Australian Politics (4 Viewers)

[JaredR]

The results of this poll are astounding me, how could one justify the re-election of this current Labor government? Don't use the excuse that the opposition is no better because just giving them a go is better than enduring this current mess!

 

[kokodamonkey]

I don't know about that. Rees is leading O'Farrell as Preferred Premier by a small but decent margin. He's clearly made something of a good impression to people who hate Iemma.

O'Farrell's coasting now and is much too confident it's a foregone conclusion. There's still two and a half years to go, and I honestly think the state government's just tempered the worst of it - I doubt this kind of scrutiny and anger can be maintained for all that time.

I agree 100%. Go Rees 2011!! wooh..

 

[katie tully]

www.ruddshop.com

 

[Lentern]

Not so much a positive impression. Its just he wasn't Iemma. The last Newspoll was taken over the weeks following Rees' elevation to the leadership and nobody knew much about him. That, combined with the incumbency factor is mostly the reason for that preferred premier result.

I'd imagine the next Newspoll will see O'Farrell retake the PP lead. The last 2 months were vital for Rees. He was unknown and had to define himself. The mini-budget backlash and the continuing scandals are disastrous for him in that respect. He's put himself in the same basket as Iemma. The leadership change is a lost opportunity for the NSW ALP.

You can't stay new for three years, as I've said before there are two key factors that Rees needs to play for all he's worth over the next few months, one is that nobody really seems to know anything about O'farrell or the liberal party, all Barry talks about is Labor, and that Rees is not percieved to be in lockstep with the right wing bloc of the labor party.

O'farrell has been foolish in talking up divisions in NSW labor. The right wing labor powerbrokers are very unpopular, Rees is little known and has a seriousness about him, Rees popularity will be greatly increased if he is percieved to be fighting the powerbrokers, better still, thwarting them. There is no point in Rees worrying about securing his place as the party's prefered candidate, his party is unpopular doing so will see him gone come next election. If he can separate himself from the traditional powebrokers, make it all about he and Carmel he has a small glimmer of hope.

On O'farrell, Rees needs to learn the art of spin better. He gets infront of the press and defends his policies with gusto and insists he is going to improve things meanwhile no pressure is put on O'farrell as he gains in the polls and becomes oh so secure as Leader of the opposition. Rees needs to slip into his press dealings that they are implementing policies to try and fix or improve whatever which is more than they can say about O'farrell and that if O'farrell is serious about improving NSW he should actual provide some policies to do so etc.

 

[katie tully]

lol @ Nicola Roxon during question time

vapid slut, i hate her guts

 

[Rafy]

And regardless of what anybody thinks of Rudd (I'm ambivalent personally), you've got to admit those are some astounding favourability ratings.

Agreed. The polling really is unprecedented. Past leaders have reached such levels for a short time during their honeymoons. Rudd and Labor however have managed to maintain the record polling for 2 years now.

Graph of Newspoll 2PP trend since 1986: http://www.ozpolitics.info/election2010/newspoll-long-trend-53.png

 

[Lentern]

Agreed. The polling really is unprecedented. Past leaders have reached such levels for a short time during their honeymoons. Rudd and Labor however have managed to maintain the record polling for 2 years now.

Graph of Newspoll 2PP trend since 1986: http://www.ozpolitics.info/election2010/newspoll-long-trend-53.png

A few possible factors
-Rudd is new to government/leadership, even relatively knew to frontbench.
-Rudd is a labor Queenslander
-Coalition have had three leaders in a short space of time, 12 months and one day really.
-Rudd's frontbench is bland/safe(No Wilson Tuckey's or Tony Abbotts)
-Obama

He ofcourse has other strengths but these set him apart from other new governments.

 

[impervious182]

New South Wales - disaster

How can we fix NSW? That is, when Labor is ousted from government at the next election in three years? (Hopefully the people of NSW will finally wake up to Labor incompetence after years of Carr, Iemma and Rees - corrupt losers.)

Some things which will hopefully prompt discussion:
- transport system
- education system
- security and policing in Sydney
- graffiti and gangs
- the corruption of the state government, the fact that mobs practically run the state
- lack of water
- budget deficit
- health system
- ethnic tensions
- decline in tourism

State of chaos drags us down
​

Andrew Bolt
November 14, 2008 12:00am

"NICE bridge. Shame about the city. In fact, Sydney is sliding from a joke to a disaster, and it's taking the rest of us with it.

Not since Joan Kirner in Victoria have we seen a state led as catastrophically as is NSW, and Sydney is just the tawdry measure of its astonishing decline.

Correction: NSW Labor makes Kirner's lot look a model of propriety. At least her ministers, numbers men, hacks and faction heavies, were honest - and fully clothed - as they drove Victoria into the ground.

They weren't murdering each other, dancing half-naked in Parliament, molesting boys, sleeping with developers bearing gifts or walking over the bodies of men shot just 90 minutes earlier.

Sure, we in Melbourne may gloat, now that Sydney's refugees will help us to become the country's biggest city by 2054, at least according to the Bureau of Statistics."

But what should wipe the smirk off our faces is the fact that NSW now threatens to drag the whole country into a recession.

So mismanaged has the state been for so long that the new Premier, Nathan Rees, this week confessed his state would run a deficit this financial year of almost $1 billion.

And that's only after his mini-Budget slashed spending by $3.3 billion over the next four years, and hiked taxes by $3.6 billion.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24648225-25717,00.html​

 

[impervious182]

Kevin Rudd yesterday announced that NSW would be receiving $5 billion of the 15 billion being given by the Federal government to State governments. The money will be used on healthcare, education and 3 other 'pillars' (fulfilling the promise of 1 computer per student - it's amazing that it has taken pure luck and a budget deficit for Labor to fulfil its promise... reminds me of Whitlam).There was a good article on this by Michael Costa in the Australian yesterday.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015664,00.html

It's almost as if Rudd is buying votes, allowing students to keep the computers they have been given. To be quite honest, it kind of reminds me of the Mugabe election. Rudd is giving the most funding to struggling Labor states, just as Mugabe would starve the people who didn't vote for him and bribe those that had by giving food to pro-Mugabe provinces and withholding it from anti-Mugabe ones.

Labor is doing the same thing in Sydney. They've completely mismanaged this state and regardless of how they act from here on in, they are not receiving my vote in the next state election. It would take a very very large shift; the liberals to practically disband, for me to even consider voting Labor. NSW Labor (actually any state Labor really) is so bad, that I'd consider voting Greens before Labor.

Yes... you heard me... GREENS!

 

[yoddle]

What do people think of Julie Bishop?

I find her bland and not that intelligent. From some of the various appearances she has made on TV (Q&A sticks in my mind) she seemed incredibly boring and just not a very constructive, interesting or genuine politician (well, as genuine as politicians get i guess).

The article in The Australian about senior Liberals wanting to bump her out of the shadow treasury role sounds like a good idea. It's disappointing that she is the only female on the front bench. and if she loses treasury she will be almost completely token.
Thoughts on Julie?

 

[Silver Persian]

Kevin Rudd yesterday announced that NSW would be receiving $5 billion of the 15 billion being given by the Federal government to State governments. The money will be used on healthcare, education and 3 other 'pillars' (fulfilling the promise of 1 computer per student - it's amazing that it has taken pure luck and a budget deficit for Labor to fulfil its promise... reminds me of Whitlam).There was a good article on this by Michael Costa in the Australian yesterday.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015664,00.html

It's almost as if Rudd is buying votes, allowing students to keep the computers they have been given. To be quite honest, it kind of reminds me of the Mugabe election. Rudd is giving the most funding to struggling Labor states, just as Mugabe would starve the people who didn't vote for him and bribe those that had by giving food to pro-Mugabe provinces and withholding it from anti-Mugabe ones.

Labor is doing the same thing in Sydney. They've completely mismanaged this state and regardless of how they act from here on in, they are not receiving my vote in the next state election. It would take a very very large shift; the liberals to practically disband, for me to even consider voting Labor. NSW Labor (actually any state Labor really) is so bad, that I'd consider voting Greens before Labor.

Yes... you heard me... GREENS!

It isn't like the federal libs didn't give special attention to marginal electorates when they were in power. And K Rudd has been quite critical of NSW Labor in the media...

 

[Trefoil]

Kevin Rudd yesterday announced that NSW would be receiving $5 billion of the 15 billion being given by the Federal government to State governments. The money will be used on healthcare, education and 3 other 'pillars' (fulfilling the promise of 1 computer per student - it's amazing that it has taken pure luck and a budget deficit for Labor to fulfil its promise... reminds me of Whitlam).There was a good article on this by Michael Costa in the Australian yesterday.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au...015664,00.html

It's almost as if Rudd is buying votes, allowing students to keep the computers they have been given. To be quite honest, it kind of reminds me of the Mugabe election. Rudd is giving the most funding to struggling Labor states, just as Mugabe would starve the people who didn't vote for him and bribe those that had by giving food to pro-Mugabe provinces and withholding it from anti-Mugabe ones.

Labor is doing the same thing in Sydney. They've completely mismanaged this state and regardless of how they act from here on in, they are not receiving my vote in the next state election. It would take a very very large shift; the liberals to practically disband, for me to even consider voting Labor. NSW Labor (actually any state Labor really) is so bad, that I'd consider voting Greens before Labor.

Yes... you heard me... GREENS!

To be quite honest, you remind me of Mugabe.

 

[impervious182]

To be quite honest, you remind me of Mugabe.

How.

It isn't like the federal libs didn't give special attention to marginal electorates when they were in power. And K Rudd has been quite critical of NSW Labor in the media...

The Libs didn't have any Liberal pals in state government and last time I checked, they didn't have billiions of dollars to give out which would just be wasted. (NSW Labor aren't going to use this money effectively or transparently, they never do.)

Also, I would suggest, the reason Rudd has been critical of State Labor is that he doesn't want people in NSW to connect Federal and State Labor... kind of like people connected McCain and George Bush because they were from the same party.

 

[Silver Persian]

The Libs didn't have any Liberal pals in state government and last time I checked, they didn't have billiions of dollars to give out which would just be wasted. (NSW Labor aren't going to use this money effectively or transparently, they never do.)

Erm I think there was at least one Liberal state government for much of the Howard Years. Wall-to-wall Labor State governments was relatively recent.

The principle of pork barrelling has been alive and well for many decades now, it isn't a newly invented Labor-Ruddkip-Mugabe evil

 

[spiny norman]

How.

The more he sticks around, the more everyone wishes he'd just fuck off already.

 

[Rafy]

Erm I think there was at least one Liberal state government for much of the Howard Years. Wall-to-wall Labor State governments was relatively recent.

It was wall to wall state labor from 2002-2008, so about half the time of the Howard government.

 

[Iron]

lol I really appreciate Howard in hindsight, but the right choice was made in 2007.
I have renewed, total faith in the Australian people's judgement
Love this country guys

 

[katie tully]

yeah cool, now stop smoking the wacky tobaccy

this crack pot government has no redeeming qualities

 

[Iron]

It's a compassionate, young, solid government that has so far proven itself in the financial crisis. They are the rightful voice of the Australian people. I like it. I like you! I love all Australian people at this moment! I want to make love to you all

 

[impervious182]

lol I really appreciate Howard in hindsight, but the right choice was made in 2007.
I have renewed, total faith in the Australian people's judgement
Love this country guys

Yeah, but the thing is this. The Australian people didn't vote for Rudd for the same reason which, on reflection, you now believe the right choice was made.

To a large extent, I think, they voted Rudd based on the simple principle of 'change for change's sake'.

They lapped up the global warming rhetoric and a promised 'education revolution', an exit from the Iraq war and better Federal/State relations. Practically none of these things have actually been addressed, and if they have, it was due to chance more than any desire Kevin Rudd had to follow the mandate on which he was elected.

Hmm... I don't know what positives have actually come out of Kevin Rudd. He's practically bailed out NSW Labor which isn't a good thing at all. The people of NSW need to become disillusioned with Labor for change to occur - because Labor have grossly mismanaged the state and the conduct of the MPs is just unacceptable.

As for Rudd himself. Personally, I think he's been largely unimpressive. He's stumbled on through, but he reneges on his promises.

AND as for the financial crisis. I should admit that I am largely lacking in wisdom and knowledge when it comes to the economy (I will learn though)... though it seems like the spending Labor have implemented to increase liquidity and encourage more spending has been rash and targeted in the wrong direction. They now believe they could go into deficit... they made a huge mistake guaranteeing all deposits, whether they be small or large... and in doing so they took away the competitive edge of large Australian banks... because they guaranteed deposits of any size for all Australian banks.