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Julia's Reign

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Scotty

David Codey (61)
It hasn't started well. I hope it gets better from here, because at the moment it is reminding me of the rush rush and no consideration of the last term.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nat...hris-evans-title/story-fn59niix-1225922039487

JULIA Gillard has been forced to make four changes to her ministers' titles since naming her team on Saturday.

Ms Gillard bowed to pressure today from the higher education sector and added Tertiary Education to Senator Chris Evans' job title of Jobs, Skills and Workplace Relations Minister.

And Warren Snowdon has had his role as indigenous health minister reinstated amid concerns from indigenous groups and doctors.

The title adjustments follow Saturday's errors that saw science and industry Minister Kim Carr lose "research" from his job title and the position of Minister for the status of women added to Kate Ellis' portfolio responsibilities after another apparent oversight.
 

Scotty

David Codey (61)
No real surprise that Turnbull has been elevated to communications shadow, and that Abbott is going after Labor on this policy.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au...on-cabinet-9A989?OpenDocument&src=hp2&src=pmm

"The National Broadband Network ... is going to become an icon of waste and incompetence," he said.

"I've already described it as school halls on steroids and we can be certain that the National Broadband Network will be to this term of government what pink batts and school halls were in the last term of government."

Mr Turnbull would hold the government to account on the policy, Mr Abbott said, adding that he had the appropriate technical expertise and business experience "to entirely demolish the government on this issue."
 
C

chief

Guest
It can only get better from here. With there 10 Billion Regional Development Plan, I can see a lot of election promises being broken. We all must remember Gillard has always had it over Abbott in Parliament so that should be very interesting when Parliament sits.

I think she'll last the whole term, the last thing the Labour Party need, is a general perception of there party being that they knife leaders. I wasn't impressed with Gillard's campaign, she blamed Anna Bligh, who I'm a big fan of and seemed to blame everyone but herself. Poor old Bill Shorten, I bet he regrets being one of the "faceless" men, probably has harmed his chances at a shot at PM, but time can only tell.

One must wonder if Tony Abbott will last the next three years at Opposition Leader.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Turnbull in the comms portfolio is a very good move. The NBN could hurt the government and it's certainly an area that I would attack if I were in opposition. Turnbull understands that area very well.
 

barbarian

Phil Kearns (64)
Staff member
Poor old Bill Shorten, I bet he regrets being one of the "faceless" men, probably has harmed his chances at a shot at PM, but time can only tell.

Yeah that will be interesting to see. I would think not- people tend to have short memories about this sort of stuff. I also wonder about how his background in the ACTU will play in a potential campaign, as the unions have been on the nose with the public and media for some time now. He is a fairly impressive politician though, and that tends to make up for a lot of past indiscretions (think Tony Abbott is walking proof of that).
 

Aussie D

Dick Tooth (41)
Maybe the thread title should be changed to "The Reign of Julia I" or "The Reign of Julia the Red".

Did anyone else see the front page of the Australian today? The picture of Rudd, Crean and Conroy was priceless. Was trying to get my friends to have a caption competition of what Crean was saying. Rudd did not want to be there which probably explains why he is so eager to take off overseas - even to war torn Pakistan!
 

cyclopath

George Smith (75)
Staff member
C

chief

Guest
I give 2 months before another election.

Severely doubt it. Another election would not achieve a full result I'd say as well. Libs out of everyone, probably have a bigger chance of winning. Independents certainly won't rush back to the polls. Oakeshott could very well lose his seat as well, Tony Crook would probably lose his seat after what he has done to the Nationals Party. Libs could certainly have a crack at the two marginal seats in Melbourne which they lost (LaTrobe, and McEwen), especially after Gillard came out yesterday and said promises will be broken, a lot more marginal seats which were lost could even swing towards the Libs.

I think the Labor Government will last the full term, with Gillard as leader, Abbott's discipline can only last a certain amount of time I'd say. There's no denying he's been an effective Opposition Leader, but I can't see him in the job for the next three years.
 

Bowside

Peter Johnson (47)
Business leaders are just looking out for number 1, not necessarily the national interest. Some of Labors policies will not be well received by large private companies; it's bound to happen as the Labor philosophy is less focused on private enterprise and more focused on equitable distribution of the wealth and whatnot. A similar situation occurred in regards to many of the Liberal party’s policies when they were in government; however the criticism was often of a different kind.

Furthermore, the culture of 'consequence and retribution' is as much the media's fault as any politician. In this country we have the majority of media controlled by people with right wing bias, which fuels the retribution and stifles left wing government attempts at reform. More often than not they are shot down with misinformation.

Readers need to appreciate the difference between bad government performance, and government performance that is bad for a minority.
 

Scotty

David Codey (61)
Furthermore, the culture of 'consequence and retribution' is as much the media's fault as any politician. In this country we have the majority of media controlled by people with right wing bias, which fuels the retribution and stifles left wing government attempts at reform. More often than not they are shot down with misinformation.

I think you are probably just talking about the Australian newspaper, because even other News Limited papers certainly do not have a right wing bias, and Fairfax, in my view leans more left. Also there is no doubting that the ABC group also leans left, so I think you are no correct in saying that right wing media bias stifles left wing government reform.

And talking about reform, the left wing version over the last few years has involved treating the Australian public like idiots, and forcing reforms on them without much or any consultation. ETS and mining tax are prime examples of this.

There is no benefit for their shareholders in these business leaders colluding and making up stories about their treatment at the hands of Labor politicians, as you have implied they have. We really need to question why Labor hasn't consulted with some of the best business minds of this country in formulating policy. Actually not just not consulted, but actively ignored or rejected criticism.

The Labor philosophy is based on bigger spending, bigger government, higher taxes, less individual freedom, less individual choice and opportunity. A culture of people getting giving things they don't necessarily deserve. Of courses this isn't all Labor, but this is their basis, coming from their union beginnings and ties.
 

Richo

John Thornett (49)
Heh. I think media bias is often in the eye of the beholder, because I'd say that The Oz is on a massive anti-Labor crusade and very right-wing, the rest of the News Ltd stable isn't far behind, and Fairfax has swung to the right in the last decade, especially on its opinion pages, and qualifies more as "centrist" than "left".

But aside from that, I think it's not quite true to say that the ETS was without consultation. Labor ran on a platform of introducing a carbon trading scheme in 2007 and people voted them in in a landslide. One of the main reasons people turned on Rudd was that he DIDN'T do things he said he would, like the ETS, not that he didn't consult on them.
 

Scotty

David Codey (61)
That is probably a fair comment. It wasn't run without consultation, I guess it was more that he tried to introduce it without fully explaining it and the mechanisms behind it.
 

Bowside

Peter Johnson (47)
I would argue that other news limited papers do in fact hold the same bias; in some cases they are more biased.

Recent Labor governments have had a lot of trouble explaining their policies to general public. The lack on consultation has baffled me, and in this sense they have most defiantly failed. But that doesn’t mean the policy is necessarily bad, it just means it have been explained badly, maybe due to its complexity, maybe there are other reasons.

I agree that business people need to be bought on board, and I doubt ANY government would formulate policies like ours has without having at least some consultation with business, in addition of course to treasury, noted economists and the unions.

I totally resent your last paragraph. The Labor ideology encompasses the idea of equality of opportunity, in some cases this necessitates bigger spending and bigger government.

I was fortunate to receive huge levels of opportunity in life. Born in Australia into a supportive family, my parents worked hard to send me to a GPS school, where I was constantly pushed to achieve. While at high school my parents insisted I not get a part time job so that I could focus on my studies, which meant I achieved more than I ever thought I would and gave me a massive head start in regards to tertiary education and my eventual career.

Thing is not every kid is born into a good house-hold in a nice middle class suburb in Australia. Some kids have parents who could not provide in the same way mine could, who could not send their children to a GPS school or who were not educated enough to posses the foresight to push their children in order for them to reap the rewards later in life.

The Labor party emphasises the plight of these people, provides them with opportunity, and encourages them to make the most of opportunities given to them. Not all of them will, and you can put that down to human nature.

However that’s not to say they don’t deserve the same opportunities you or I were given, and who are you to allege such things.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
I think the left leaning parties are more about equality of outcome than they are about equality of opportunity. The right leaning parties are more about every (wo)man for themselves and the moderate centre-left and centre-right elements in the big parties are more about equality of opportunity -- something which I strongly support.
 

Bowside

Peter Johnson (47)
That’s a very fair explanation Hornet. I am also a fan of the 'Third way' if you will. I believe in capitalism and private enterprise, but I also believe government has moral and social responsibilities to its people. I’m all for people being successful in life, but I also believe that all people should be given relatively equal opportunities to achieve such success.
 

The_Brown_Hornet

John Eales (66)
Yep, I am as ardent a capitalist as you will find, but I also accept that there are people in our society that need a hand up (not necessarily a hand out) and that we all benefit as a result. I also believe that our government should protect the rights of individuals and interfere as little as possible in their daily affairs, so long as nobody is being harmed.
 
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