the rofflicios spinning of dennis shanahan in the oz:

"All lovers of quality political spin should go out right now and buy, or preferably steal, today's edition of The Australian. It's a keeper.
With any luck, the political commentary will feature in Public Relations courses all over the world for years to come.

Dennis "Comical Ali" Shanahan continues his Sisyphean task of reinterpreting Newspoll's massive Labor lead as an imminent Howard victory. According to Shanahan, the comparative rating of Howard and Rudd as economic managers – about the only thing still in the Coalition's favour – is the important figure in the polling. Or, at least, it has been since Rudd became preferred Prime Minister. You'd never think there had been an angry debate just three months ago between Shanahan and bloggers over his insistence that preferred PM was the key indicator.

As to the trivial matter of the two-party preferred figure, the "interest rate backlash" bounce for Labor – as explained by Possum Comitatus last week – is there in all its glory. 55-45.

Lucky interest rate rises are such good news for the Government. Imagine how bad the polls would be if they weren't. Shanahan thinks it's not as bad as expected. Yes Dennis, it's only a flesh wound."

So how many weeks of this crap do we have left?

2

Howard's giant election-winning plan:

* Tax-free children's savings accounts to help save for first home

Once again he deftly manages to ignore everyone between the age of 10 and 50. Nice work fuckhead.

And isn't this a half-arsed version of what Rudd announced weeks ago?

* Education rebates of up to $2000 for secondary students

All secondary students? Or just private school ones?

And isn't this a half-arsed version of what Rudd announced weeks ago?

* Attacks Kevin Rudd as 'hollow leader' of 'hollow party'

Oooh I'm scared.

What a joke.

Geez. I made up my mind long ago, I just want it to be done now.

xpost

(xpost: me too)

Mr Howard also said the Government would speed up the release of Government land to increase the supply of new housing.

Labor's already announced that.

He also announced a plan to help fund infrastructure in new housing developments, which he claimed would reduce some of the charges faced by new home buyers.

To be absorbed into the price of properties?

The Prime Minister said his Government would also attempt to boost the number of child care places by helping fund new and expanded child care centres.

After how many years of ignoring pleas for greater capacity in child care?

"I want to pursue with relentless vigour the goal of full employment. Only the Liberal and Nationals parties talk about jobs for Australians any more."

Because 4.2% is low unemployment. Any lower and we're all doing 50 hours a week to cover for the staff we can't find.

"Australia needs an education system that teaches its children to read, write, spell and add up."

No mention of critical thinking again?

And who let the education system go in the first place? Or are we just blaming the states again?

"I believe in the family as the cornerstone of our happiness and our nation"

As long as you're not a big dirty poof, obviously.

"There are storm clouds gathering on the horizon when it comes to economic management."

Can't blame Labor for that after 11 years, can you?

I knew there'd be another ALP policy. What I didn't expect was wall-to-wall ALP policies. "Me-too" my arse.

T/S racism vs being a union member
T/S homophobia vs being a union member
T/S killing 90,000 Iraqis vs being a union member

sorry but I'm unusually cranky today

Where can a musician get in on this lark of providing a paint-by-numbers scary synth drone for these ads? All you do is hold one note down. I'll do that for a buck.

What about the noise that goes whhhuuuUUUUUMP <tinkle> when a bar graph hits the screen?

Sound FX library 101, baby.

I can't help thinking every time there's an event like the Liberal campaign launch, where they're all packed in together in one place, that it would only take one bomb...

Or perhaps just encase them in concrete, like in that episode of 'The Goodies'.

And when you see them all there cracking up over Costello's "jokes", does it ever make you want to punch some faces.

And how come they're all suddenly going on about Communists? Been spending too much time with their American overlords, I suppose.

Christ! Journalist with The Australian tried to pressure an independent candidate in Wentworth to prefernce the Liberal candidate.

THIS is what I mean about the News Corp papers getting desperate.

(xpost)

I can't help thinking every time there's an event like the Liberal campaign launch, where they're all packed in together in one place, that it would only take one bomb...

Annabell Crabb (smh) observed that, if Howard loses the election, the Brisbane lord mayor who opened the launch will be the highest-ranked Liberal in the entire country.

God I love the sound of that.

And how come they're all suddenly going on about Communists?

No more rabbits?

World says "your $64bn in free money is inflationary," Howard says "no it isn't"

Spot the better economist.

Nice also to know that the beneficiaries of yesterday's housing announcement are the rich who already own properties. Out of touch much?

Rupert Murdoch came to Adelaide and said he is not involved in politics. Nope. No sir, not him. I mean, he didn't promise Don Dunstan that he'd make him state premier if he joined the DLP or...well, you know how it ends, Iraq!

Cunt.

srsly, he spends the past six years actively and unwaveringly supporting the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, corrupting the notion of a free press in the process, and he wants to be seen as objective?? Get fucked you melty-face fucking cock head.

Labor launches with HAWKE AND KEATING HOLDING HANDS AND PUNCHING THE AIR.

THIS is what I mean about a mad paradigm shift. These two were poison not long ago.

Also Gough was in there somewhere.

I can't see Fraser backing up yer John Howard in the near future.

Apparently Andrew Bolt wrote this on his liveblog

2:56pm: Tells his wife he hasn’t forgotten it’s his wedding anniversary today. Howard can start packing now.

Hey has anyone seen the Coalition commercial where big union toughs burst in on a child's birthday party, eat the cake, pop the balloons and cancel Christmas?

I saw the one where big union thugs invade Poland, round up the Jews and send them to the gas chambers.

They got off lightly in that one.

From La Bolt's Blog:

There’s an acknowledgement of the traditional owners - a genuflection to the new racism to which Labor is so prone.

Hahaha, what a douche.

Hey has anyone seen the Coalition commercial where big union toughs burst in on a child's birthday party, eat the cake, pop the balloons and cancel Christmas?

-- Tim F, Wednesday, 14 November 2007 21:52 (Yesterday) Bookmark Link

You're serious??

Can anyone spell DESPERATE??

Odds on next week there'll be an ad showing union thugs indulging in child pornography and setting fire to Brisbane. This pathetic muckraking can only be hurting the Coalition.

A friend of mine told me that Bob Hawke was seen recently sporting a badge that said 'Union Thug'.

Brilliant!

I can distinctly remember hating Keating with a burgundy passion, but yesterday I was only proud to see him there. Things really have changed, haven't they? Perhaps it's just that Keating's arrogance pales in comparison with Howard's high watermark.

Sometimes the role of elder statesman can bring out the best in some ex-PM's - look at Malcolm Fraser for example.

Absolutely.

I don't see Howard being that successful an elder statesman, to be honest. His legacy won't be a good one, especially now that it's clear the whole economic boom has little to do with him.

On the radio this morning some Liberal hack was trying to paint the unions as a greedy corporation intent on grabbing power to line their own grubby pockets - something along the lines of "pouring $30 million into the campaign to steal the election". Contrasts nicely with the actions of Richard Pratt et al no?

Was that an advertisement? Coz there's a tv ad about that, but it's an ex-LABOR mp that's saying it.

Surely they're chasing the unions because there's nothing else left?

This has to be transparent to even the most hardened Howard supporter.

xpost

I was half asleep but it was on the ABC so I don't think it was an ad; although perhaps I was confused? So who was the ex-labor MP talking about?

I can't remember, but I def recall the $30 milly call.

Autumn wouldn't there be lots of small business types who would respond to a fear-of-a-militant-union type dog whistle though?

Why this time but not any of the previous 13783 occasions Howard has made the same bleat in the last six months?

One feels from the polls that people have pretty much made up their minds. There may be a few vacillators, but not enough to make a large difference from one poll to the next, taking into account margins of error.

Autumn wouldn't there be lots of small business types who would respond to a fear-of-a-militant-union type dog whistle though?

-- badg, Thursday, 15 November 2007 10:47 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

Probably, but loads more are worried about being affected by WorkChoices. It just seems like niche campaigning to me.

moley: Everyone's sick of it. It's been going now for almost a year and the country's just exhausted. Normally politics is the subject of every conversation two weeks from voting day, but this year nobody's talking about it. It's selling papers but that's about it. Last week I heard that even the election-themed books that usually sell in high volumes aren't moving.

In other words, yeah, most people made up their minds ages ago and just want the whole thing to stop.

Centrebet has the Coalition at $3.50. That's the highest it's been iirc.

I want a badge that says "union thug livin'"

put out a track called "fuck your PM" by (union) thug

^^^

I'll paste my facebook photo in here when I get around to it.

I have got around to it

http://www.4bitterguys.com/adam/unionomg.jpg

HAHAHAHA, awesome.

I've been trying not to get my hopes up because so many times these past twelve years, they've been dashed and that clique of far right cunts and Howard have stayed in power.

But it's fucking actually happening, isn't it? In nine days time...that lying immoral cunt who has fucked up and sold out this country (and its gonna take a long time to recover) will be gone. And clobbered on the way. And we'll have the hilarity of Costello and Turnbull with hangbags at dawn.

November 24 is going to be one of the happiest days of my life.

It's happening.

I think the turning point (from a probable win to a definitive win) was last week's revelation that the Coalition knows fuck-all about economics, despite this being its one perceived strength. After 12 years of slippery deception, the emperor has no clothes, and no other strength on which to fall back.

Commentators are unanimous and firm in their confidence that the ALP will win. According to Chris Uhlmann, Labor is measured but ebullient, and the Coalition is "grimly determined."

Advertising ends on Wednesday. The Coalition is pushing unions because it can't find a cut-through message. This will ramp up but probably not change, and probably have no effect anyway.

Meanwhile Labor this week shattered just about every negative stereotype it's been given by showing true leadership in fiscal restraint (thereby actually showing up the government in terms of economic responsibility), and expressing once and for all the stark differences between it and the Coalition.

Yesterday's pork-barrelling finding will severely damage the Coalition, but what's another nail in an already nailed-shut coffin? It could be the difference between Labor winning 96 seats and 102 seats in the lower house, which is academic when 76 seats is enough.

What I said weeks ago about status appears to have been otm. Rudd is resolute and the Coalition is (uncharacteristically, yet normally for this year) running around in circles.

I expect Coalition ministers to start publicly breaking down any day now. Barnaby Joyce was first this week, but it'll get worse. Probably Tuesday, if the next Newspoll shows a widening.

Hey, and it's also likely that Howard will lose Bennelong. Seriously. McKew is cranking up the rhetoric something fierce atm. I don't think Labor even expected that.

:D:D:D post, xpost, xxpost

The most interesting statistic in all of this is the trajectory of the major polls.

I always said that people would vote out Howard if someone good came along, and that Latham didn't rouse enough confidence in voters. Rudd's entrance was met with positive polling which hasn't changed. Nothing the Coalition has done all year has had any effect on the polls. They've not even narrowed (perceptibly) during the campaign period, despite consensus to the contrary.

My theory now -- as it was months ago -- is that people just want to get rid of Howard, and nothing he can do would ever have changed this; and that, in the context of Howard's hate-fuelled politics, Rudd can't possibly be worse.

The past 8-9 days have seen a shift in the playing field (new strength for Rudd, new weakness for Howard), so I think that, for the first time all year, the Coalition will lose a serious amount of support to Rudd.

xpost I WILL EAT CHOCOLATE AND DRINK BEER AND HUG STRANGERS UNTIL I EXPLODE.

FUCK!! Abbott says WorkChoices is good because if you don't like your job, quit

"I accept that certain protections, in inverted commas, are not what they were, I accept that that has largely gone. I accept that," he said.

Death throes.

And I doubt there's any coming back from this

John Howard’s anointed successor Peter Costello made his name in the early 1990’s destroying the parliamentary career of the Labor Member for Canberra Ros Kelly after she was implicated by the Audit Office in the whiteboard affair. Her crime had been to use a whiteboard (which she later erased) to “shovel funds to marginal Labor electorates prior to the March 1993 election”.

She dished out $60 million.

The Regional Partnership Program directed by Peter Costello’s colleagues [under the Howard govt] didn’t even use a whiteboard. The Audit Office finds that many of the reasons for its grants weren’t documented at all.

It shelled out $350 million.

The culture that allowed it to happen appears to pervade the Howard government.

[...]

The Coalition looks poorly placed to win an election about competence.

But it's fucking actually happening, isn't it?

Oh, dear God, I hope so. If they don't get chucked out this time, nothing will do it (save perhaps pictures of Howard and Costello having sex with each other, an image I apologise for inflicting upon you).

I was surprised the 7:30 Report last night did nothing on the regional rorts story, though (though what they did cover--the polling--was not comforting for Howard and co).

Latest Morgan face-to-face poll has ALP TPP on 56.5% (up 0.5%) and primary on 47% (up 3.5%). Coalition primary on 39%.

A formal summation of this poll is Labor to win in A FUCKING LANDSLIDE.

Oh and taken last weekend (post-rate rise and pre-launches), which is significant.

O Bitter Irony!!!! (strictly in the Alannis Morriset sense)

A real-life Trade Union Thug, absolutely faithful to the stereotype, lurches into plain view 10 days before polling day - and it turns out to be the single TUT Howard can't sling muck at in a blue fit: Paul Mullett of the Police Association.

u
got
s3rv3d

Sportingbet Coalition $3.60.

They're fucked.

Looks like it.

Huzzah!

<a href="http://possumcomitatus.wordpress.com/2007/11/17/the-final-countdown/";>Possum</a> has predicted not only a clear win for Labor, but also the demise of the Liberal party.

The political and media system has caught up to what we’ve been saying for the last 5-6 months (this site has actually been running 6 months to the day, as of yesterday).

The message is clear - the game is over.

That is what makes it so dangerous.

[...]

If Coalition members lose the plot, if recrimination starts creeping into the last week of the campaign as government members fail to come to terms with the electoral reality, if members become more concerned with saving their own skin now that the fight to save the government is lost - it could all get very ugly very, very quickly.

If the ever cumulating misdemeanours of an 11 year administration start leaking out, replete with documentary evidence from the many technocrats and political operatives with long standing grievances that now see the twin windows of opportunity and immunity offering the sweetest revenge of all, the loss could turn into a rout.

He goes on to state, in no uncertain terms, that the party could begin to collapse within days.

DAYS.

oh fucking tags.

Oh and Centrebet now has Coalition's odds at $4.60, a jump of more than $1 in 24 hours. Not a typo.

Amazing.

roffle roffle roffle

i take plenty of notice of centrebet after they got '04 so right when many others didn't.

Centrebet hit $4.95 this morning (since come back down to $4.60). I don't mind saying I'm REALLY fucking excited now.

From Ozpolitics:

Last Sunday, the average probability of a Coalition win from the five bookmakers I am tracking was 30.6 per cent. This morning it was 20.9 per cent.

It goes on to list all five at odds of $4.50, except Centrebet which is higher.

http://www.ozpolitics.info/election2007/betchart-odds.png

Going by what haitch said there's no competition anymore. I mean really.

Classic front page on today's Sunday Age:

John Howard, Ben Cousins and Paul Mullett sharing the fron page.

Currently that trio would be the three least employable people in Australia.

But who's going to be the new Socceroos manager? It's the more wide open election now.

No Dick Advocaat now...maybe Jurgen Klinsmann?

GO FOR GROWTH is now joined by DON'T RISK OUR ECONOMY WITH LABOR.

Clearly they listened to all the commentators who said mixing messages is killing the campaign. Dense.

By this I mean Howard's making all his speeches in front of two differently-coloured backboards, each with a different slogan. It even looks disorganised.

Well, it's all over now: http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,22774600-5001031,00.html

When even the fucking Daily Telegraph turns on you, you're stuffed as a Liberal PM.

Still, our old friends at the Melbourne Nazi Party Newsletter Herald-Sun are sticking to the cause because THE SOCIALISTS ARE HIDING UNDER THE BED TO STEAL OUR PLASMA TELEVISIONS!!

K****** K****** left the group Am I tired of Kevin Rudd asking himself rhetorical questions? Yes.

;_;

The Herald Scum is far more centrist than it used to be. A new editor came on last year and he's not your typical Murdoch extremist right-wing nazi.

Oh and note that the Telegraph editorial doesn't recommend Rudd without sucking off Howard about 12 times.

Well, as if they were going to fully get away with it!

Turnbull on track to lose seat.

I wish things would start happening today.

I know--the tension is killing me.

IT'S ON

Daily Telegraph headline: LIBS AT WAR

With even the Tele turning against them, they're fucked.

MORE

Former New South Wales Liberal leader Peter Debnam has broken ranks with the Federal Coalition, saying the Kyoto protocol should have been ratified long ago.

Why would a Liberal break ranks five days from the election? IT'S ON CUNCE.

I've just had a flash-back to the last ep of the second series of 'House of Cards' where Sir Ian McKellen plays a detestable Tory PM whose tenure looks absolutely on its beam end, so MI5 arrange his assassination to smooth the path of his successor.

The spin-doctors here have five days to stage a botched half-assed 'attempt' on Howard's life, where neither his nor anybody else's life is ever remotely in any danger, but is still dramatic enough to lead the nightly news and realistic enough to be convincing until Sunday. Logistically is it possible? Because that is one of the few scenarios in which the coalition is salvageable.

It's looking that way.

It'd take the wind out of my sails if Howard were assassinated. I want to see the fuck go down hard, not be some kind of martyr for racists.

Hey and tomorrow's Newspoll is the one that makes Howard and his men go all mental every time it widens. A dip is likely, followed by an explosion that'll make what's happened today look like Songs of Praise.

Can we not talk about assasinations? I dont like testing the fates.

I'm really starting to get scared now.

I don't know if it's just a collective last-minute fear that Labor will lose ground in the final days, but I'm a giant bag of nerves today. Terrified that someone on the ALP front bench will pull a handshake moment and flub the entire campaign.

Yes two big things went wrong for the Coalition today but I need MORE ffs. I've got to be, got to be certain.

byoobs, innit

^Obviously trying to "me, too" Rudd there.

Christing fuck!

Prime Minister John Howard says if the Coalition wins Saturday's federal election a future Labor government would never be able to repeal the Government's controversial WorkChoices legislation.

"If we win on Saturday then the reforms that we have brought about will never be reversed by a future federal Labor government," he said.

"They will become part of the furniture. They will become so embedded in our business and workplace culture that no future Labor government would be able to reverse them."

Sounds like a warning, doesn't it?

Yet another gift to Labor. This game is over.

Yeah uhhh... that just sounds like a baldfaced threat! WTF, is he insane?

I mean at this point, he might as well be getting dragged away by the authorities, shaking his flabby little fist and shouting "I would have got away with it, if it wasn't for those meddling kids!".

It does seem weird that, after spending several months spending our money on ads pushing the bloody thing, knowing fully well that the country hates it, that today -- five days before polling -- he's telling the electorate that now is your only chance to get rid of them.

This may look like a totally misguided strategy with no grounding in reality, but upon closer inspection it becomes clear that Howard is a senile fucking spazmo.

All Labor needs is a soundbite of this speech and it's won the election in a stupendous avalanche.

Of note is that Rudd wouldn't make a dopey mistake like that in a pink fit.

The thing that still depresses me is the kind of nongs who would still vote Lib now are the quiet, uninterested ones who wont have paid a whit of attention to any of this, dont care who's up in their electorate, and only pay attention to Today Tonight and Kochy. They'll still vote liberal, and there's probably more of them than we'd like to think.

Like my mum last time round - not that I mean to imply she puts no thought into anything, thats not the case - but when I asked her why Liberal she said "because its what Ive always done and Labor is no different".

People like that are dense. I'm sorry but they are. My parents are exactly the same. Somehow voting for a racist bastard who has the blood of 90,000 Iraqis on his hands is just fine "because I've always voted that way."

Allegiance is fine, as long as you're not thick as pigshit about it. Supporting Howard is not fine.

When Rudd gets in, I'm expecting my dumb bigoted family to wait for Rudd to do something vaguely undesirable (e.g. increase parking fines by 2%) and go "well you wanted him in." My response is easy: "How many wars has he started? How many gays/muslims/etc has he gone out of his way to marginalise? How many rich/poor divides has he widened?"

Sorry but this attitude really fucks me off.

Everyone in my family is voting Greens :D

My gf's family are total Howardites tho

Howard voters ask "what's in it for me." Left voters ask "what's in it for us." Us being everyone, including disadvantaged and marginalised people. Howard voters are selfish cunts who drive SUVs to the shops.

Yes I'm angry, and I think I have every right to be.

Democracy is supposed to give us a choice. Nobody with a conscious has had a choice for many years.

settle down there, slugger

Alas, he's right. As an amended Liberal candidate poster across the road from my work says, 'Selfish pricks, vote LIBERAL!'
BTW it was the late, great Ian Richardson in 'House of Cards' as Francis "FU" Urqhuart. And that bastard Mitterand did it for real (faking an assassination attempt to get re-elected), and it worked.

All this shit about unions really pisses me off, too. Somehow, nobody ever mentions the Chamber of Commerce being the union for business owners, or the Liberal-leaning AMA being the doctor's union. They somehow only count as unions if they're Labor-leaning.

Yyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyep.

Newspoll shows a slight closing of the gap, but within statistical variance. Damn. I wanted a widening just to see the bastards collapse.

Telegraph's leading with a cover story about the tradie guy in the Labor ads being a Robbie Williams impersonator and not a real tradie. WHAT U MAEN HE IS AN ACTOR??!?!?!?

Fucking pathetic.

And the Government Gazette (Australian) says:

Labor goes into the final days of the election campaign with a clear winning lead and voter satisfaction with Kevin Rudd back to near-record levels.

This surely has to invoke mutiny.

Regarding the Tele's omgexposé of ALP ads having an omgactor in them, from The Age:

"If, at the end of an ad it says spoken by Trent Bowater, it takes you 30 seconds to go and google Trent Bowater," (Rudd) said.

"I mean, if there's any great sort of attempt to disguise this fella's identity and what he does, I mean he wouldn't put his name there."

At least he's not a convicted criminal, like those blokes in the Coalition's UNION THUG ads.

Being a Robbie impersonator is a trade, of sorts.

All this shit about unions really pisses me off, too. Somehow, nobody ever mentions the Chamber of Commerce being the union for business owners, or the Liberal-leaning AMA being the doctor's union. They somehow only count as unions if they're Labor-leaning.

This is a fucking brilliant point and I am going to use this in an argument if I have to. At xmas. Which I'm sure will happen after me dad's had a few too many ales.

this week is taking forever

Isn't it fucking just.

I notice the term "WorkChoices II" has worked its way into the campaign thanks to Labor. Brilliant.

Also Howard has (again) accused Labor of arrogance. Next: Postman Pat accuses Bob the Builder of being a postman.

MORE IMPLOSIONS

Senator Joyce has said he would not block Labor's industrial relations laws in the Senate if the Opposition wins government on Saturday.

"I don't see a huge amount of difference that is evident in Labor's policy," he said.

(...)

The Nationals' candidate for the Queensland seat, Glenn Churchill, says he is keen to ask Senator Joyce about the issue.

"Gidday Barnaby, is he looking for a 'barney'? That's his line I think," Mr Churchill said.

So Joyce prepares to weaken WorkChoices, and another National senator attacks him.

Meanwhile Labor is unrelenting. I'm telling you, the fat lady is warming up.

I don't know if I mentioned Howard yesterday telling people that WorkChoices will be irreversible if the Coalition gets back in (WHAT THE FUCK IS HE THINKING?!?!?!???), or the new magical rain-making machine that Turnbull bought for $11 million sight unseen.

I think his logic must be that there are people planning on voting Labor just 'cause they think he's passed it, and they assume policy will be much of a muchness under Labor. So, you know, 'don't think you're just voting for a fresh face on same old shit, there will be REAL CHANGES'. I'm not saying it's a good argument, just what I figure the strategy is.

I think the strategy is to panic.

That Today Tonight interview last night was terrible.

Possums Pollytics sums up the whole thing pretty well:

First we’ve had calling the election when interest rates were looking to go up, then we had Abbot dumping a bucket on a well respected sick bloke, then we’ve had Howard telling everyone that a vote for the Coalition will guarantee the permanent existence of the policy that is doing them the most electoral damage (WorkChoices). Not to be outdone, Barnyard Joyce thought it would be a good idea to back Labors IR policy and now, after that circus, we have Turnbull pumping $10 mill into a rain making company that the governments own science advisers found had ‘no convincing data’ to support their proposed technology.

On a scale of 1 to 10 they're shitting their pants.

Dirty tricks much?

The Liberal Party has claimed 13 Labor candidates are ineligible to stand in Saturday's election. The shock development threatens to create a major distraction for Kevin Rudd's run to the poll.

These pricks just can't stoop low enough. I'm sooo impatient now.

Oh and it's from the Government Gazette, which adds to the probability that it's a giant fib.

This is a fucking brilliant point and I am going to use this in an argument if I have to. At xmas. Which I'm sure will happen after me dad's had a few too many ales.

So I’ll be ruining a strange family’s Christmas without even having to be there. Score!

You just reminded me how incredibly sour this christmas will be, with the entire family and in-laws (except my wife) moaning because Labor's in and the country's falling to pieces. Fuck. I can either bask in their pathetic wanking or emigrate.

bask in their pathetic wanking

My family doesn't vote and my husbands are all going to Cairns for Christmas, so for once I am actually looking forward to having a nice quiet day on the 25th.

Ummm...they don't vote or celebrate christmas I meant to say.

You all seem to be Labor/Rudd supporters, can i ask why? Please don't get defensive by the tone of my question, i'd seriously like to hear normal peoples reasoning as to their voting choices. Point form would be appreciated!

It's more about voting Howard out than voting Rudd in. Here are ten reasons:

1) Failure to adequately confront climate change or invest in alternate renewable technologies

2) The erosion of Ministerial responsibility and parliamentary or public scrutiny

3) Unduly harsh immigration policies

4) Not merely the slavish adherence to American foreign policy, but the cynically exagerrated reiteration of American foreign policy for temporary domestic political gain.

5) Persistent dishonesty to the public for political gain

6) Political interference with ABC and SBS (Government-funded media)

7) The deification of market fundamentalism

8) The cynical imposition of conservative values (cynical in that many of the values the Govt espouses are then undermined by the economic radicalism it practises)

9) Industrial relations extremism for its own sake

10) Failure to adequately protect Australians prosecuted overseas

I'm sure others can add many more.

I'm actually a Greens/independent voter, but much more in favour of Rudd than Howard. Broadly, here's why...

* Howard's a proven liar (and about important issues, not just little things)
* Howard believes it's right to lock up children for years in concentration camps in the middle of the desert
* Howard has savagely cut the social support structures that many people rely on
* Howard's a racist ('Asian immigration poses a threat to Australia's future!"), an anti-gay bigot, and a hypocritical alleged "Christian" who spends most of his hours deliberately doing the sorts of things real Christians ought to be horrified by
* Howard's deeply in hock to vested interests in the big business world, and unable to see beyond their concerns
* Howards a climate change denier, which makes him a serious obstruction towards fighting perhaps the most serious problem in human history--indeed, he actively pursues policies that will make things worse
* Howard's unable to say 'no' to the even more repugnant and morally bankrupt American government, an inability which has stuck us in a war which has already taken longer than World War II, which shows no signs of ending, and which has wrecked an already troubled country
* Howard has, an the name of state security, stripped away a surprising number of rights that Australians used to enjoy, including habeus corpus (ie authorities having to prove a crime has been committed before charging someone with it)
* Howard has detrimentally damaged the independence of the public service to the point that the only advice that is now offered is the advice the public service knows the government wants to hear, rather than what is in the best interests of the country.

(For much of the above, add in the names of the relevant sycophantic economic rationalist hacks he's surrounded by as ministers.)

Really, I could go on for much longer, but I'm sure you get the idea.
It's not that I think Rudd/Labor are fantastic, it's simply that they are, in many of these areas, significantly less wicked, and in some cases actually good.

Who is milko?

Also Almy, I'd be interested to hear your take on Barnaby Joyce.

My family doesn't vote and my husbands are all going to Cairns for Christmas, so for once I am actually looking forward to having a nice quiet day on the 25th.

I'm intrigued by this glimpse into your home life. Husbands plural? Howard would not approve.

You just reminded me how incredibly sour this christmas will be, with the entire family and in-laws (except my wife) moaning because Labor's in and the country's falling to pieces. Fuck. I can either bask in their pathetic wanking or emigrate.

Oh, but the triumph will warm your heart.

Husband's it should've been, as in husband's family :)

My family are all JW's (I'm not) and conscientious objectors, so no voting or Christmas for them :)

You all seem to be Labor/Rudd supporters, can i ask why? Please don't get defensive by the tone of my question, i'd seriously like to hear normal peoples reasoning as to their voting choices. Point form would be appreciated!

-- milko, Tuesday, 20 November 2007 20:30 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

I have been a Liberal voter in the past and may be again. Howard is beyond anything I've ever experienced in Australian politics, for the above reasons.

There is literally no excuse for voting for a man this bigoted, valueless and frankly offensive.

Thanks fellas. I find it interesting that the points are against Howard as opposed to pro Rudd/Labor. (not that i don't think its a valid voting reason - it seems anti-Howard rather than pro-Rudd is pretty common) James, you ended your post commenting that Labor is less wicked in some of those areas, any chance of noting why alongside your points? (or i could stop being lazy and do a bit of research)
W4lter:Random lurker for a few years. I know, how dare i post when i'm unknown.

JUST WONDERING sheeesh.

Also Almy, I'd be interested to hear your take on Barnaby Joyce.

Please be as brief as you like.

I mean, from a v casual, lazy standpoint he seems like a total dude to me.

milko:

I find it interesting that the points are against Howard as opposed to pro Rudd/Labor. (not that i don't think its a valid voting reason - it seems anti-Howard rather than pro-Rudd is pretty common)

Despite the commentariat insisting people are just a bit tired of Howard, I think that's bullshit. People only vote for a new party if they REALLY don't want the current one to continue, and it's clear to me that Howard is widely reviled for a number of diverse reasons.

I'm not pro-Labor by any means, it's just that realistically Labor is the only way to get rid of Howard, and the odds are heavily against anyone being half the warmongering bigot Howard is. He's promised to retire in 2009, but we all know a Howard promise isn't worth shit.

Anyway: Are we ready for Tampa II?

Also, might I say I'm sick of the purely undemocratic argument that "we're more experienced, they have no experience, therefore don't vote for them." Since when do oppositions have experience? Was Howard prime minister before he became prime minister? No.

As if the grubby fuck hasn't already done enough to erode democracy.

Howard performed appallingly on 7.30 Report last night. Kerry finally grilled him about the fact that, had the bank interest rates not been artificially pegged when he was treasurer, the interest rates under Howard in the late 70s/early 80s would have been much higher than they subsequently were under Hawke or Keating (when the rate was depegged). Kerry also asked him to explain why Keating shouldn't be considered the architect of flexible, productivity-based wages via the introduction of enterprise bargaining, and more generally the leader who kickstarted our 16 year period of sustained growth.

Howard had two responses:

1) I don't think it's useful to talk about what might have happened (w/r/t interest rates when he was treasurer)

2) I don't want to talk about the past, I want to talk about the future (w/r/t what Keating actually did)

This from a man whose entire electoral strategy has been to carp on about Labour's past interest rates and poor economic management.

On Autumn Almanac's claim, he also claimed that when it comes to economic management you can't learn from past mistakes by studying history - you can only learn from direct first-hand experience.

He backpedalled furiously when Kerry, in an astonished tone, asked him to confirm that he was actually saying this.

Bahahaha, I missed that bit. Brilliant.

He certainly looked uncomfortable in the bits I saw. And he's got this new habit of briefly smiling when he finishes talking. It looks SO FAKE, and scary to boot.

I'm so pleased Kerry flame-grilled him. Hopefully tonight Rudd cops a similar flame-grilling and rides it with flair.

to Milko: people are also a lot more pro-Rudd than they have been any Labour leader in the last eleven years because he actually seems competent for the job. Despite all the calling of me-tooism, he's actually set out his stall against Howard on a few solid, serious issues (viz IR laws) and generally seems to be having a position and sticking to it, instead of desperately flailing (see Alm's OTM-ness re status for how this has become clearer and clearer during the campaign).

I'm not a Labor voter*, but under a two-party system they're the only option we have in getting rid of Howard, and they simply have not presented themselves to the electorate as being a viable alternative since Keating bailed. That this has changed now has us excited, rather than specifically being Rudd fanboys.

*(but in the last few elections I've been numbering them all above Libs)

also hope everyone is considering VOTING GREEN IN THE SENATE - not only can Labor probably not take the balance of power themselves (meaning we're stuck with Workchoices and Labor can't actually push through any legislation for three years, so Joe Punter might lose hope and switch back next time), but it's also great to have the balance in the hands of a third party, no matter who you support.

who's been digging the family first ads? "the greens? that's a bit extreme!!"

not to mention the sub-channel 31 production values

And a "normal" family, too. No gheys in sight.

I'm amazed some people still don't know why we want Howard out. Shouldn't it be completely obvious by now?

David Williamson: Howard, morning walks and the ghosts of 1969

Monday, 19 November 2007

David Williamson writes:

In 1971 I wrote the play Don’s Party about the 1969 election night, when Labor supporters were fervently hoping for the arrival of the Great Gough. As it turned out he was five seats short of arriving and we had to wait until 1972 before the long dark night of conservative rule ended.

The similarities with this Saturday’s election are obvious, and many of the old baby boomers, faint memories of the idealistic dreams of the sixties not yet erased by Alzheimer’s, are hoping fervently we won’t see a re-run of 1969. There are many reasons to wish Johnnie bon voyage, the most pressing being the thought of another eighteen months of television footage of his morning walks.

It’s time to say no to those daggy shorts, the horrible knees, the resolute stride towards a neo con past where Anglo man still rules the world, and the total lack of wit or spontaneity in his travelling badinage. Joy number two will be picturing the tears and foot stamping of the well paid hosts of Howard acolytes littering our press.

Any journalist who can turn a man his own party dubbed a “lying rodent”, into the Saint who saved Australia, has, like their idol, a superb grasp of slippery rhetoric which has hopefully earned them enough money to retire. These same scribes have falsely divided Australia into “Howard hating elites”, and “ordinary Australians,” without ever asking the question as to why many with the remnants of a conscience, including “ordinary Australians”, find it hard to stomach him.

The shameless exploitation of fear and hysteria over four hundred genuine and dehydrating refugees on Tampa might be a start. The ludicrous and hugely expensive “Pacific solution” might be another. The moral sleaze of the Saddam kickbacks, the lies of children overboard, the blatant and immoral pork barrelling of Coalition electorates, the attempt to deliver a cowed and cheap workforce to employers without a mandate, the constant and unrelenting grovelling to George Bush, the deathbed conversion to climate change and reconciliation lite - the list could go on.

If John can’t pull a Tampa out of his baggy green in this last week, it looks over for him. But we’ve been through 1969, and the anxiety is rising nonetheless. The thought of the most unlovely and thuggish front bench in Australian political history, namely Abbott, Downer, Costello, Ruddock, Andrews, Hockey and the rest retaining power is a thought that could send our already soaring rate of depression exponential.

If Rudd does win it will be heartening proof that the cynical pundits who say the hip pocket nerve is the only factor are wrong. Many would like a return to simple decency, and Rudd patently has more of it than Howard. If it’s not a re-run of 1969 and John and Janette are prised out of Kirribilli, the greatest relief for me will still be the end of the morning walks.

http://www.crikey.com.au/Election-2007/20071119-David-Williamson-Howard-morning-walks-and-the-ghost-of-1969.html

You know what to do on Saturday people - Don't Vote Liberal [1].

And don't forget to allocate your preferences correctly - ie Rodent last.

this is the slowest week in the history of australian weeks, every day seems a year long.

Thanks SAR, that Williamson piece is fantastic.

I don't want to sound cruel or anything, but if Bernie Banton dies before Saturday (as is expected), that's yet another giant nail in Howard's coffin.

estela: The more time passes, the more Gough-like it feels. It's definitely time.

people are also a lot more pro-Rudd than they have been any Labour leader in the last eleven years because he actually seems competent for the job.

I'm not a Labor voter*, but under a two-party system they're the only option we have in getting rid of Howard, and they simply have not presented themselves to the electorate as being a viable alternative since Keating bailed. That this has changed now has us excited, rather than specifically being Rudd fanboys.

-- energy flash gordon, Wednesday, 21 November 2007 15:30 (1 hour ago) Bookmark Link

^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^
^^^^^^^

My only quibble with this 1972=2007 is that Rudd is not Whitlam; one was a genuine reformers, but Rudd seems to be straight out of the post hawke Labor Party (ie, slightly less right-wing than the Libs) and just as economically doctrinaire to the right.

Liberals caught distributing fake brochures in Sydney linking Labor to muslim extremists.

For fuck's sake.