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Post by Deleted on Jul 14, 2015 20:06:04 GMT 10
Shiver me Fanghorn Forest timbers do not be hasty as Treebeard would say ...Abbott is surely an Orc...
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Post by pim on Jul 14, 2015 23:20:50 GMT 10
Ahh, so he's Saruman
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2015 20:23:07 GMT 10
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Post by geopol on Jul 27, 2015 16:43:22 GMT 10
Andrews should follow Hockey and sue Fairfax, despite their po-faced disclaimer.....
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Post by geopol on Aug 5, 2015 6:29:48 GMT 10
To date, the Abbott government has passed just 0.372 acts per day since it came to office, compared to 0.438 for the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd governments (and Gillard had to contend with minority government), 0.452 during John Howard's tenure, 0.476 for Paul Keating, 0.491 for Bob Hawke's governments, 0.481 for Malcolm Fraser, 0.472 for Gough Whitlam, and 0.436 for McMahon. Barring some unexpected burst of productivity in the latter half of this year, the Abbott government is on track to have the worst record for passing legislation since the late 1960s. Read more: www.smh.com.au/comment/is-tony-abbotts-regime-the-worst-federal-government-ever-20150803-giqtnx.html#ixzz3hsdWcfv6
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Post by pim on Aug 5, 2015 14:01:14 GMT 10
Yes I read that Sally Young piece in yesterday's SMH too, geopol. Normally I hate league tables and wonder by what criteria do we judge which government was the "best" and which one was the "worst". Does the accolade for "best government" go to Andrew Fisher for having, more than any other Australian government, put in place the basic building blocks of an Australia of the "fair go"? I have his biography on my bookshelf and I've paid homage at his graveside in Hampstead in London. Problem is that very few Australians have heard of Andrew Fisher. His name isn't even familiar to many Labor people even though he was a three term Labor Prime Minister a century ago. As for "worst government", surely the first Menzies Government would take some beating as the "worst government" since it left a legacy that was so appalling that the ongoing viability of Australia itself was at stake. I'm talking about Menzies misplaced (British) Empire chauvinism in the early days of WW2 in which the abject failure and refusal of the Australian conservatives (the UAP - forerunner to the Liberals) to ratify the Statute of Westminster robbed Australia of any capacity to formulate its own war aims and objectives, left it bereft of any capacity to exercise even a modicum of control over the disposition of the AIF, and left Australia high & dry and dangerously exposed as the Japanese entered the war and threatened the continuing existence of Australia itself. Problem with that analysis is that it ignores Menzies's capacity to learn, his achievement during the war of remaking the political forces of non-Labor into the Liberal Party and his electoral triumph of 1949 which established Liberalism as the default party of government in this country for a generation after WW2.
As for the hapless Billie McMahon, I'm not so sure he was as "hapless" as popular history makes him out to be. Sure he was ridiculed rather unkindly in certain quarters because of a hearing problem brought about, I seem to recall, by catarrh. There were also regular slurs and innuendos regarding his sexuality. Apparently he was gay and as such copped it from the boofhead Right in "Black" Jack McEwan's Country Party as well as from the boofhead Left in such publications as the Nation Review. Interesting that today we'd condemn those slurs as gross homophobia. Say what you like about McMahon but the way he held the Whitlam juggernaut to a modest win in 1972 rather than a landslide bequeathed to the post-1972 Liberals under Snedden and then Fraser a platform from which they could assail the Whitlam Government to deadly effect.
That brings us to Tony Abbott. While I agree with the data regarding Abbott's poor legislative record detailed in Sally Young's article, I'm not so sure that this means Abbott will turn out to be One Term Tony. If you compare it with the US experience, the Carter Administration was a competent government overwhelmed by events in Iran which reduced it to a one term administration. On the other hand Carter's successor Ronald Reagan was widely considered to be such a cretin that Doonesbury cartoons would offer "tours" of Reagan's brain and its weird synapses. And yet not only did the guy win two terms but he's revered as some sort of candidate for Mt Rushmore to be defaced by one more hideous and crass sculpture. Then there's George Dubya. I mean I ask you: was there ever a more egregious moron that proved that HL Mencken was onto something when he said of American democracy: "As democracy is perfected, the office represents, more and more closely, the inner soul of the people. We move toward a lofty ideal. On some great and glorious day the plain folks of the land will reach their heart's desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron." And yet Dubya was returned for a second term. Tired of American examples? OK here's an Australian one: Joh Bjelke-Petersen. The guy talked and sounded like a blithering idiot. And yet ... and yet ... Malcolm Fraser couldn't have destroyed the Whitlam Government without him. What's more Joh ended up being Premier of Qld for 20 awful bloody years.
Everything Sally Young says about the Abbott Government is correct. His record of failure in government makes the Abbott Government go down as one of the worst performing Australian governments. Sally Young's critique is devastating. But does that mean Abbott is condemned to becoming One Term Tony?
Not so fast ... !
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Post by caskur on Aug 20, 2015 0:03:12 GMT 10
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 12:35:17 GMT 10
Abbott, Abbott, Abbott, Abbott, Abbott ... for god's sake, how many threads do you lot put up on this bloke??? Not only is it totally boring but it just goes to show how little you have in your lives. How many hours would you spend daily in trolling the internet for articles and cartoons?? Especially when there are so many truly frightening things happening around the globe that you lot pass over as totally unimportant. The only laughable thing is how you wankers get such a knot in your knickers over it all.
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Post by KTJ on Aug 24, 2015 12:41:05 GMT 10
Over on my side of The Ditch, Tony Abbott is the best Australian comedy act we've ever seen.
He is turning Australia into a laughing stock.
Keep up the good work, Tony....our cartoonists are having a field day taking the piss out of you.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 24, 2015 12:51:17 GMT 10
Maybe it should also be about Burke, Burke, Burke. Especially about him trying to defend his spending of $2.2 million of taxpayer funds on travel and expenses. What a wanker! What a hypocrite! One day you will understand that all politicians are scumbags (except my cousin who retired a little while back and is the most respected person now on the local council).
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Post by pim on Aug 24, 2015 13:20:50 GMT 10
All cops are on the take (except for that nice policeman who stopped the traffic and helped my frail old grandmother who uses a walking frame cross the street) All lawyers are spivs (except for that decent suburban solicitor who has always looked after my family's affairs and whose kids go to the same school as mine) All schoolteachers are Maoist leftwingers who set out to brainwash kids with their leftist propaganda (except for my daughter's teacher in the local primary school. My daughter adores her and she's making such good progress under this lady's teaching) ... get the idea?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 25, 2015 10:46:38 GMT 10
Schwhew ching...schwhew ching...schwhew ching... hark is that the sound of knives sharpening..??
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2015 19:32:25 GMT 10
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Post by geopol on Sept 1, 2015 18:07:48 GMT 10
So much for the need to get more money in to save future generations from financial ruin....
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Post by geopol on Sept 1, 2015 18:08:53 GMT 10
Of the many words that could describe Tony Abbott and his Government, "bumbling", "incoherent" and "embattled" readily spring to mind. Yet in recent days, the most apt description of all would have to be "desperate".
Like a cat struggling to avoid a bath, Tony Abbott has been scrabbling for purchase; desperately latching on to anything within reach in the hope of escaping his dire situation.
Abbott knows he's in for a beating at the Canning by-election in a few weeks. Voters are likely to accept Labor's invitation to send the PM a message, knowing there's no associated risk of throwing out the Government altogether.
With the vote said to be close at the commencement of the by-election campaign, and the Liberal candidate placed sixth on the ballot paper, there's a chance Labor may even win the seat. But whatever the magnitude of the final swing against the Government - and there will be one - Abbott's opponents will ensure the PM is held responsible for the outcome.
Abbott could almost be forgiven at this point for wondering what on earth he has to do to win favour with Australian voters. He repudiated the unpopular 2014 federal budget and followed it up with an expensive do-no-harm budget in 2015. He stopped the boats (arriving), and demonised asylum seekers enough to get majority community support for offshore detention.
And then there's the succession of flag-based announcements that he made to heighten voter awareness of the terrorist threat the Government is apparently protecting them from.
And yet voters have not responded according to plan, consistently indicating to opinion pollsters that they remain steadfastly ungrateful for the PM's beneficence.
From The Drum
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2015 19:38:51 GMT 10
During a press conference in 2013, Mr Abbott made the comment "If you want better coverage, be a better government' about the then Labor government. In response to the outrageous accusations made today by Mr Dutton in accusing both Fairfax media and the ABC of attempting to bring down the government, we would like to say...
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Post by geopol on Sept 4, 2015 12:25:48 GMT 10
Newspaper mogul Rupert Murdoch has called for a snap Australian election as the "only hope" for a country that has become "almost ungovernable". But current Prime Minister Tony Abbott is still by "far the best alternative", and so presumably should be voted back in for a second term. The head of the Murdoch empire, which stretches around the world, chose Twitter – rather than the front page of one of his many newspapers – to make his latest political statement Read more: www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/rupert-murdoch-calls-for-snap-elections-in-almost-ungovernable-australia-20150903-gjes1x.html#ixzz3kjTxdC7y Follow us: @smh on Twitter | sydneymorningherald on Facebook Is the worm turning........Oz politics, mad as usual but nowadays quite dangerous as well with these "clowns" to use a Hockey term, in charge.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 5, 2015 19:04:00 GMT 10
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Post by pim on Sept 12, 2015 12:26:46 GMT 10
Thanks for that, Yorick! Get a load of ...
Why is Abbott a Dead man Walking?
Was it justice, was it Karma? Was it Murdoch, was it Palmer? Was it lying and conceit? Was it backbenchers fear of defeat? Was it Mathias and Joe’s cigars? Was it because we’ve stopped making cars? Was it climate change denial? Was it putting Julia on trial? Was it the daughter’s scholarship prize? Was it debt and deficit lies? Was it removing the Carbon Tax? Was it trying to give the RET the axe? Was it cutting Foreign aid? Was it being so retrograde? Was it the Minister for Women joke? Was it all the promises broke? Was it Brandis’s bigots rights? Was it prancing around in lycra tights? Was it cutting the SBS and the ABC? Was it costing more for university? Was it imposing a GP tax? Was it the disregard of facts? Was it the ridiculous Dames and Knights? Was it the threats and talk of fights? Was it Joe’s “lifters and leaners”? Was it cutting the pay of parliament’s cleaners? Was it punishing pensioners and the unemployed? Was it the total moral void? Was it the embarrassing G20 address? Was it the ongoing budget mess? Was it the book-launch travel rort? Was it knighting the Queen’s consort? Was it use of the sham inquiry stunt? Was it the weasel words of Hunt? Was it the 800 Million given to News? Was it longer unemployment queues? Was it a budget most unfair? Was it too much body hair? Was it nobbling the NBN? Was it lying again and again? Was it exploiting terrorist threats? Was it job applications of Eric Abetz? Was it the sex worker wink? Was it being too slow to think? Was it Joe’s “poor people don’t drive” Was it the polls taking a dive? Was it the surprises and constant excuses? Was it asylum seeker abuses? Was it the work of Peta and the IPA? Was it repeating slogans day after day? Was it the dog whistle of “Team Australia”? Was it the pungent smell of failure? Was it wimping Putin’s shirt front? Was it because Christopher Pyne is a pain? Was it Arthur’s memory at ICAC? Was it giving Mr Burns the sack? Was it ever declining polls? Was it funding Internet trolls? Was it Newman’s election loss? Was it the submarine double cross? Was it saying the “Adults are in charge”? Was it making the deficit more large? Was it the whole damn useless crew? Was it the ties of bogus blue? Was it the hubris and the swagger? Was it Malcolm and Julie’s dagger? Was it saying he would change? Was it becoming even more deranged? Was it eating an onion raw? Was it the data-retention law? Was it exploiting Dr Karl? Was it frequent smirking snarls? Was it the daughter’s low rent at Kirribilli? Was it “Fixer” Pyne being silly? Was it acting like a bar room yob? Was it offering Bjorn Lomborg a job? Was it saying “I suppose we must grieve” Was it the constant attempts to deceive? Was it ditching his gold plated PPL mess? Was it then making Labor’s PPL less? Was it saying the deficit is no longer trouble? Was it increasing your own deficit double? Was it a second budget based on deception? Was it threatening to call an early election? Was it trying to get Gillian Triggs out? Was it Dutton acting like a Brussel sprout? Was it “get a good job that pays good money” Was it laughing at things that just weren’t funny? Was it all the talk of double dipping? Was it cabinet leaks a constant dripping? Was it denying marriage equality? Was it Brandis reading poetry ? Was it paying people smugglers to turn around? Was it the dead cat bounce the polls have found? Was it saying how much he hated wind farms? Was it lying each day without any qualms? Was it Brandis controlling the Arts? Was it the emission of smelly brain farts? Was it the false outrage at QandA? Was it telling ministers to stay away? Was it Bishop’s ride in a chopper? Was it cos Abbott did nothing to stop her? Was it Shorten’s conference revival? Was it party room fears for their own survival? Was it because we never got the 550 bucks? Was it that increasing the GST sucks? Was it Dyson being a party pooper? Was it trying to nobble industry super? Was it wanting to bomb in Syria? Was it the Border Force hysteria? Was it saying that Nazis are better than ISIS? Was it trying to score from the refugee crisis?
Why will Abbott get the shove? The answer is, all of the above.
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Post by pim on Sept 12, 2015 23:07:57 GMT 10
Ooh ... that's a rippa! Is it OK to share it around? I'm not the author. I just c & p'd it from your FB link so I don't have a patent on it. Feel free!
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Post by Yassir Rebob on Sept 14, 2015 23:02:49 GMT 10
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