9 posts tagged “abbott”
Despite the flashing red lights of the opinion polls, the Libs have not noticed they are not offering what the Public want to hear. A good question for them to ponder would be this.
Do the Voters want to see a start on addressing Climate Change, or would they rather be watching a slanging match across the dispatch box?
Not surprisingly, this question has not been asked in the Party room. With all the internal politics going on, the Voters wishes are running a very distant second. They seem to think the last election was an aberration rather than folk waking up to the fact that they didn't have a say in where the country was headed. It's a simply but logical concept. Aussies don't especially want to steer the country they just dont want the incumbent to take it in the wrong direction. Howard got it wrong so they got the boot. They haven't changed direction so why would the same Voters swing back?
It's an odd attitude that. Trusting that someone will vote for you because you belong to the Liberal party rather than what you stand for is asking a lot. Howard "embraced" the Workers and then he slapped them with Work Choices. Folk who hated to see children thrown in jail (and this includes plenty of traditional Liberal voters) got to see their cries ignored as asylum seekers and their kids were interred. Folk who wanted us to move towards a sustainable, environmentally responsible Economy just got nay sayers and a thin facade the Voters saw straight through. It doesn't leave much support to draw on. It wasn't enough to win the last election and it has softened since then.
So who will get promoted if a reshuffle occurs? If Tony Abbott comes to the crease then we are back to the "old school". Of course Kevin 07 would be delighted to see Tony back after Tony's expert help in making Kevin so popular but that 50's style of playing the man is clearly out of favour with the Public.
The funny familiar faces will show the voting public that the ghost of Howard still lurks within the party and unless they start to show some grasp of the current world and a rejection of policies past, they could be spending a long time electing "The best man who never led the country".
A splendid example exists of what can happen. The Democrats decided not to punish Meg Lees for not "Keeping the Bastards Honest" and their support base withered away to vanishing point. Now the Libs have higher starting numbers and eventually the cream will rise to the top but they still have some hard yards to go especially if they keep gazing into the rear view mirror.
Nothing else was mentioned but I think he would have jumped ship last night if the cameras had stayed with him. Today, of course, he stepped away from leadership in Opposition and has headed off to the back benches.
I though it was a sensible idea and even predictable. Having been unable to force his way into the Leadership of the party, I think Costello just didn't have the mettle required to make it in the Libs.
After a big election loss, you usually end up with a rebuilder personality who stands for the good of the party usually at their own personal cost. When things start improving they generally get deposed by more ambitious folk who are waiting to maximise their chances.
Costello could have easily filled in for the rebuilding phase but I think he knows he just can't survive for a realistic chance at the top job. By the look of his missus, she recognises it too and they are sensibly planning a different life. It looks like a slap in the face for the Liberal party and I think it is well deserved. After holding up Howard and never being given real support in a leadership sense, he has now refused to be their door mat in the rebuilding.
Good on him too. I hope he enjoys the more relaxed life of a back bencher and leaves the hard stuff to the wannabees.
Now lets see who wants to be the patsy in the rebuilding phase. Downer would be dumb enough to have a second crack but I don't think the party would ever allow him in the drivers seat again. Once bitten. Twice shy. Turnbull is champing at the bit but I don't think even he is silly enough to take the first term. If he wants it he can probably have it for starters.
The person who should lead is Tony Abbott because he owes them big time for his shocking campaign. It's not as if he has a chance in hell of gaining popular support but that's not the role required just yet. The Libs now need to inject a more traditional widely talented group of people rather than the yes men they ended up with once Howard weeded out the centrists.
Stand by for some very interesting times.
I hope Bernie has the satisfaction of knowing the unhelpful Howard Government has been ejected before he takes his final breath. If it hadn't been for the Trade Union movement, Bernie and his workmates would have been ignored by the James Hardie company.
Waiting for a Liberal Government to deliver a fair go to those less well off than themselves is a bloody long wait.
Good luck Bernie and thanks for your brave efforts. You helped focus Aussie workers on the shortcomings of the greedy Howard and Abbott following true Liberal traditions.
Out of the 137 workers from the factory he worked in, less than 10 survive, and Bernie is determined to see them and their families dealt with fairly. To this end he was supposed to meet with Tony Abbott (our flag waving Catholic Health Minister) so he could present a petition last week. A meeting Abbott avoided.
According to Abbott it wasn't promised but we all know how much trouble Tony has with the truth and Bernie has embarrassed more than one high official when they have been "loose with the truth". This came on a day when Abbott was definitely off his game and he made an absolute dick of himself by insulting Bernie's character with a comment about Bernie not being "Pure of Heart." Gutsy Tony. Very gutsy. You do remember it was Bernie who destroyed the credibility of the James Hardie company who were responsible for dealing with the victims?
The next morning young Tony declined an invitation to apologise but by mid morning he started to realise he was going backwards and he made a half apology saying Bernie apologised too. I'll be waiting to hear that from Bernie himself before I give that any credence. Probably the funniest part of the episode was Tony saying Voters should judge him on his record.
Now, a couple of days later, Tony has shown an athletic ability we didn't know he possessed. The petition was for cheap access to an expensive mesothelioma drug on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. All of a sudden Tony has decided that Bernie has come up with a good idea. It will be done but after the Election of course.
I'm thinking Tony might be regretting the "judge me on my record" comment. Before the last Election he announced changes to the Medical Benefits system that were promptly rolled back after the coalition won Government again.
Who do you Trust?
After making a goose of himself ever since Kevin Rudd took over Labor Leadership, and helping Rudd maintain his popularity through the constant character attacks, it looks like the penny has finally dropped with the Party machine.
Lately we have seen his smiling face at big events but no talkies from young Alex. It's a bit of a tragedy really. I have had a wonderful time making fun of his misadventures and it does leave Rudd with only Tony Abbott and Howard to keep up his popularity with the Voters.
Never mind. Those two are quite capable of getting young Kevin over the line.
Not so long ago Tony Abbott was regarded as a possible future leader of the Liberal party but that was before the downfall of Labor's Mark Latham. On reflection, I think it was he was the only pollie from his side who could go toe to toe with the Latham style. In fact a couple of times he made Mark look like a moderate.
However the fall of Latham left him with a non-presidential style that he couldn't control and when he used the same technique on the sainted Kevin Rudd, he boosted the public perception of Rudd. More damaging though, was that he didn't realise it and kept it going. Even these days he is suffers relapses and I'm not sure he realises even now that this is counter-productive.
Aside from this lack of judgment, the last Election exposed Abbott as untrustworthy when he denied visiting the unChristianlike Cardinal George Pell. Unfortunately for Tony, someone had tipped off the Press and after a couple of days of denial, he had to concede the visit had taken place. He also managed to do this in a manner that suggested that these visits were so common that it slipped his mind.
Perhaps in the States this would be no big issue, but in Oz their is still a healthy skepticism about religion standing too close too the Government. This was further fractured by Abbott trying to decide the abortion pill issue off his own bat as Health Minister.
Here is where the big clue comes from when deciding Tony's chances at the top job. John Howard had tired of the full on approach of Abbott and had a lot of pressure from the back benches over his drug refusal. He solved this simply by allowing members a free vote, even though he was against the drug personally.
When it came to counting the numbers, Tony was well short but not only that. He kept hitting the papers trying to pressure his own party members saying a vote against the drug was a vote against the Minister.
Nasty. The party got a good preview at what life would be like under Abbott and hit the exits.
A highly unlikely prospect unless they need a bunny to run the party till chances improve. Probably even be a bad choice in Opposition. If he's this negative in Government then the Opposition benches will be worse.
After Abbott did yet another back flip over Federal Funding for Health, Ms Gillard had the intimate come back. Can't find the exact quote but it goes like this....
"Tony Abbott has adopted more positions on health than the Karma Sutra."
For those not aware of Tony's past, the reason he keeps running to the Church is to cover for his past sins of the flesh. With this nice little comment, Julia was able to give a subtle reminder of the Abbott history.
The best part about all this is that Abbott is without skill when it comes to subtlety. He is much more comfortable with a Latham style attack.
I have just listened to the weekly debate on RN Breakfast and it's crystal clear that the Libs in general, and Lynton Crosbie in particular, just don't get it.
The thrust from the Liberal leaning contributors was along the lines of "we have to play harder ball". A suggestion was even made by one contributor that Tony Abbott should have taken over the IR job! I can't think of a more obvious example that someone isn't paying attention to the Voters.
Here is the Primer bit. When a Government has lost all it's credibility on it's pronouncements, the last thing they need is someone continuing to lie aggressively. Some days it would be better for the Party if John Howard steered clear of the microphone. Better not to try and defend the Tele, than to take sides with a pretty shallow editor. There can't possibly be votes in playing the really dumb card.
What they need to do is
- look like they understand
- show they can change
- ideally (but probably not essential) they should look like they can do a better job
Lately, Howard has started to talk ideas and programs which has given a more professional appearance but the latest IR stuff has plunged them back into denial mode. Come on folks. The Gig is up. Stop trying to pretend no harm was done with the changes. It's obvious it has especially when the excuse is used that "We examine the conditions and make the hard decisions". Tell me that isn't giving the game away.
The Libs think things are bad now but I think it can get a lot worse. If Kev decides to point out that Global Warming IS the Economy then we are looking at a landslide. Possibly even both houses.
Last Monday, Four Corners had an excellent program that followed some older Aussies who are taking steps to be able to end their own life when bad health reduces their quality of life.
It’s a beaut effort and I hope it doesn’t fall out of view because of the Budget rubbish. In the program, the oldies are defiantly following steps to either travel overseas to buy Nembutal to keep handy, or joining together to illegally mix up a batch of the drug for their own use.
True to form, the Right to Life’s Chiang Lim is trying to force his view on these senior citzs but if you have a close look at the transcript you can see he is really just got it in for Phillip Nitschke from EXIT Australia. Happily, Dr Nitschke follows his usual pattern of talking directly about the problem rather than playing the man. This, of course, is what he should do. He has the solid arguments and should not be diverted by light weights like Lim trying to cloud the water.
Another amazing performance comes from Dr. Rosanna Capolingua from the AMA. The good doctor can’t grasp the concept. She wants to blame the problem on depression despite the excellent humour and good sense displayed by the rebels. In a display of real arrogance she believes they should be prosecuted. Her theory seems to be if it’s illegal, it’s wrong. Apparently she hasn’t been paying much attention to the quality of politician we are suffering at the moment.
The last person I would like to comment on is the son of Ed Brown. Ed strikes me as a pretty sensible chap. He is getting on in years and is simply thinking ahead. He was part of the group who did their own Lab. His son (as you can probably guess) is a practicing christian. Not for him the right of his Dad (and Mum too) to have some dignity in death. Ed has no problem with son Richard’s religion he just doesn’t care for the fantasy. Too bad Richard’s selfishness doesn’t respect his Dad’s wishes. Pretty rank huh? Putting your invisible friend ahead of your family.
Looking back over the program, I have huge respect for these defiant folk. After years of putting up with busy bodies they just plan to ignore them. They are aware of the possibility of legal interference and prepared to face it.
If the likes of Dr. Capolingua get their way, we will see just how much damage it does to these arrogant interferers. I’d bet my bottom dollar that taking a group of seniors to court would advance the cause of free choice no end. It just surprises me that people like the Dr Rosanna can’t see it coming. Perhaps she should go and talk to Tony Abbott to find out what happens when you try to push religious beliefs on the population in general. It knocked him right out of leadership contention.
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