Category: Politics

NEW Labor leader Kevin Rudd today told voters to give his office a call and share their ideas on how his party should develop policies that offer a clear alternative to the Howard Government.

Do you mean to say he has got this far and doesn’t have a clear set of policies?

I’m not a Rudd fan for the same reason I don’t like my wife when she nags excessively nor my old teachers when they ticked me off too much. I have only heard him harp about Howards policies; never about his own vision for the future and I definitely don’t like the handbag on his left arm; Gillard.

She holds Jim Cairns dear and quotes him in a speech she gave to Melbourne High School students as she extolls the virtues of peace activism, supporting the Soviets and anarchy.

Rudd may not be a loose cannon like Latham but the ropes holding him down are frayed and the ship’s sailing though a heavy swell. With Gillard as navigator there will too much of a risk that the party will keep on veering to port and I for one wouldn’t like Australia going down that road again.

A softer shade of Cairns as Whitlam’s deputy and what has Rudd promised in return for the support of the left?

I liked Beazley and he definitely has my commisserations for the very bad day he had. I also think there is a smattering of talent in the ALP but it remains to be seen whether Rudd will be able to pick and choose his own front bench nothwithstanding his demand for that very right.

Mr Rudd, who had an emphatic victory in yesterday’s caucus ballot, is now under pressure to promote backers into senior front bench roles.

Of course he is.

The ALP are in a better position than they were when they opted for the lunatic Latham to lead but I don’t think it’s enough for a ground swell against Howard.

The ALP can attack IR laws all they like but untill they come up with a better policy that includes a guarantee of keeping unemployment down it won’t wash with the electorate. The AWB Cole Commission was a fizzer for those hoping it would bring down Howard and yet that’s all I’m hearing – nag, nag, nag!

Time will tell if new leadership will mean much but I’m betting it won’t be enough to cross the divide.

Kevin ‘Tricky’ Rudd has thrown his hat in the ring as Kim Beazley gives in to pressure and declares a spill of his entire frontbench.

Mr Beazley today declared a spill of his entire frontbench following a fortnight of pressure for him to stand aside in favour of Labor’s foreign affairs spokesman Kevin Rudd.

It just keeps on getting better

Labor’s health spokeswoman Julia Gillard will make a statement on the leadership spill later today, her spokeswoman said.

Ms Gillard, the member for Lalor in Victoria, has been mooted as a possible leader or deputy leader.

In the past she was endorsed for the leadership position by former leader Mark Latham.

Personal endorsement by Latham…mmm that should help.

With ‘Tricky’ Rudds carping voice and Julia’s left wing antics it bodes well for us conservatives in 2007.

When posting on Peter Tinley the other day I resisted the temptation to ask when he was going to nominate for federal parliament although I did say that if ex Army Officers critisize the government of the day they should do so quoting their political aspirations rather than their military qualifications. I was so sure he was an ALP member I even googled his name looking for an association but couldn’t find any. I obviously need better intelligence that would allow me to follow up a persons obvious political leanings – is there a list of party members anywhere on the net? Todays press announces Peter’s intention to seek preselection for the crucial marginal seat of Stirling in Western Australia for the ALP and in fact mentions he joined the Fremantle branch of the ALP in 2001. He should’ve resigned his commission then as the army officers code holds us to being apoliticial – can’t do the job otherwise. Why is none of this a surprise?

He also claims to have been traumatised by his deployment to the MV Tampa which happened just after his joining the ALP He was scathing about that “frightful” experience yesterday, saying it played a big part in his political awakening. “We were effectively invading the sovereign soil of Norway … the Government was using us as a political tool,” he said.

Yeah, right and what sort of mission brief did he give his troopers for that deployment? A more honest headline in the Saturday’s Weekend Australian might have read ALP member with left wing tendencies says Iraq is a blunder and buried in the article could’ve been a mention of his military background. That way it wouldn’t have been so embarrassing to the Corps.

IRISH rock star Bono has praised John Howard’s management of the domestic economy, but accused him of taking Australia to the bottom of the global league in engagement with the world’s poor.

“What kind of Australia do you want to live in? You’ve got this incredible prosperity – I’ve been coming here for 20 years and I’m in awe of what you have done,” Bono said. But John Howard “has also led your country to the bottom of the league table in terms of engagement with the world’s poor, and I don’t think that’s an Australia people want to live in.”

I guess the Irish musician’s point is we are not allocating foreign aide as he would like. A long time proponent of reinforcing failure by pooring money into African despot’s bank accounts has him ignoring the good we do manage with foreign aid. I’m quiet happy for our foreign aid to be spent in our neighbourhood. We can’t fix every problem in the world but we can impact on the Pacific and as we do we can insist on aid going to the needy. I’m of the opinion that some of the flack we are currently getting from Pacific island leaders is because we are insisting on accountability. I’m also of the opinion that of we allocate more funds elswhere, to the UN or other agencies, then our ability to see the funds spent where they are most needed is hampered. According to one link I’ve found, Foreign Policy, where rich countries are assessed over seven policy areas; Australia is doing her fair share and is certainly performing better that some of the big players. This Commitment to Development Index (CDI) deems our contribution more valuable that Ireland’s so maybe the Irish musician might like to address problems closer to home before he takes us to task. Stick to singing Bozo Bono. UPDATE:  Further reading of the Weekend Australian reveals a review by Patricia Anderson of a book titled “The Triumph of the airheads and the Retreat of Common Sense” by Shelley Gare.  Contained within the review is this observation;

Gare scorns a pheonomenon that, anthropologically speaking, is quiet recent.  This the movie star, a physically appealing individual whose job it is to pretend to be someone else. This has given rise to a certain omnipotence among some who confuse themselves with their parts.  Thus we have to endure stars who think they are poets or intellectuals giving us their views on politics, ethics and religion across obscene page space given by the editors.

I would include musicians in that observation.

JOHN Howard’s new wage tribunal for low-income earners has been accused of lacking credibility by a prominent union official, who claims it granted higher pay rises than expected to help the Government at next year’s federal election. Bill Shorten, national secretary of the Australian Workers Union and a future Labor leadership contender, says the Fair Pay Commission would not have awarded a $27-a-week increase in the minimum wage last week without the forthcoming election. That presumes Howard has the power of veto over the Fair Pay Commission and I’m not sure if that’s the case. However it is good to have the AWU’s election tactic out in the open. If any result from the IR laws is at risk of being seen as positive for the workers then Shorten can claim it is a Coalition re-election tactic. Look, the unemployment figures are the best ever. Ah yes but it’s because of the forthcoming election. Look, workers have just got another pay rise and they’re so happy. Ah yes but it’s because of the forthcoming election. Not much threat to us conservatives in that ploy.

LABOR has accused the Howard Government of breaking its promise over interest rates and says it is out of touch with the financial pressures confronting middle Australia.The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) is widely expected to raise interest rates next month after annual inflation came in at 3.9 per cent this week. For a start “widely expected to raise” is not the same as “have raised” and Howard still has a long way to go before interest rates even approach those of the last Labor government. We would need something like a 400% rise to even get near them. Remember Beasley? Howard said Interest rates would be lower under his government than under Labor – not that they would never rise. For God’s sake man, stop inventing promises Howard never made and accusing him of breaking them.

Linda Lavarch has resigned citing depression. Anyone would be depressed after a week of grilling in the house over decisions she made that were either stupid, politically naive or politically inept. She simply failed to come up with any rationale excuse for not doing a deal with Dr Patel Death’s lawyers to get him in court. If you are going to ignore DPP advice you need a good reason and the fact that the ALP didn’t want Patel in court during the lead up to the recent election doesn’t cut it. Couldn’t have the electorate being reminded every day about the government’s track record on health…could we? I wonder if Peter Beattie is reaching for the prozac yet or does he expect us to believe that a novice AG would be allowed to make a decision of this magnitude by herself.

“I was not aware of the written document – and that doesn’t make any difference. Can I tell you that the written DPP advice is irrelevant,” Mr Beattie said. 

Why is the DPP advice irrelevant. I would imagine that giving the government advise is one of their roles and if such advice is ignored, then I think it’s reasonable we know why. Still, as we all know the reason it was ignored then it only leaves a taste of the government thumbing their nose at the public. We know what’s best for you and we don’t neeed to explain. If ever a government was elected as the lesser of two evils…this one is it.