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

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

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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.

Ah well - at least the M.E's aren't trade union thugs.

"rather than specifically being Rudd fanboys"

I have *such* a girly hard-on for Rudd.

If Rudd beats Howard, he will always be my poster boy simply for beating Howard.

During the campaign alone, we have seen the following:

- Three Australian soldiers die/injured in wars that we shouldn't have started
- Interest rates go up, despite Howard's claim that he controls them
- Massive climate change warning from the UN
- Proof of WorkChoices II (and the fact that Howard's FoI laws prevent it being released)
- Bob Geldof piss on Australia's foreign aid allocation
- Howard and Costello in happy marriage, despite banning it
- Boat people
- Liberal MPs spreading racist brochures in Sydney

IT'S HOWARD'S GREATEST HITS PEOPLE. Life flashing before eyes etc.

No church scandals yet but there's still two days. C'mon Ghost of Christmas Past, your work is incomplete.

Bronwyn Bishop warns voters of the dangers of a socialist government

WE ARE TWO STEPS AWAY FROM "RUDD EATS BABIES".

"socialist government"? Thats a laff, how can Labor me "me too" and "socialist" all at once. This is all so dumb.

And the economy being BEST EVAR and OMGTSUNAMI at the same time.

If you think Labor won't win, read this for a reality check. I already have alcohol and chocolate on stand-by.

OMG:

http://www.theage.com.au/news/national/lib-laughs-off-mail-scam/2007/11/22/1195321902785.html?page=fullpage

Outgoing Liberal MP Jackie Kelly has dismissed the alleged distribution of bogus race-based election material by her husband as a "Chaser-style prank".

Ms Kelly, whose husband Gary Clark has been implicated in the distribution of the bogus document, said her first instinct when she saw the pamphlet was to laugh.

Yeah right, you stupid fucking cow.

And I love the way that when even the most peripheral union person says something, it's immediately attributed to Rudd by the Liberals, but when Liberal party officials and MPs husband's make an outrageous, racist bullshit claim, it's NOTHING TO DO WITH US (see shithead Andrew Robb on Lateline last night).

if that is a prank it is not chaser-style humour so much as elle mcfeast-style humour, i.e. not humour.

They're fucked.

Seriously, the only chance they had was a successful campaign in the final week. This week has been an unmitigated disaster.

AND IT'S THURSDAY.

HAHAHA HOLY SHIT WHAT IS THIS:

http://www.domain.com.au/Public/PropertyDetails.aspx?adid=2006832414