plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

[Marty_d]

...or for those (like me) who don't speak fluent Frog - "the more it changes, the more it is the same thing".

 

The change, after Rudd / Gillard / Rudd, was meant to be stable government. "We're not those flighty idiots!" proclaimed members on the right. "The adults are in charge now!"

 

The LNP also spruiked its financial management skills. "The age of entitlement is over!" trumpeted Smokin' Joe Hockey, as he used his substantial living allowance to pay rent to his wife while in Canberra. "Labor does nothing but spend! The debt is always higher under Labor! WE'RE the party of responsible fiscal spending!"

 

I remember seeing a stage production televised on the ABC. (That's right, that unbalanced left-wing platform). It showed Kevin Rudd, Phantom of the Opera style, skulking around with a large knife waiting to implant it in Julia Gillard's back.

 

Labor were in power from 2007 ("Kevin '07!!" Remember the relief after Howard was finally removed?) to 2013, when Rudd 2 lost to MrAbbott.

 

So, how have things changed since 7th September 2013?

 

Australia's gross national debt in 2013 was a staggering $257.37 billion. Bloody Labor. Spent like drunken sailors. So after 4 years of the fiscally responsible LNP, that must have changed, right?

 

Right. Australia's gross national debt in 2017 was no longer $257.37 billion. It was $551.75 billion. Over twice as much.

 

Oh well. That's a little disturbing, but stable government is more important! Bloody Labor. Three Prime Ministers in 6 years. (Yes, ok, two of them were the same person, but still!) - and don't forget that Rudd undermined his successor in every possible way. White-anting! You wouldn't get that in the LNP!

 

But... what's this? The LNP has had 3 PM's in under 5 years? And they're all different?? Not to mention a deppity-PM whose pecker-dillos prompted his passage to purgatory (the back bench), where the vengeful spirit named Tony Abbott and his evil hand-puppet Benjamin Button... er, Peter Dutton, constantly undermined and finally rolled the spineless Turnbull. Ably assisted by his cohort which could aptly be named "the Enemies of Progress, Logic and Commonsense" (yes, I know it's a bit long, maybe just "those right wing morons" could suffice) - Abetz, Christensen, Andrews, Canavan, Fierravanti-Wells, the list goes on. Not to mention most of the gibbering National Party membership, who apparently "aren't afraid to say the C- word... coal, coal, coal".

 

So to sum up - the LNP has had as much, if not more, internal disunity than Labor ever did, and more than doubled the debt they inherited. Their core of deeply deluded conservatives prevent any policy that could benefit Australians. They are a shambles, a disgrace, a dog's breakfast (after it reappeared from the dog, in my opinion), and they've lost any credibility they may have ever had.

 

Roll on the Election.

 

 

[willedoo]

Well said, Marty. The events of the past week have shown that the current government is not fit to govern, by any reasonable definition. Bring on the election.

 

 

[robinsm]

Well said, Marty. The events of the past week have shown that the current government is not fit to govern, by any reasonable definition. Bring on the election.

Unfortunately, given the state of the 2 major parties and their reliance on the ...Nationals/greens, I dont think either is fit to be the government and theren lies the peoblem because no one else has the complete policies to govern. We are up the creek without a paddle so to speak. Shades of the "banana republic"

 

 

[old man emu]

After having promised their constituents that they would work for the needs and wants of the constituents in parliament (State or Federal), has anyone had the experience of an elected representative doing anything to meet the needs and wants of their constituents?

 

It seems to me that at every election, those seeking to represent a particular electorate hitch their wagon to a star and expect that that is sufficient to get a ticket on the gravy rocket to Another Place.

 

What if they called an election, and nobody came?

 

 

[spacesailor]

Problem is that word,

 

Elected

 

We Seem to have more Dictator type put there by the unknown faceless people that appear to run this country to suit their needs over the country! .

 

spacesailor

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

Politics seems to be more and more parochial and ideological than ever before;the pollies wrapped up in their own melodrama. However, is there really an alternative as they are all climbing the greasy pole. I was a young member of one of the parties Marty refers to.. I managed to climb to a local committee, become a delegate to a conference of some sort (not sure if it was state or national) and it was there that it laid bare all of the back room dealings filled with vested interests with an attitude "stuff what was right for the country". More prejudices than in the US and stubborn heel-digging in an attempt to show power displays akin to a gorilla beaitng their chest. I resigned from my committee (and local branch presidency) and allowed my membership to lapse. Since living in the UK, I have voted twice - once regarding the Aussie republic and at one national election here, where the local candidate was so poor, they had to be ousted.

 

I look forward to the day that the electorate are so apathetic or disaffected with all pollies, no one comes out to vote (or, in Aus, they cast spoiled votes)... be interesting to see what happens then...

 

There are (or at least were) some good MPs who worked tirelessly for their consituency.. they rarely achieved anhything higher than being in the back bench as they were career politicians of a different nature...

 

 

[spacesailor]

WHITLAM !

 

spacesailor

 

 

[willedoo]

Makes you wonder if all the fuss was worth it. I could well be wrong, but a Labor win in the next federal election looks to be a given, regardless of who the Liberal leader is. I doubt Turnbull could have done it, and I can't see Morrison talking the Australian public into thinking that the Liberals are wonderful in the few months they have left. Malcolm's pulling the pin on Friday with a one seat majority, so the by-election will be interesting.

 

Peter Dutton has a 1.6% margin, so his political career is over, most likely. I don't think that would upset too many people.

 

Even if by some miracle, the government came up with some sensible policies, they haven't got the time span to suck enough voters into believing they are the least worst option.

 

 

[Jerry_Atrick]

I can't see the Libs losing Turnbull's seat... Very safe from memory... The protest vote would be at the country club - bot the electoral office.

 

It doesn't matter who is in power - with such a slim majority, any leader is in for a tough ride unless they have the backing of all factions of the Liberals and the National Party - when was the last time that happened?

 

 

[Marty_d]

Ah, Dutton. What a model of rectitude and civic values.

 

Apparently if you're someone who donates $150,000 to the Liberal party, you can pick up the phone and he'll get your French au pair out of stir with a quick sign of his pen (regardless of the advice of senior Border Farce officers).

 

However, if you're a Sri Lankan family who's popular with the community they live and work in - so popular you can get 120,000 signatures on a petition to let you stay in Australia - then he won't even consider your case.

 

We truly have some of the best politicians money can buy.

 

 

[willedoo]

Quite so, Marty. Personally, I think that unless the Liberal party purges themselves of a large swath of their resident comedians, they're in for at least a decade in the wilderness if there's any semblance of good government from the Labor side.

 

It almost beggars belief that a party could be so incompetent that they totally blew it. After the debacle of the Rudd / Gillard years, the Liberals should have had a walk in the park. But then what happened was that some sort of circus came to town, and even their supporters have been in a state of shock ever since.

 

I really hope the incoming Shorten Labor government can knuckle down and get to work with some serious policy development. The Gillard years seemed to be a bit poll driven, with a compulsion for grand announcements every couple of weeks, and at the end, it was just a lot of hot air. I hope we don't get more of that garbage from the next Labor government.

 

 

[kgwilson]

Shorten may be the leader and he may well have the credentials but he has a poor public image and there is a lot of suspicion from the voting public about his Union past history. Personally I'd like to see Tania Plibersek as the Labor leader. I don't know her history but she speaks eloquently, looks good and seems able to fend off the bullying from the libnats with some well chosen words.

 

Dutton looks to be history now with a second au pair visa deal done for a police mate.

 

 

[facthunter]

Jerry you don't know the political demography of Wentworth, obviously. The last local polling a few days ago, had the support for the Liberal party at 30%. Recall that the LNP was the mob that despatched "their" Man unceremoniously. while in office as the PM. He officially resigns the seat today, losing them their one seat majority in the lower house. They don't control the Senate either... Shortens's image has been exhaustively "worked on" for the past 18 months by their spin people and he's now more popular than Sco Mo or anyone else. they might put up. They could potentially lose around 40 seats. on current figures Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

That's the problem with the Americanisation of the political system. I didn't vote for either Turnbull or Shorten. I voted for my Party's candidate in MY electorate.

 

Sure, a Party has to have a leader, but only to be the spokesperson for the Party's platform. It's the meedja's focusing on every iota of a Party Leader's persona, physic photogenicity etc that puts the termites into the Party's ploitical platform. If the Party members thrash out a policy, and announce it as Party's platform, then parliamentary members of the Party should stand by it.Failure to give the Party platform one's support is a bit like playing for football team A against football team B, but wanting to wear the colours of football team K.

 

 

[Marty_d]

That's the problem with the Americanisation of the political system. I didn't vote for either Turnbull or Shorten. I voted for my Party's candidate in MY electorate.

Sure, a Party has to have a leader, but only to be the spokesperson for the Party's platform. It's the meedja's focusing on every iota of a Party Leader's persona, physic photogenicity etc that puts the termites into the Party's ploitical platform. If the Party members thrash out a policy, and announce it as Party's platform, then parliamentary members of the Party should stand by it.Failure to give the Party platform one's support is a bit like playing for football team A against football team B, but wanting to wear the colours of football team K.

Trouble is with the LNP, they don't know WHAT they stand for.

 

They have the nutter social conservatives, the neo-con IPA cranks, the plummy aristocracy, the hardline free-marketeers and the business-above-all lot. Mixed in with a sprinkling of racists and bible-bashers. There were some relatively normal people, but with the departure of Turnbull and Julie Bishop from the cabinet there's a lot less now. And to make it more complicated some of them fall into multiple camps (ie bible-basher + social conservative + racist).

 

Trying to get that lot to agree on any half-decent policy would be like trying to herd cats. Turnbull should have got the NEG over the line but Abbott and his fellow cranks stuffed that up.

 

Why anyone who wasn't a coal miner, banker or raving bible-basher would vote for this rabble is beyond me.

 

 

[octave]

This is the insanity of the ultra-conservatives. In an interview Senator Concetta Fierravanti-Wells said:

 

"there were many reasons she was no longer supporting Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull including last year’s debate over marriage equality.

 

While the Prime Minister was a vocal supporter of allowing same-sex couples to wed, the New South Wales senator was strongly opposed to changing the laws.

 

And - Back in 2015 Senator Fierravanti-Wells declared that the “silent majority” would shut down the proposal that same-sex marriage could be a reality in Australia. She also previously said ““Most Australians would find these concepts repugnant, abhorrent and destructive to our social fabric.”

 

What the ultra-conservatives can't seem to grasp is that the vast majority of Australians are not ultra conservative.

 

 

[kgwilson]

There are a lot of Australians who have been badgered by the fear campaign that if Labor gets in the flood gates will open & there will be boats landing everywhere. The LNPs treatment of refugees is criminal at best but there is so much fear spread that we seemingly accept the BS. The LNP especially people like Dutton & the hard right should be prosecuted for the whole Manus Island and Nauru debacle where human rights are zero. As a developed nation we have the worst human rights record on the planet.

 

 

[old man emu]

I think that the reason people support a hard stand on refugees is that it appears it is only those countries with a Christian heritage that are expected to bear the load of massive refugee intakes.

 

Why is it that these refugees pass through so many countries with the same religious heritage as theirs in order to get to "Christian " countries? And once there, bite the hand that feeds them.

 

 

[Methusala]

I think that the reason people support a hard stand on refugees is that it appears it is only those countries with a Christian heritage that are expected to bear the load of massive refugee intakes.

You mean like Jordan, Lebanon etc?

 

 

[facthunter]

and Iran. They took millions from Afganistan with no external help.Nev

 

 

[Marty_d]

I think that the reason people support a hard stand on refugees is that it appears it is only those countries with a Christian heritage that are expected to bear the load of massive refugee intakes.

Why is it that these refugees pass through so many countries with the same religious heritage as theirs in order to get to "Christian " countries? And once there, bite the hand that feeds them.

Jordan is a muslim country with a population of 9.5 million, of which almost 3 million are refugees.

 

How many refugees has Australia, with 25 million, had arrive by boat since 1975? About 65,000.

 

It is a TOTAL furphy. We do not, and have never had, a problem with boat people. (Unless you go back a couple hundred years).

 

 

[facthunter]

Even less. Abot was a 10 pound Pom. Now the ENVOY for Aborigines. That's rubbing it in a bit. Nev

 

 

[old man emu]

I stand corrected on the Middle Eastern countries that did. I meant the South East Asian ones.

 

 

[Yenn]

I really cannot see myself voting for the Libs, after what they have done in the last few years. They got in on a policy of better fiscal management than Labor, what a joke.

 

I also couldn't vote for Labor, Bill Shorten revealed his true colours to me during the coalmine disaster in Tassie. He was far less use to the miners than the coal mine boss and he hasn't improved much.

 

The Greens, well that is a joke, they couldn't do the job.

 

Pauline Hanson is just about fully discredited after she made scathing remarks about the senators maiden speech, which was an echo of her own.

 

Katters party will be denigrated by all and sundry, but I could vote for them.

 

What a sad state of affairs Australian politics is in. So many pigs at the trough, but pigs are much more likeable.

 

 

[kgwilson]

If the mainstream parties get rejected and we get a lot of competent independents elected, enough to form a government with a good majority, they could operate like a company board. No party politics just good economic and social sense on every issue. Nah, couldn't happen because they are all POLITICIANS aka Pigs at the trough.