Admin
Administrator 
Posts: 377
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Post by Admin on Aug 4, 2013 21:44:32 GMT
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Admin
Administrator
Posts: 377
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Post by Admin on Aug 4, 2013 21:51:05 GMT
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Post by cenydd on Aug 6, 2013 9:48:25 GMT
I don't pretend to know that much about Australian politics (I'm interested, though - apart from anything else, my partner's Australian cousin is very much involved in local politics as a councillor), but from what I've heard it seem to me that the government have brought this on themselves with their internal rifts and power struggles within the party. It just seems like the top layers of the Labor party have kind of self-destructed. Is that what's going on?
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Post by Leo on Aug 7, 2013 17:15:59 GMT
I don't pretend to know that much about Australian politics (I'm interested, though - apart from anything else, my partner's Australian cousin is very much involved in local politics as a councillor), but from what I've heard it seem to me that the government have brought this on themselves with their internal rifts and power struggles within the party. It just seems like the top layers of the Labor party have kind of self-destructed. Is that what's going on? LOL, I probably know less than you about Australian politics, but I am in Oz at the moment, and I can tell you that the leader of the opposition - Tony Abbot - comes across as a horrible, arrogant man, with no empathy for the disadvantaged. He is a religious fanatic and a fitness freak (a deadly combination AFIC) - not to mention a climate change denialist - and is frequently seen in his 'budgie smuggler' speedos and the most obscene looking lycra cycling gear. Eew! (I think someone tore the page containing the definition of dignity out of his dictionary.)  P.S: I'm being deliberately provocative to get a debate going (but that is pretty much the impression a number of Aussies have of him).  |
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Post by cenydd on Aug 7, 2013 21:32:01 GMT
Was there ever a page containing the word 'dignity' in Australian dictionaries?! (sorry - couldn't resist that) I have to say that from what I've seen on this side of the world that he seems like a less than impressive candidate, but it's hard to get a full enough picture to judge. |
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diuretic
Scribe
Posts: 49 
Politics: Centre Left
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Post by diuretic on Aug 8, 2013 0:24:04 GMT
Disclosure - I am a dyed-in-the-wool Labor voter although it looks like I'm actually left enough to vote Greens - www.abc.net.au/votecompass/The Labor Party federally has had some woeful internal issues. If I can summarise just those for a moment and not go to policies - Rudd first time around drove his cabinet and caucus room nuts and showed he is not an effective leader or PM. He was dumped not because of that but because the public were getting sick of him. Julia Gillard became PM and showed leadership and how to be a proper PM. Unfortunately she was poorly advised especially in media management. A UK spin doctor was brought in and frankly hashed it all up. He seemed to have no idea about local mores, which is fair enough. The bloke was Malcolm Tucker Lite (yes he is a Scot as well). So Julia went down in the eyes of the public and polls dropped and despite her great work she was dumped because Labor was terrified of losing the next election so Rudd was brought back after some rehab and promised not to be the nutter he was. As far as governing goes, they made a few policy mistakes but generally - especially under Gillard - they did well where it matters, in getting policy implemented. But it's all about impressions and with the Murdoch newspaper dominance in Australia Labor is struggling to get its message across. I am biased against the Coalition, I admit it. But aside from that I believe they are not ready for government and their evasiveness in addressing real policy questions is indicative of their inability to do the job. The Coalition is Tory - it has no time for the ordinary person and simply represents the Big End of Town as we put it. |
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Post by truthvigilante on Aug 11, 2013 2:22:29 GMT
I don't pretend to know that much about Australian politics (I'm interested, though - apart from anything else, my partner's Australian cousin is very much involved in local politics as a councillor), but from what I've heard it seem to me that the government have brought this on themselves with their internal rifts and power struggles within the party. It just seems like the top layers of the Labor party have kind of self-destructed. Is that what's going on? LOL, I probably know less than you about Australian politics, but I am in Oz at the moment, and I can tell you that the leader of the opposition - Tony Abbot - comes across as a horrible, arrogant man, with no empathy for the disadvantaged. He is a religious fanatic and a fitness freak (a deadly combination AFIC) - not to mention a climate change denialist - and is frequently seen in his 'budgie smuggler' speedos and the most obscene looking lycra cycling gear. Eew! (I think someone tore the page containing the definition of dignity out of his dictionary.) P.S: I'm being deliberately provocative to get a debate going (but that is pretty much the impression a number of Aussies have of him). Abbott has done well to restrain himself to be honest, but he just has that uncomfortable mysteriousness that makes you nervous. There has been an ongoing campaign of negativity against labor by mainstream media, but labor have done themselves no favours when it comes to counteracting this negativity. Rupert Murdoch owns 75% of print media in Australia if this helps to paint a picture of the situation. Anyway it didn't take long for Rudd to be on the nose when first elected, especially for those who followed politics closely. The coalition should win the up coming election, but the ALP simply can't sit back and be passive when this occurs. The ALP doesn't need another Kim Beasley or Simon Crean passive opposition leadership style. It would be in their best interest to keep Abbott and the coalition on their toes and prove ALP directions were appropriate for Australia despite the peoples desire for change. |
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