http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/malcolm-zen-turnbull-the-other-peoples-choice-20120306-1uh18.html

The media finally turning its attentions to the LNP leadership debacle, maybe?

and which debacle is that???

Tony Abbott.

whipping it up a bit there Matt.......

it's already been established that most people prefer Turnbull......

Exactly. Makes the grubby dealings of Mr Abbott to poleaxe Turnbull all the more disgraceful, doesn't it.

If Abbott comes to be the Prime Minister, will you be jumping up and down demanding the ALP return to government when he's exposed as the lying incompetent fraud that he is?

Somehow, I highly doubt it.

if Abbott becomes PM and is as dysfunctional and incompetent as this Labor government i will bag them out for sure, but let's be honest here....there's a long way before that occurs.....

and i have waited for alot of shit to go down before bagging these useless bags of shit,

as peter Garrett would say and live his political career by "short memories, must have short memories"

still can't understand how anyone can seriously defend this government, also my critisism isn't just about the lies, it's also about the deceit of gillard, the incompetence,the waste....and really to be perfectly honest and fair i really should heap much more critisism on this pathetic bunch of morons known as "the Greens" as they are really worse than LABOR here........much much worse.....however she is master of her own destiny and she got into bed with them and deserse the blame for doing so......

You are so full of shit, and/or delusional, and your story changes so often that it's uncanny.

You've admitted that you despise labor and want Tony Abbott in because of "past history".
You've conveniently ignored all examples of Tony Abbott doing things as bad, if not worse, than anything Julia Gillard has done to hold onto power.
You've declared that Bob Brown could not possibly know anything about politics or what an Australian family needs because he's gay.
You've justified your hatred of a federal government by pointing to a state (NSW) platform.
You've used highly defamatory & mysoginistic insults towards the Prime Minister based on her gender & appearance with little regard for her actual politics.
You've been unable to articulate any rebuttal other than hyperbolic nonsense and accusing people of being mean spirited, brainwashed, succeptable to spin (whilst posting YouTubes from wakeup2thelies & Andrew Bolt :lol:), too young to understand and Labor gimps.

But yeah, I'm really sure you waited a whole bunch before jumping on the hate-wagon.

when and if he becomes PM ill give it to him......

sorry matt, in life you will just have a accpet things the way they are and learn to agree to disagree........

like i keep say you would make a great politian, because you so good at manipilating the truth, and taking comments out of context....or perhaps you'd make a great Jouralist, because you won't let the truth get in the way of a good story

No you won't.thanks for the opportunity As someone else pointed out, you've already conveniently ignored Barry O'Farrel because he plays for the team that you prefer.what have i ignored, provide it and i will answer it


This is funny. Really funny.i have to accept your bigoted replies and attitude, i accept your opinion, alot of it i agree with, but you seem to be foaming at the mouth waiting for me to make a mistake


So... you didn't post "past history....track record....:cool:" when directly asked why you were claiming that Abbott would do a better job than Gillard? My mistake.yes i said that but i didnt say i WANTED ABBOTT, i said he would be better, but i would prefer a LNP party led by turnbull, if i recall correctly, you said that you could "get onboard for thet"


So... Tony Abbott didn't offer Andrew Wilkie a billion dollars for a Hobart hospital or tell Tony Windsor that he would "do anything" to be PM except "sell my arse", but even then he would have to consider it? My mistake.so how is that different than what gillard has done, geez a hospital would be a good thing wouldnt it????and i dont know where you get your info from, is it hearsay from the labor spin machine or are you intimitaly involved????

I agree. Very incorrect of you to assert - you did anyway, it was one of the first political issues we clashed on. no i didnt i said "how would bob brown know what it is like to raise a family and have to deal with school fees and mortgage stress" or something very close to that effect,i DIDNT say that he didnt know anything about politics

Still waiting for you to articulate exactly how anything I have said is demonstrably untrue. So far all you really have is unfounded hyperbolic opinons.

Edited by notorganic: 6/3/2012 05:22:57 PM

Keating: I'd do a better job now

March 9, 2012 - 2:09PM

Paul Keating: "As you get older you do get smarter".

Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating thinks he would be a better leader now than he was 16 years ago.

In an interview with the national German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the party figurehead ruminates about the issue following the elevation of his NSW Labor colleague Bob Carr, 64, to the Senate.

"I can do the job more easily now than I did at that time," he says, according to a translation and other quotes provided by the author.

‘‘Because as you get older you do get smarter.

"You get more efficient about the way you devote your time and energies.

"And therefore I would be much more effective at doing this."

In the feature article, Mr Keating, who is contemplating his 68th year, acknowledges the "very big" commitment required to be prime minister of Australia.

He also appears to rule out any chance of returning to the political fray, as former NSW premier Mr Carr will do next week.

"You only get one life. That means you gotta go back. And I’m 68 now," he says.

Mr Keating was photographed having lunch with Mr Carr in Sydney’s Potts Point last Saturday, a day after Mr Carr, who was enjoying retirement, was offered the senate vacancy and the foreign ministry by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

The FAZ article, published on March 8, also discusses Mr Keating’s love of German composers like Mahler.

It also compares him to reformist German politician Helmut Schmidt, a Social Democrat who was Chancellor of West Germany from 1974 to 1982.

Mr Keating was prime minister from December 1991 to March 1996, when he lost the election to the Liberal MP John Howard.

AAP


Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/opinion/political-news/keating-id-do-a-better-job-now-20120309-1upf5.html#ixzz1ocLAkMtb

Carr attacks Abbott as a 'cheapskate hypnotist'

Jessica Wright
March 13, 2012 - 1:03PM

Read later.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard's Labor Party has suffered a four-point drop in its primary vote, but she has overtaken Tony Abbott as preferred prime minister. Photo: Andrew Meares

Incoming foreign minister Bob Carr has called Tony Abbott a ‘‘cheapskate hypnotist’’ and says that the Opposition Leader should be worried about the latest poll results showing a drop in his personal support.

Mr Carr, who was sworn into the Senate at 12.30pm, said that Mr Abbott was treating the electorate as fools by relying on populist ‘‘slogans’’ rather than policy detail.

‘‘I think that it is striking that 18 months out from the election there is simply a six-point gap between the two sides,’’ he said. ‘‘I think it is very interesting that Tony Abbott’s support has gone down. Tony Abbott is like a cheapskate hypnotist in a run-down circus.

Advertisement: Story continues below ‘‘He’s saying to the electorate ‘look into my eyes, you are growing weaker, no more boats, end Labor’s big bad tax, debt and deficit.

‘‘It’s a very cheap performance and if you paid five bucks to get into Wirth’s Circus and that’s all you got from the hypnotist you’d ask for your money back.

‘‘The endless repetition of these slogans is like an attempt by a trainee hypnotist to work wonders on a cobra in basket.’’

Mr Carr was responding to the latest Newspoll, which showed the hangover from the Labor leadership brawl manifesting in a four-point collapse in the party’s primary vote.

But Prime Minister Julia Gillard received a boost in the survey, overtaking the Opposition Leader in the preferred prime minister stakes, with support of 39 per cent compared with Mr Abbott’s 37 per cent.

The poll shows while Labor’s primary vote slipped from 35 per cent — recorded just before the leadership ballot between Ms Gillard and Kevin Rudd — to 31 per cent, the Coalition’s primary vote also fell over the same two-week period, sliding from 45 per cent to 43 per cent.

New Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury backed Mr Carr’s comments, saying that the Coalition was the clear loser from the poll results, given their primary vote fell despite the ‘‘tumultuous last couple of weeks’’ to befall Labor.

‘‘If I was a Liberal backbencher, I’d be scratching my head wondering how after the events of the last two weeks the Liberal party primary vote could go down,’’ Mr Bradbury said.

‘‘I would be equally scratching my head how Mr Abbott’s position as preferred prime minister could go backwards.’’

However, the two-party preferred basis numbers did not move — 53 per cent for the Coalition to Labor’s 47 per cent — which means the opposition still holds a comfortable election-winning lead over Labor.

The drop in its primary vote takes Labor to its equal worst performance in the poll this year and is the first survey since Ms Gillard saw off Mr Rudd in the ballot by 71 votes to 31.

Support for the Greens climbed one point to 12 per cent while the category of others attracted a 14 per cent primary vote, its highest level since 2006.

The Coalition’s primary of 43 per cent also represents its worst showing this year, down from highs of 46 per cent in February and 48 per cent in November.

Voter satisfaction with Ms Gillard’s performance climbed two points from 26 per cent to 28 per cent, while her dissatisfaction rating fell by two points to 62 per cent. Ten per cent of respondents were uncommitted.

Thirty-two per cent of respondents were satisfied with Mr Abbott’s performance — a rise of one point — and his dissatisfaction rose by the same margin to 58 per cent.

The poll results come as Parliament resumes today for the first day of a two-week sitting period with the mining tax is expected to take centre stage from Wednesday when a Senate committee is due to report on the legislation.

The government hopes to push the bill through the Senate this fortnight — the last sitting session before the federal budget — but has met with resistance from the Greens, who say they will not be rushed into voting for the mining tax legislation.

Greens leader Bob Brown said yesterday he held reservations over the legislation, in particular that the promised cut to the company tax rate for small businesses was not included in the bill. The mining tax, which is planned to raise about $10.5 billion in its first two years, will fund a range of measures, including an infrastructure fund, higher superannuation contributions, and tax writeoffs for small business.

The company tax break is expected to be announced as a special measure in the May budget.

Despite his demand for the government to legislate immediately for the tax cut, Senator Brown conceded the mining tax would begin on July 1.

‘‘There is a certain degree of the government taking the Greens and the Parliament for granted there,’’ he said. ‘‘[But] . . . if we vote against it, we end up with nothing.

‘‘Our position is that ultimately we are going to have to pass the mining tax because Tony Abbott’s Coalition is opposed to it,’’ he said.

Mr Carr will be formally sworn in as a senator in Parliament this morning and will then head to Government House, where he will be sworn in as foreign affairs minister by Governor-General Quentin Bryce.

He will spend his first question time in federal Parliament as a backbencher and is expected to be the focus of the opposition’s attentions from tomorrow when he joins the front bench.

One of Mr Carr's first tasks as Foreign Minister will be to host his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalagawa who arrives in Canberra tomorrow.

Mr Carr has said that he thinks ''fondly of Indonesians'' and praised the country for economic and democratic progress.

But tetchy issues in the relationship are likely to be on the agenda, with concerns about animal cruelty in Indonesian abbatoirs last year leading to a ban on Australian cattle exports and ongoing debates in Australia about asylum seekers travelling through Indonesia.

Dr Natalagawa will give a speech at the Australian National University and also hold talks with Defence Minister Stephen Smith.


Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/carr-attacks-abbott-as-a-cheapskate-hypnotist-20120313-1ux2g.html#ixzz1ozw4Zxa5

pretty standard practice for the ALP to wheel out all these old decrepit has been ex PM's and premiers.....well past their used by date.....

yes Matt , quite funny how the Gillard government constantly complain about Abbott attacking them and being negative, but here we are with the pot calling the kettle

Bye bye Anna Bligh as Labor faces election rout, says Galaxy Poll

by: Darrell Giles From: The Sunday Mail (Qld) March 18, 2012

IT'S bye bye Anna Bligh. The long campaign and focus on political novice Campbell Newman has spectacularly failed.

An exclusive Sunday Mail poll, conducted by Galaxy Research, reveals Mr Newman and the Liberal National Party are six days away from taking government in Queensland.

The LNP has maintained its 20-point lead over Labor and is on target to win between 65 and 70 seats next Saturday. The Bligh government will be reduced to as few as 12 seats from its current 51.

The poll of 800 voters was conducted on Thursday and Friday nights - after the Crime and Misconduct Commission cleared Mr Newman of corruption claims, and links between the CMC and the ALP were revealed.

Voters reacted angrily to the Labor mud-slinging and Ms Bligh's concerted attacks on Mr Newman and his family.

Her personal satisfaction rating dropped to an all-time low from 43 per cent to just 36 per cent.

Those dissatisfied with her performance as premier jumped from 52 per cent to 61 per cent.

Mr Newman also increased his lead in the preferred premier stakes. It jumped one point to 51-43 from a Galaxy poll taken just days before the official election campaign kicked off on February 19.

"The long campaign for the state election has not enabled the Labor Party to peg back the lead enjoyed by the LNP," Galaxy principal David Briggs said.

"After being in government for 20 of the last 22 years, Labor has been unable to convince voters that it deserves another term of government."

A Galaxy poll on February 15-16 had the LNP with a 49-30 lead on primary vote and 60-40 on two-party preferred.

Those figures were almost replicated after a month of campaigning across the state.

Mr Briggs said that could translate into more than 70 seats for the LNP.

Support for the Greens had dropped from 11 per cent in February to just 9 per cent last week.

The latest Galaxy poll reveals the Labor Party is well and truly on the nose. In November, 52 per cent of voters said they would vote for the ALP. But that figure dropped to 43 per cent last week.

Labor's only hope in this campaign had been its popular female leader. But the new figures will disturb ALP strategists who insisted Ms Bligh lead a personal crusade against Mr Newman.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/queensland/labor-facing-a-rout/story-fnbt5t29-1226302791590

What an utter nutjob.

So can someone please remind me of the worth of the mining tax again?

Yes it supposedly is meant to 'help' the environment but by slowing down the mining industry when we are experiencing such a big boom in mining is just plain stupid and shows a real lack of understanding of the economy. If we slow our mining sector, which is a very large component of our economy, we slow our economy, reduce GDP and reduce economic growth. This could lead to loss of investor confidence which in the long run could seriously negatively affect our economy as a whole. And don't forget the mining sector was what really got us out of the GFC through China buying large amounts of mining exports during this time.

I think you're getting your taxes crossed.

all of the above and it's already occurring.......

Except that it's wrong. Even with this tax Australia is still the best place & lowest taxed for international companies to mine despite the sour grapes from within the sector.

The mining sector is far from slowing down, and to suggest that the mining tax will be destructive to the economy is direct from the Fearmongering 101 handbook.

The Age has done some excellent analysis on the matter over the last few days.

Bob Carr makes another gaffe

March 22, 2012 - 4:54AM

Read later.AAP

Foreign Minister Bob Carr is under attack again, this time for passing on condolences to the "parents" of an orphaned Brazilian man fatally tasered by NSW police.

The opposition says Senator Carr, in the job for just 10 days, needs to get on top of his brief before he speaks publicly.

The foreign minister on Wednesday night revealed he had spoken to the Brazilian ambassador about the death of Roberto Laudisio Curti, 21, in Sydney on Sunday.

"I expressed my heart-felt condolences, and asked him to pass them onto the parents," he told ABC TV.

Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Julie Bishop has described the remarks as insensitive because Mr Laudisio's parents are dead.

"The foreign affairs portfolio can be complex and it can require great sensitivity in the handling of matters," Ms Bishop told ABC radio on Thursday.

"It seems to me Senator Carr needs to spend more time getting on top of his brief before he speaks about certain circumstances."

Family members said Mr Laudisio had been living in Sydney since last year, studying English and playing soccer.

He had planned to continue with his tertiary studies in Australia this year.

Mr Laudisio's uncle, Joao Eduardo Laudisio, is a financier from a well-known family in Brazil who is understood to have helped raise his nephew after his parents died from cancer when he was young.

Earlier on Wednesday, Senator Carr admitted he was was wrong last week to threaten sanctions against Papua New Guinea, saying his choice of language was a mistake.

"I've learned a lesson," he said.


Read more: http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-national/bob-carr-makes-another-gaffe-20120322-1vky8.html#ixzz1pmu06C87

Yeah, probably mate. It's clearly vastly inferior to the data provided by the billionaires that will have their obscene profits slightly shaved by a tax on materials they are extracting from Australian ground.