JCC [Australian politics] And here we go again...

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/we-prefer-defeat-to-rudd-mps-20120225-1tvfn.html

Honestly, how many MPs sisters did Rudd sleep with and then not call? He can't have been as bad as this.

 

Ballot is on in just over an hour, by the end of the day we'll have our answer. I'm predicting a win for Gillard, but even that might not be the end for Rudd.

 

Well, it's been decided

Now will Rudd lay down and stay there? I hardly think so. There'll be a few heads rolling after Gillard reshiffles the cabinet, methinks.

 

Might as well start refering to the opposition leader as Prime Minister Abbott now. If nothing else, the vote today made that a cetainty. Gillard is unelectable.

 

Why's that?

And what are the big issues in Australian politics?

Just curious.

 

Gillard made a whole bunch of promises to get the independent candidates to side with her, broke many of them, used political manoeuvring to entice a fired Liberal member to her side to remain in power, and her and her allies have offsided much of the Australian public.

She also gives the appearance of pandering to the Green party (who she needs to ally with the pass legislation.)

 

Because she unseated a sitting Prime Minister, and Rudd was the one who brought them back into government in '07 when they'd been eleven years out. The ALP would have liked us to forget that, but in 2010 Gillard effectively lost the election and formed a minority government with the Greens and a few independents. The former have been breathing down her neck and a few of the latter she screwed over when the numbers were beyter after a Liberal defected from his party to support her as an independent.

I don't want Abbott as PM, I'm waiting for Tutnbull to get back in. But he generally looks better than this pack of incapables. The ALP couldn't organise a chook raffle.

 

I must confess surprise at the result. I knew Gillard would beat Rudd, but ... damn, 71-31??? That's a thorough trouncing there (lbarely 30% of the caucus going for Rudd). I would have thought Rudd could at least get high-30s/low-40s which, whilst still failing, would have put him within reasonable reach to allow for a 2nd challenge down the track. It's pretty clear the challenge came to early - ideally Rudd should have left it another month or 2 and let the continued bad polls (and most likely a failed Qld state election for Labor) drag on making it more favourable for him. Instead the circumstances forced a challenge now and Rudd burnt his chance.

Rudd has promised who won't challenge again. However, note the loophole - he won't challenge again; he's not said anything regarding if the leadership would happen to become vacant. I very much doubt that Gillard, if she continues to suffer such bad poll results month after month, will still be leader come late 2013 (if this term lasts that long). If she doesn't show some improvement within the next few months there will probably be encouragement behind the scenes for her to step down of her own accord, leaving the opportunity for someone else to stand. Rudd would have a chance then, although again having received less than 30% of caucus support just now it just seems a bit out of reach for him to turnaround such animosity against him.

Paradoxically, it hasn't all been bad news for Labor this last week - the latest Newspoll (just came out today) shows their primary support jumping to 35%. Too early to tell though if it's just a rogue poll (maybe people were excited about Kevin coming back so were more favourable) or the start of a longer trend to better poll results.

 

It's times like this I wish Ender_Sai was around

 

I would like to officially announce my support for Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia. I think everyone should be more aware of what an excellent Obaman she is, and say that anyone who can ought to vote for her. That is all.

In fact, under her continued leadership, I think it may be suitable to replace the UK with Australia as our most high profile ally.

 

J-dub, you do know she is an atheist like myself and godless heathens, yes?

 

Yes, but she has many good positions too. Like besides her support for Obama, she also wants to end the grip of the British monarchy on her country and become a Republic.

 

She is the worst prime minister we have ever had, Wocky. Just awful. And it's not just how wretched she sounds, it's that she can't govern worth a damn and has no soul.

She's not an athiest, Vivec. That's a mask she wears to confuse people. I'm reasonably sure anyone who sacrifices babies on an alter and drinks their blood has to worship some darker higher power.

 

What? What has she done so wrong?

Is she as strong a supporter of Barack Obama as she appears?

 

I mean, Ender, are you even examining the evidence?

 

How, pray tell, would I be insulting His Excellency by supporting his allies and friends?

 

I cringe because I imagine her saying, "Awwww hoiiiiiiiiiiiii, Baaarraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack, it's so noooooooooooiiiiiiice to seeeeee you"

Look at her policies, Wocky. Or her record. Or like... look at the pictures. Red hair.

 

If Malcolm Turnbull would just replace Abbott as opposition leader I will feel much better about voting Gillard out of office at the next election. I just can't stomach the thought of voting for Abbott or Gillard.

 

It's a huge paradox.

Gillard is the worst Prime Minister we've ever had. Fact of science. Therefore, Tony Abbott would be a better one because he's not Julia Gillard. However, Tony Abbott would be dreadful, implying he must also be worse than Julia Gillard. Yet, anything would be better than Julia Gillard. Since Tony Abbott cannot be both, you have a paradox.

 

What is it that you all oppose so much? At first glance, in any case, it seems reasonable to have reversed part of Work Choices, successfully implemented a carbon tax, and introduced Paid Parental Leave. Why exactly is she earning so much scorn from you lot?

 

Work choices was not nearly as bad as people made out. It made the assumption however that the least protected workers in society are as confident as white collar workers at bargaining for their entitlements.

Look at the MP Craig Thompson. Look at her promise on the carbon tax. Look at what she's done the tone of parliament. Look at the Australia Day fiasco. Look at the way they are attacking the superannuation industry so they can deliver a budget surplus this year (which is not an economic decision, but a political one). Look at them riding banks for not passing on the reserve bank's cut to the cash rate... (1 - they're leftists so nobody expects a basic grasp of economics but reserve banks set the inter-day cash rate which is the rate at which banks lend to one another. 2) In order to fund mortgage books most banks securitise them. In order to have money on hand to lend borrowers they have to deliver a return on investment to those investors otherwise the money available to lend to borrowers is non-existant! Sheesh!) .

There's nothing good about this government, Wocky, except that one day it will be replaced.

 

"End the grip of the British monarchy on her country"? The British commonwealth is not the galactic empire and Gillard is not Mon Mothma.

ZOMG! The Queen is coming with an army of......................................................................handlers. Oh, she's uhm...........she's just here..........waving....making speeches...........oh, gee kinda a figurehead really. Ohh, now she's talking about continued economic cooperation and expressing the value of shared traditions.

Republics smublics. What makes a "republic" automatically good? Just cuz it calls itself one? There's a Republic of Congo. Angola too....corrupt as hell. Republics can be weak, financially bankrupt, warmongering and ultra-nationalistic.