Federal Election

[Litespeed]

All I can say is, I hope you're wrong.

Labor is coming to this election with costed policies announced well in advance. The LNP has no coherent policies at all and is acting more like an opposition.

 

Doesn't take a genius to see that Labor is the lesser of two weevils, just hope enough people can see that to get them over the line.

"The lessor of two weevils"

 

A fine quote from the glorious Patrick O'Brien author of the best book series ever. Also made into the movie Master and Commander.

 

Still waiting for a sequel.

 

Back to normal poo throwing for the election......

 

 

[pmccarthy]

A hung parliament would suit me. Would take a big gallows.

 

 

[Bruce]

I'm in such a safe labor seat that the vote is a formality. So I'm going to use my vote to try and stop this hopeless but hard-done-by independent candidate ( a brickie no less) from losing his deposit.

 

Last state election I voted for the Sustainable Australia lot and they got 1.4% of the vote. But they may get into the senate this time.

 

If I were a betting man, I would bet a bottle of red on Labor winning. Shorten has run better than Morrison and surely that apocalyptic picture of the Mildura duststorm would influence some climate-change doubters.

 

 

[nomadpete]

Nah. We all know that dust storm was created by corrupt scientists funded by the Labor party. A blatant attempt to convince us that the environment might be negatively influenced by humanity's admirable industrialization.

 

 

[willedoo]

There doesn't seem to be any looming landslide feel about the election; it's all a bit ho hum. Neither side has scored any real gotcha moments to swing the undecided their way, so I doubt all the idiocy of the past couple of weeks will greatly change how people will vote.

 

It will all come down to numbers in a few critical seats. Labor need seven to win, but with the re-distribution making three Coalition seats notionally Labour, that effectively becomes four seats needed. Labor has some very marginal seats as well, so they will need a few extra to cover any losses.

 

The MLNP can possibly win, if not probable, but they need to hold all they have and then win one. My bet is a Labor win with a six to eight seat majority.

 

Sitting governments usually lose elections rather than oppositions winning them, but if Labor get in it will be a bit of both with credit to them for two opposition terms of stability and policy work putting them where they are today.

 

If scomo's bunch get in, the total credit would have to go to Morrison for being a one man band. This is just some of the things he's had to overcome:

 

- Two terms of endless instability, delivering almost six years of paralyzed, sub standard, policy free government.

 

- An economic record that on paper doesn't match what's in their heads.

 

- Abbott and Dutton.

 

- An election campaign he's had to fight on his own. All their marketable people have quit; the one's left are such an electoral liability that most are in quarantine or a witness protection status.

 

- Having to spend most of his campaign time in coalition electorates to try and save the furniture. Shorten has had the luxury of being able to campaign in winnable government held electorates.

 

- and then there's scomo's personal record and popularity, which is not great. But he's where he is because that's all they've got.

 

After contending with all that and other liabilities, if Morrison wins, he'll go down as a bit of a legend in Liberal circles. I have a fairly low opinion of the man and his party, but full credit to him if he can pull it off.

 

I think if Dutton had won the leadership ballot, then it would have been a total landslide defeat for the Libs.

 

 

[Marty_d]

Yeah Annabel Crabb wrote another brilliant piece (does she do any other kind?) about ScoMo being a frantic one-man band.

 

How Scott Morrison became the Liberal Party's Phil Collins

 

I'm hoping the 2 million + early votes mean a Labor majority, but I guess it could be millionaire retirees worrying about their franking dividends.

 

 

[ClintonB]

Maybe if Clive gets in he could donate that nice WA strip to General Aviation in Australia with no landing fee. Looks pretty sweet from the pictures on add. WA coast has some good fishing along there.

 

 

[Litespeed]

Mr potato head should have been the winner and yes I would be a huge landslide.

 

Instead we got the smiling face of scomo as Prime Munster, a Ad man from the bible belt of Sydney.

 

Just like last election they gave us Mr Turn of bullshite instead of Abbott the mad monk.

 

We would have had a much different result back then.

 

Time will tell but the smart money and those who want a planet to live on rather then sell it off, want this Coal party out.

 

 

[willedoo]

According to some press reports, people in various Sydney and Melbourne blue chip Liberal seats are naming climate change as a big issue. Maybe the Libs lurch to the right is losing them their traditional middle ground.

 

 

[willedoo]

Yeah Annabel Crabb wrote another brilliant piece (does she do any other kind?) about ScoMo being a frantic one-man band.How Scott Morrison became the Liberal Party's Phil Collins

Thanks for the link, Marty; a very entertaining piece. No doubt about it, she's a good writer.

 

 

[spacesailor]

"so that the lower lakes in SA can lose it all in evaporation is awful,"

 

Where does that evaporated water go to. Clouds to make rain,

 

That might keep that dust on the land.!.

 

"Nah. We all know that dust storm was created by corrupt scientists funded by the Labor party."

 

Come'on we all know the LNP were in power, & sold water licenses to cotton farmer's to drain the Darling river.

 

that made an awful lot of dust in the wind, ( hot air rises,up from Canberra )

 

spacesailor

 

 

[old man emu]

This election will be greatly affected by the level of Informal ballots. I mean those ballot papers that have dick and balls drawn on hem, or words of travel advice.

 

One thing we haven't considered is the way the election campaigns have been conducted in the ethnic press. Who knows in what direction the ethnic press leans?

 

In 2013, the NSW Community Relations Commission listed over 140 different daily, weekly and monthly newspapers in over 40 languages across Australia. Its own service provides daily summaries to clients in 11 languages. There are 22 Indian papers, 13 Chinese, 10 Arabic and Korean, nine Turkish, eight Vietnamese and seven Greek outlets, with languages ranging from Armenian to Urdu

 

 

[Bruce]

Any water evaporated from the lower lakes would be unlikely to fall on Australia as rain. There was once hope that if Lake Eyre filled, it would change the climate to make the future wetter. Bugger, there was no measureable change.

 

Back over 100 years ago, the idea that the rain would follow the plough was so entrenched that people lost their savings betting on it.

 

 

[Bruce]

OME, I saw a tv item where a group of moslem young men were asked about their voting intentions... their reply was that they would be told at the mosque when the time came.

 

Democracy is not easy to impose on cultures which have no understanding of the concept.

 

 

[old man emu]

I'm also concerned about Millenials. I wonder how many of them, fed up with the shenanigans they have witnessed as they have grown up, will waste their voting opportunity by drawing dick and balls, or writing witty comments on their ballot papers. For all the time that these young people have sat through 'Stranger Danger' instruction and the like, virtually none have had any introduction to the machinery of government and elections. I'd wager, too, that if you asked them to have a go at reciting our Constitution they would start "We, the People ...."

 

 

[octave]

I'm also concerned about Millenials. I wonder how many of them, fed up with the shenanigans they have witnessed as they have grown up, will waste their voting opportunity by drawing dick and balls, or writing witty comments on their ballot papers. For all the time that these young people have sat through 'Stranger Danger' instruction and the like, virtually none have had any introduction to the machinery of government and elections. I'd wager, too, that if you asked them to have a go at reciting our Constitution they would start "We, the People ...."

 

Apparently a record number of young people have now registered to vote. A huge mistake the conservatives made was insisting on a plebiscite for same sex marriage rather than just voting in parliament. This meant that many young people enrolled to vote who perhaps otherwise would not have. I guess there are many young people who do not have much knowledge or interest in poitics however the young people I mix with are interested and knowlegable

 

High number of young voters create record enrolment rate of 96.8% for election

 

 

[spacesailor]

"I'm also concerned about Millenials. I wonder how many of them, fed up with the shenanigans they have witnessed as they have grown up, will waste their voting opportunity by drawing dick and balls, or writing witty comments on their ballot papers "

 

My grand-kids Don't want to vote at all. saying it's a wast of their time & tax payers money.

 

A vote today " for this party" means that "this party" gives it votes to THAT PARTY,

 

Grand son's words.

 

spacesailor

 

 

[octave]

"I'm also concerned about Millenials. I wonder how many of them, fed up with the shenanigans they have witnessed as they have grown up, will waste their voting opportunity by drawing dick and balls, or writing witty comments on their ballot papers "My grand-kids Don't want to vote at all. saying it's a wast of their time & tax payers money.

 

A vote today " for this party" means that "this party" gives it votes to THAT PARTY,

 

Grand son's words.

 

spacesailor

My son is 28 and is very interested in politics, even listens to parliament. His peers are also interested. Often preconcieved notions older folks hold regarding younger people are not factually accurate. Look at the massive increase in young voter enrollment.

 

 

[Marty_d]

...and guess how many of those extra 200,000 young voters, who enrolled to support same sex marriage, will vote for a conservative government? Bit of an "own goal", that one.

 

Also, 90% of younger people think there should be more action on climate change. They're not going to be drawing genitalia on their votes.

 

 

[Litespeed]

I agree, I expect the young voters have a particular anger overall about lollies and the planet. As well as the inequality between generations.

 

I reckon they will decide the election and not many will be voting LNP.

 

 

[old man emu]

It's good to hear that young people have strong feelings about various political topics. I suppose that if they had been given an unbiased education into how government works and what terms like "deficit", "government debt" and "balance of payments" mean, they could see through the propaganda of some Parties.

 

The content and context of the Magna Carta should also be explained to our children before they reach voting age because the vast majority of the provisions of the Magna Carta are specifically designed to limit how much tax the king can take from his subjects. The document was above all about money. If you want to understand the Magna Carta, you need to understand that it is about tax. One provision stated that feudal charges (ie taxes) could not be imposed except by the "common counsel of our realm" (parliament). This rapidly became a political norm whereby the parliament had to approve any requests for new tax. Unfortunately, Parliament has now become the "King John" of our times, and there is little the people can do to prevent the imposition of new taxes, or to say how money gathered through taxation will be spent.

 

 

[old man emu]

Just got a look at the parties contesting my electorate.

 

ALP; United Australia Party; Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party; Libs; Greens; Christian Democratic, and an Independent.

 

Well, I know my No 1 and No 7, and probably No 2, but the rest seem to be conservative nut cases.

 

Just watched Bill Shorten on "The Project". He came across very well and answered the Climate Change question pretty sensibly. I can't see there being any "Bill Shorten Memorial Windfarms" as there were with the "Julia Gillard Memorial School Halls". He seems to be saying that he is looking for measurable decreases by 2030, which to me seems to indicate a steady Eddie approach to implementation.

 

On the question of future generations being saddled with debts incurred in the present day, remember that the NSW Government borrowed to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge and it wasn't paid off until 1988. Likewise, a bridge over the Georges River in southern Sydney was built in 1928, but not paid off until 1952. Yes, governments do enter into long term loans, and those loans may take a generation or two to pay off. In the meantime those generations paying off the debt have the use of the infrastructure, and once it is paid off, future generations only have to pay to maintain it while continuing to use it.

 

 

[Marty_d]

I don't think number 5 are too conservative.

 

 

[spacesailor]

"Look at the massive increase in young voter enrollment "

 

Yes two of my Gkids got fined for Not registering for voting.

 

Not Happy, ScoMo,!

 

spacesailor

 

 

[spacesailor]

The wife & daughter went to the Great-Grand-daughter's school for pupil & parent day,

 

Grand-daughter was at work, or it could have been a "Four generation" attendance !.

 

spacesailor