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Julia's Reign

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Mr Doug

Mr Doug

Dick Tooth (41)
chief said:
Indeed, but there is one thing particularly disturbing I think for Liberal Party pollsters. And that is Abbott's low satisfaction ratings. That means when he becomes PM, it will be easy for him to fall from grace.
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Is she one of Thomson's "escorts"?
 
C

chief

Guest
All Abbott, Turnbull and Gillard are incredibly smart. Gillard and Abbott are by far and away the best debaters this parliament has seen since Keating to their credit. But they both are career politician's. The kind that will happily do something that the focus groups tell them to do. The focus groups in the marginal seats.

Turnbull lacks the politics, but he has all the substance, common sense and will probably go down in history as one of the best Prime Minister's we never had. And let's face it, should Abbott some how lose the next election, the Libs won't go to Turnbull. Nor Hockey, as he has shown his idiocy as Shadow Treasurer. They will go to Scott Morrison who in my opinion is the slimiest, most disgusting politician I have ever seen.

Also Arthur Sinodinos gain to the Libs offers a chance for a much needed reshuffle for Abbott. Get rid of the Howard government deadwood. Bring in Arthur Sinodinos, O'Dwye and Paul Fletcher. And get rid of Hockey.
 
Ruggo

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
As unpopular as the government is there are some good oporators in it. Burke, Crean and Smith I have high opinions of. Faulkner in the senate is another one. Turnbull on the opposition I respect but there are some on that side I despise such as Pyne, Morrison, Bishop, Hockey, Miarabella, Abetz, Brandis not to mention the congo line of idiots that form the National Party.
 
Bruwheresmycar

Bruwheresmycar

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
Most of them are pretty good at debating, but because they are all so incredibly dishonest, the debates are just pure garbage. Abbot and Gillard aren't that great. Kevin Rudd and Malcom Turnbull sh*t all over this mob if you ask me. But then again, Kevin is also pretty dishonest with his arguments as well.

I'm usually impressed by Anthony Albanese, I don't know much about him, but he is probably Labor's best "arguer" in my view.

This is just what i have observed on days when i am sick at home and get bored enough to watch question time.
 
cyclopath

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
Albanese is a good shouter, that's about it. I have seldom seen him show any true debating skill.
 
Bruwheresmycar

Bruwheresmycar

Nicholas Shehadie (39)
From what i've seen he is a pretty quick thinker and usually has a good rebuttal on the spot. I don't know if he is intelligent or not, he just does a much better job than most of his colleges in the house of reps.
 
ACT Crusader

ACT Crusader

Jim Lenehan (48)
Albo - is the chief "head kicker", he's not a "debater". Every Govt has one of these MP (Moana Pasifika)'s (often the Leader of the Govt in the House) that shouts the loudest, thinks they're quick witted, and tries to get "stuck in" to the opposition. Abbott was that guy a few years back under Howard.
 
Lindommer

Lindommer

Steve Williams (59)
Staff member
Righto, boys, enough of this private school claptrap, you can do that in your own time. Let's engage with the real world.
 
Ruggo

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
...
False Australian article leaves Gillard seeing red
Jeremy Thompson
Updated August 30, 2011 16:18:15

Photo: It is understood Julia Gillard made angry early-morning phone calls to The Australian's publisher. (Torsten Blackwood, file photo: AFP) Map: Australia
Friction between the Murdoch press and the Federal Government has escalated in the wake of an incorrect article about Prime Minister Julia Gillard published in yesterday's Australian newspaper.

The article led to an embarrassing apology from the newspaper, which acknowledged that not only were allegations about Ms Gillard "untrue" but that no attempt had been made to contact her for comment before publication.

The article, written by journalist Glenn Milne - but later repudiated by the newspaper - claimed Ms Gillard had been unknowingly implicated in a "major union fraud" while she was working as a lawyer in Melbourne before she entered parliament.

Milne reported on allegations that concerned "the embezzlement of union funds - not disputed - and later the subject of a court conviction by a former boyfriend of Gillard, Bruce Wilson".

At the time Mr Wilson was an official with the Australian Workers Union.

Milne alleged that "as a solicitor acting on instructions, she set up an association later used by her lover to defraud the AWU".

"But she has strenuously denied ever knowing what the association's bank accounts were used for," Milne added.

Milne wrote that he had originally written the story in 2007 but was prevented on legal advice publishing another allegation.

"What the lawyers would not allow to be reported was the fact that Gillard shared a home in Fitzroy bought by Wilson using the embezzled funds. There is no suggestion that Gillard knew about the origin of the money," Milne wrote.

Ms Gillard has strenuously denied the claims.

The article was published in The Australian yesterday, both in the newspaper and online, but by 9.30am the online version had disappeared to be replaced by an apology.

The apology read:

"THE AUSTRALIAN published today an opinion piece by Glenn Milne which includes assertions about the conduct of the Prime Minister.

"The Australian acknowledges these assertions are untrue. The Australian also acknowledges no attempt was made by anyone employed by, or associated with, The Australian to contact the Prime Minister in relation to this matter.

"The Australian unreservedly apologises to the Prime Minister and to its readers for the publication of these claims."

Angry calls
ABC News Online understands Ms Gillard made angry early-morning phone calls to The Australian's publisher, John Hartigan, and editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell after which the article was pulled.

It is understood Ms Gillard had phoned Mr Hartigan on Saturday after another Murdoch journalist, Andrew Bolt, had written on his blog of ''a tip on something that may force Gillard to resign''.

It began: ''On Monday, I'm tipping, a witness with a statutory declaration will come forward and implicate Julia Gillard directly in another scandal involving the misuse of union funds.''

No such witness has come forward.

It is believed Mr Hartigan has assured Ms Gillard that no News Limited journalist was planning to write any such story about her - but he apparently had not checked with The Australian.

Today, Bolt's blog read cryptically: "No politics until further notice. Principles to weigh up. Faith to keep. Sorry."

It was later updated to promise that "after discussions I now feel free to speak my mind. So I shall. In tomorrow's column."

Ethics questioned
Asked about Milne's article, Ms Gillard described it as "a false report in breach of all known standards of journalism".

"They'd made no approach to me to seek a comment or to check what was asserted," she told a press conference.

"They clearly realised they had done the wrong thing and published a retraction as a result, so the only question here really is how is it that a false allegation about the Prime Minister is published in The Australian newspaper without anyone from The Australian contacting me or my office for a comment?

"This is a question of ethics and standards for The Australian."

Editor of The Australian, Clive Mathieson, told ABC News Online that Ms Gillard's "claim of inaccuracies" is being looked into.

"We are investigating the Prime Minister's claim of inaccuracies in the story. As the correction points out, we regret that the PM was not given any chance to respond to the allegations."

He said Milne "will remain a contributor to the paper".
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Scotty

Scotty

David Codey (61)
The irony of Gillard getting upset at others for being untrue (yes the following is from the Australian, but 2 of the 3 quoted are Labor supporting union officials - and they are claiming she basically lied in a meeting to them):

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...ustry-protection/story-fn59niix-1226125368139

UNIONS and industry figures are shocked at Julia Gillard's rejection of a manufacturing inquiry, saying the Prime Minister gave the impression during crisis talks yesterday that she would consider the proposal.

Australian Workers Union secretary Paul Howes, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union secretary Dave Oliver, and Australian Industry Group chief executive Heather Ridout all left yesterday's talks with the Prime Minister believing she would consider the inquiry.

But within hours, Industry Minister Kim Carr had declared the idea a non-starter.

Government insiders also said Ms Gillard had during the meeting rejected calls for a “short, sharp” inquiry into the sector.

And today the Prime Minister denied indicating she would consider an inquiry, saying: “People can get different impressions from a conversation, that's human, that's natural.”

Ms Gillard was speaking after meeting steel workers facing redundancy at Port Kembla in NSW.

Mr Howes said he believed Ms Gillard had left the option of a manufacturing inquiry on the table after yesterday's meeting.

“The impression I got was she wanted us to come back to her with some ideas,” he said today.

“I certainly didn't think she'd ruled it out at all.”

Ms Ridout said she was left with the understanding that Ms Gillard had an open mind on the question.

“I was quite taken aback to read the papers to see that wasn't their take on it,” she said.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Dave Oliver told The Australian Online after the meeting yesterday he was in no doubt Ms Gillard was considering the proposal.

“We raised the idea of an inquiry,” Mr Oliver said at the time. “She's going to talk to her colleagues and come back to us.”
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Scotty

Scotty

David Codey (61)
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...tralia-wikileaks/story-fn59niix-1226125970626

This isn't really a Gillard thing, more of a Rudd one, but it goes back to the very panicked response of the Rudd government to the GFC. At the time both the RBA and the opposition did not believe the government needed to have as large a stimulus as they did, and in hindsight it has been proven that the stimulus was about double what it needed to be. The government now is keen to continue down the track of poor economic management, to the extent that they have had to raise their own debt limits of $200B to $250B, and we are in a very poor position to fight what is likely to be a rocky couple of years.

But Professor McKibbin - who has argued that the scale of Labor's stimulus had contributed to overheating the economy during its recovery from the GFC - said Australia's performance during and since the crisis vindicated his position at the time.

"That's why you want the Reserve Bank to be independent from both Treasury and government," Professor McKibbin said. "It would have been good if the government had listened to my advice on fiscal policy at the time. We wouldn't be facing what we do now, which is an exacerbation of the two-speed economy.

"Right now we should be running surpluses and extracting demand from the economy to reduce pressures on the non-mining sectors."
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Ruggo

Ruggo

Mark Ella (57)
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