I can’t think of anything that Tony Abbott has going for him

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I don’t remember too much about Paul Keating. I do remember his arrogance, which many argue was the driving force behind his 1996 election loss. Nobody likes an arrogant politician. But I will say this about him: he was a brilliant economist and outside of politics a straight forward, normal bloke. No pretenses. You got what you saw. He had a lot going for him and his legacy is being widely hailed.

John Howard, well, I remember too much about him. What sticks in my mind the most was that he was a mean-spirited, lying little prick. I’m being honest here. But I will say one thing about him: he had some dignity. There was no way that he would have allowed his senior ministers to stand under “Ditch the Witch”signs at public rallies. He would have been silently appalled at the behavior we’ve seen from Abbott et al on that occasion.

I worked under Kevin Rudd and he was a hard task-master, verging on being a control freak. And he had difficulty grasping the concept that not everyone was as brilliant as him. But he was only doing what he thought was best – in the long run – for society’s battlers. He also had the strength to stand firm and stand by his convictions. A couple of his political decisions were monumental stuff-ups but all in all, he did try very hard to understand and deal with other people. And he listened to them.

Julia Gillard should be ashamed of whoever headed up her public relations department. She, personally, gave the impression that she was above all the criticism that she and her government faced. However, there was no way that she was above it. It was a misconception. But I’ll give her lots of credit where it’s due: she had guts and she had dignity. And having also worked for her I can vouch that she worked diligently to improve the lives of all Australians.

Tony Abbott. Well, he has nothing at all going for him. He has nothing in the bank. He is devoid of any of the good human qualities that the above are remembered for.

I want to hear the good things about Tony Abbott

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On John Lord’s excellent appraisal of Tony Abbott at The AIMN, in It Goes to the Character of the Man, someone asked (which I have slightly edited:

. . . could you please inform us about the positive things that Abbott has done since being elected?

This is a question I have asked often and have yet to get a proper answer. The usual non answer has been how bad Labor was. I want to know what policies have worked for the Coalition. Asylum seeker policy is claimed as successful (by them) . . . but I want an honest appraisal . . .

I have been asking similar questions on this blog for well over a year. I’ve never received an answer, except that “Julia Gillard or Kevin Rudd are bad therefore Tony Abbott must be good”. The “good” Tony Abbott is Prime Minister now. Here is the chance for his admirers to give us an honest appraisal of his performance to date as PM.

Come on, let’s see if you can conjure up with something valid and honest. Of course, it’ll be a first and it’ll be new ground for you, based on your arguments to date.

Here’s your chance. I’m waiting.

Tony Abbott – Caricature (Photo credit: DonkeyHotey)

A classic example of a sexist right-winger losing the plot

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In over three years this blog has received almost 140,000 comments and among them there have been some absolute jaw-droppers from our friendly (and not so friendly) right-wing visitors.

Some of the pathetic dribble they sprout, either in support of their bumbling idol Tony Abbott, or their feigned condemnation of anyone who wears a Labor badge makes me proud to belong to the group of people who have an IQ at least 50 points higher than them.

If the topic is about refugees or Aborigines – they come here with their racist bile. If the topic is about Julia Gillard – you can bet they’ll be here with some below-the-belt sexist remark.

Yes, we’ve seen it all in our three plus years.

Today, however, their stupidity has been taken to a new level. Today we were blessed with a classic example of a sexist right-winger losing the plot. Here is the astounding comment that raised the bar of stupidity:

Gillard was a sick joke on society and has done irreparable damage to the cause of female participation in Parliaments. The question is always going to be when considering a future female . . . what if we get another Gillard.

Would anybody like to answer him for me?

I would like to start by suggesting: “Why would any female want to be PM of this country after the way the last one was treated?”

I appreciate that this is a consideration far too difficult for the commenter’s tiny brain to comprehend, so we may need to drum some sense into his small walnut.

Good luck!

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Do you remember when Julia Gillard was late for an appointment?

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Do you remember the tirade Julia Gillard received from Alan Jones (and the community at large) for being 10 minutes late for an interview? Here’s some of the transcript, which appears tame in comparison to the sting that was heard in the shock jock’s voice:

The interview had started poorly, with the Prime Minister arriving about 10 minutes late for her 7.10am slot.

“Ten past 7 is 10 past 7 isn’t it?” Jones said to Ms Gillard.

“I can understand you may not want to come on or you can’t come on but surely courtesy has to be part of the way in which the public are treated,” he said

To those who can remember hearing the now famous outburst, I’m sure you can recall the vile filth Jones lashed at the then PM. You may remember too, the lashings she received from the right-wing cheer squad who added her unforgivable tardiness to their long list of reasons why she was the most evil being on planet Earth.

Well I wonder what they’d have to say, including Jones, to Abbott being 20 minutes late to his first APEC meeting:

Arriving noticeably late to the first session of the APEC leaders meeting in Bali yesterday – where 21 world leaders gathered to talk about important matters – Mr Abbott appeared to be snubbed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And don’t you just love news.com, where that story is from? Tony Abbott was noticeably late; no mention that it was a whole 20 minutes. Tony Abbott was snubbed; yes, the headline to the story was “Did Russian President Vladimir Putin snub our Prime Minister Tony Abbott?” Of course, Putin is the bad guy.

But wait, there are more bad guys:

Explaining his tardiness to journalists this morning Mr Abbott blamed officials for not alerting him to the start of the meeting.

Yep, I guess that lets Tony of the hook. After all, he’s not well known for being able to fend for himself.

Meanwhile, do you remember when Julia Gillard was late for an interview with Alan Jones? Do you also remember the outcry?

Do I detect the stench of double standards from our media?

(Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Guess who’s doing something to address climate change?

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From the moment the Labor Party introduced policies to tackle the ravages of global warming, first with Kevin Rudd’s ETS and then Julia Gillard’s price on carbon, the Coalition have used just about every excuse to oppose them.

Prominent among these are the shallow arguments that Australia’s contribution to the carbon footprint is small, and more lamely, that while the big polluters like China and India sit idle in addressing climate change then why should Australia even bother.

I won’t myself bother with providing any links to their argument. Anybody who has read a newspaper, visited an online news service or listened to news radio would by now be well aware of these claims.

In government for less than a week, we have seen the Coalition try everything possible to send our efforts to address climate change back at least a decade.

Meanwhile, from one of those countries that they claim is doing nothing, India, comes this news: India Plans To Build The Largest Solar Plant In The World. In the Climate Progress online journal Andrew Breiner writes that:

Indian utilities plan to use 23,000 acres of land to build the largest solar power plant in the world, at 4 gigawatts of power, bringing prices and production of solar energy closer to competitiveness with coal.

The plant in Rajasthan is expected to commission its first phase in 2016, providing 1 gigawatt of power, enough to make it India’s largest solar power project ten times over. It will be a joint venture of five government-owned utilities. The other 3GW would be produced in an arrangement determined by the success of the first phase.

The finished plant would be comparable in power production to the four in-progress coal-fired Ultra Mega Power Plants (UMPP) under production, at 4 gigawatts of power. But those plants are struggling to hold prices low due to reliance on imported low-carbon coal. The solar plant’s operations won’t be subject to any such constraints.

In addition to cutting carbon, getting off of coal would help India reduce the 100,000+ deaths each year caused by coal plant pollution.

Jasmeet Khurana, of Bridge to India, said that these solar mega projects were intended to reduce the price of solar to INR 5 per kWh (USD 0.08/kWh), bringing it close enough to typical coal prices of INR 3.5/kWh to INR 4.5 kWh for solar to be truly competitive. In fact, coal’s relatively high prices made it so that even India’s largest coal company is turning to solar panels to lower its electric bills.

This comes as IBM and the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor Development Corporation finalized a plan to link technological infrastructure in a massive stretch between India’s business and political capitals. Grid improvements will be necessary to fully take advantage of the new solar plant, as India’s often experiences outages and rationing, especially outside of big cities.

Meanwhile, another effort is underway to use solar energy in India in an innovative way. A company called Sarvajal is developing solar-powered “water ATMs” for remote villages, where tens of millions of Indians drink contaminated water on a regular basis. The ATMs would allow entrepreneurs to profitably sell water in smaller villages where transporting bottled water is prohibitively expensive.

As coal and water stress in India drive prices higher, wind is already competitive with new-build coal, and solar parity is getting closer as well, with cost-competitiveness expected sometime between 2016 and 2018. A future of renewable energy may be within reach for India.

Gosh, those people in our government are fairly good at telling lies, aren’t they.

Image courtesy of Associated Press

Media mud chuckers

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It appears that no matter who leads the Labor Party, whether in Government or Opposition, the media always manage to dredge up some mud to throw at them.

When Rudd took over the leadership in 2006 they went into a frenzy over the story about him visiting a strip club in New York years earlier, or that he lunched with former WA Premier Brian Bourke. Bourke was painted to be evil, a disgraced person, therefore Rudd was not a worthy Prime Minister because, gulp, he had dined with him.

The Government at the time, led by John Howard, naturally chimed in. Howard was producing dirt files quicker than he was producing policies. Senior managers in my department were asked to gather as much mud as they could on Rudd’s wife, Therese Rein, who had had dealings with the department through her business interests.

Then there was Julia Gillard. Just look at how she was treated. Her achievements as Prime Minister were less important than who she slept with 17 years ago. And of course she was a ‘commie’ because she was a member of the union in her university days. The list of her alleged crimes of the past was endless, with each entry encouraging and attracting another mud chucking session.

She also had to cope with being labelled a back stabbed for replacing Rudd, aided of course by faceless men. Tags that never left them.

Rudd’s return was met with reminders that he was not popular with Gillard’s backers. He was a psychopath, if you were to believe the media.

There could be another election in six months if Abbott calls a DD. Whoever leads Labor going into it needs to be squeaky clean or the media will go in for the kill. If he is one of the so-called faceless men he’ll be murdered for it. If he or she was openly a Rudd or Gillard backer they’ll be exposed as someone who helped destroy the other’s leadership.

In a nutshell, the media will screw them on whatever flimsy evidence they can dig up. God help them if, at some time in the past, they had provided a personal referee for a priest later charged with pedophilia of had a history of pissing in shoes in Canberra restaurants, among other noteworthy ‘çrimes’.

At the moment there aren’t too many people in the party who’d be safe from the mud chucking. But anything will do. Kissing the wrong baby in 1985 or dumping a girlfriend as a teenager would be enough get the sharks circling.

In your opinion, given my assumption that the media would want political blood, who could thus be ruled out as the person to lead Labor at the next election?

What if . . . ?

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We well remember the drama surrounding the 2010 election result. In the end, it came down to Independents Windsor and Oakeshott siding with Labor for two reasons: Labor’s National Broadband Network (NBN) and the promise from Julia Gillard that she would not disrupt Parliament by calling an early election.

Given that a number of Liberal backbenchers were vying for the NBN to come to their electorates and that the government did serve its full term, Winsdor and Oakeshott made the right call.

Some optimists are suggesting that the 2013 election might be a repeat of 2010.

Let’s assume it is. And let’s assume it again comes down to a couple of Independents having the deciding vote.

What would they vote on and why?

I realise it is difficult to answer given that the Coalition have not released much in the way of policies, so we can only go on what we know so far.

Go fo it.

Note: This is a repost of an old post, which today seems more relevent than the time it was originally published.

For once I agree with Andrew Bolt

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My dislike of Andrew Bolt is well known, but it doesn’t mean to say that I shake my fists in disagreement at every word he mutters. Of course, most of the times I do. In my opinion most of what he comes up with is inspired by his tainted hatred of all things of the left and all that they stand for. His views on climate change and his continual mocking of those who stand by it are a case in point. So too are his opinions on Aboriginal issues. I disagree with his views and I would argue that they are based on ignorance, with a sprinkle of ‘hate for the left’ thrown in for good measure.

I find that he hardly writes about anything without resorting to his legendary ‘left bashing’.

I was directed to an article he wrote today titled Will Kevin Rudd be likewise asked to denounce this disgusting abuse? and whilst he grasped every opportunity to have a go at the left I feel his criticism of it was valid. The article is produced in full below.

Some crank carries a sexist sign at a rally against the carbon tax. Journalists and Labor turn on Tony Abbott.

A restaurateur creates a sexist menu for the private amusement of his son. Journalists and Labor turn on Tony Abbott.

A broadcaster at a private dinner makes a nasty crack (for which he apologises) about Julia Gillard’s father dying of shame. Journalists and Labor turn on Tony Abbott.

Anonymous trolls post abuse on the Facebook site of a Muslim Labor MP. Journalists and Labor demand a response from Tony Abbott.

The rank attempts to smear-by-association are offensive enough. Just as telling, though, is the hypocrisy of so many of the Left who hyperventilate over the insults of trolls when aimed at Labor, but cheer and book seats for even worse insults by prominent people when aimed at Abbott:

STAND-UP comedian Josh Thomas has been criticised after making sexually explicit remarks about Tony Abbott’s mother.

The TV star courted controversy after he publicly tweeted to the Opposition Leader’s official account: ”Stop the boats? I would prefer it if you stopped YO MOMMA from comin’ round my place at night for sex. #Political”.

Thomas’ comments were yesterday broadcast to his more than 220,000 followers.

Should Kevin Rudd apologise for creating this climate of hate?

Should Rudd, Gillard and Labor generally denounce and distance themselves from this small sample of the vitriol hurled at Abbott and his family – and not just from the usual anonymous Internet trolls, but from ABC guests, ABC guest presenters, former Fairfax columnists and assorted others of the Left, so sure of their superior morality that they feel licensed to be more cruel and vicious than anyone they denounce:

And then there’s the utterly vile abuse from Labor speechwriter Bob Ellis, who deserves to be sued again by Abbott as he was before.

The hypocrisy is as sickening as the hatred.

UPDATE

The hypocrisy of the Left…

The ABC says it is deciding whether to allow Piers Akerman to return as an Insiders’ panelist after he (correctly) noted Canberra press gallery journalists had some time ago discussed false rumors about the sexuality of Julia Gillard’s boyfriend.

But it is happy to keep employing as an on-screen book reviewer Marieke Hardy, who wrote one of the above tweets and published something far more evil:

Marieke Hardy… is hired by the ABC’s First Tuesday Book Club as an expert in literary culture.

That alone tells us so much about the parallel decline of both our branch of that culture and the ABC itself. Here, for instance, is Hardy’s tweet on the Opposition Leader at his campaign launch:

“The most conservative instinct of all – the instinct to have a family’. Tony Abbott, I hope your cock drops off and falls down a plughole.

This now passes for sophisticated discourse among our fashionably educated barbarians. And so do these readers comments on her blog which Hardy to this day has refused to remove, despite being repeatedly reminded she should do so (the deletion of expletives is mine):

Lawrie said…
You mean you were within 5 metres of [then Opposition Leader Brendan] Nelson and you didn’t glass the c..t?You dropped the ball Fits…

Margi said…
I agree with Lawrie. You should have “glassed the c..t” Nelson. You should have taken a piece of glass and torn his face to shreds, only leaving trails of bloody skin dripping from his ugly face and then you should have glassed his ass and balls so much, you castrate him so he could never procreate with his wife. Furthermore, glass the c..t wife and their children, while you’re at it, because they don’t deserve to procreate and have any children themselves, those blood-sucking Liberal c..ts!

The hypocrisy. And with it the viciousness – endorsed by the political party which caters most to a tribalism which strips the “enemy” of their humanity:

When Howard was PM, Lindsay McDougall, of the band Frenzal Rhomb, got musicians to contribute to Rock Against Howard, a CD that included tracks such as John Howard is a Filthy Slut and Gun Him Down.

H-Block 101 sung this advice on handling such politicians:

F…ing c…, here’s a stunt.Kick him ‘til he’s dead.

Now guess who endorsed this muck?

Answer: Labor’s national president and a former premier, Carmen Lawrence, sent McDougall a warm note, declaring “It’s time to put an end to (Howard’s) regime of fear.” Greens leader Bob Brown also blessed the project, telling these barbarians how “mean, nasty and repressive” Howard was instead.

Even Peter Garrett, now Education Minister, said the CD was a “good idea”.

If I must be critical of his argument, it is his own absence of condemnation against the equally disgusting performances of those from his own side of politics.

But that’s not my point. It has long been the belief in the Fifth Estate that the ‘nastiest’ types generally dwell on the ‘right’ side of politics. I strongly believe this too and am one of the first to condemn the questionable behaviour that has become their trademark.

It is they who have set the bar of decency low. Whilst I don’t believe Andrew has made any attempt to recognise this, let alone condemn their behaviour, he has made it clear that he does not accept similar behaviour from the left.

Neither do I. I expect better from us. I don’t from them.

Now who is the heat on?

OK, I’ll admit it. There’s nothing I’d rather see than Tony Abbott lead the Coalition to an election defeat in September. I want to see the smirk wiped well and truly of his arrogant face. I want to witness the likes of Jones , Ackerman and Bolt unhinging, even more than they are currently unhinged. I want to lap up the greatest dummy spit ever thrust upon us by both the Coalition and their media lap dogs. Yes, it will be sweet.

Up until now they have had a reason to smirk and gloat. Even only a week ago the only way Abbott could lose the election was if he got run over by a bus.

Well I think that bus has come along.

I had giving this post much thought but over at The Political Sword Ad astra summed it up for me and thankfully, robbed me of much more thinking:

We might see parliament recalled to debate legislation to bring forward the date of transition from a price on carbon to an ETS.  If the Greens could be persuaded to go along with this, Slogan-Abbott would lose what he regards as his most important weapon, the carbon tax, as it would already be on the way out.  There is the possibility of the election date being moved into October so as to allow Australia to have highest level representation at the upcoming G20, important because Australia hosts the one after that.

The shift in the polls, the uncertainty about the election date, and the possibility of recalling parliament has to be a worry to Slogan-Abbott and his minders.  Kevin Rudd is already playing with his mind!

Every weapon Abbott has had at his disposal evaporated a few days ago. The man is now vulnerable, especially now that public support is diminishing at a great rate.

If the polls are correct and continue to turn against him and with Rudd the right person to screw with his head, I reckon Abbott might be gone before the election. I couldn’t see a party sticking with a leader who looks like leading that party to an election defeat. Labor made the tough call. Can the Coalition?

A short post, yes, but one where there is so much to consider. What are your thoughts?

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Who gives a darn?

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So the Prime Minister likes to knit! Really, who gives a darn? The Daily Telegraph, so it seams (pun intended). But it’s not just knitting, they declare, it is a political move that fails to resonate with the voters.

Silly me. I thought she was just knitting. But no:

In her toughest week, facing sinking opinion polls and soaring opposition, Prime Minister Julia Gillard appears in a women’s magazine knitting a toy kangaroo for the royal baby.

The remarkable image, on sale tomorrow in the latest Australian Women’s Weekly, was not the magazine’s idea.

My goodness, what a scandal! It’s more than just knitting. To quote by lines from the article and photo it’s:

• PM’s last-stitch bid to win voters.
• Spins and needles.

And was an:

• . . . extraordinary image of her knitting was arranged by her chief spin doctor.

What pathetic journalism. But if you think that’s bad, have a read of this opinion piece from the same paper about the same story, fitting snuggly under the heading Out of touch if you pose as PM:

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard makes some unusual choices. Following the 2010 election, Labor’s leader decided to form an alliance with the Greens, which led to an abandonment of her previous pledge not to introduce a carbon tax.

The move has haunted the Prime Minister ever since and is one of the primary reasons for the catastrophic decline in Labor’s electoral support over the past three years.

In opposition, Gillard was the architect of Labor’s more relaxed policy on asylum seekers, which turned out to be another ill-considered decision. Once that policy was put in place early in 2008, it led to a massive surge in asylum seeker arrivals. Subsequent policy revisions have not stemmed the flow.

Now, staring at electoral oblivion and increased pressure on her party leadership, the PM has made another questionable choice.Although it has none of the gravity of policies on carbon emissions or asylum seeker arrivals, Gillard’s decision to pose in an elaborately staged photoshoot for the Women’s Weekly calls into doubt her basic political acumen.

Nobody could possibly have any issue with the Prime Minister personally knitting a toy kangaroo for a royal baby. It’s a sweet gesture.

But just look at how luxurious and over-the-top is that image of our Prime Minister, who posed in a Sydney photographic studio for five full hours in order to achieve the desired look.

Six prime ministerial staffers accompanied her at the photo session, which was the idea of her senior adviser, John McTernan. Consider the public expense, all just to present a positive angle at a time when Ms Gillard’s political stocks are in freefall.

Rather than being positive, the image suggests a prime minister who is completely out of touch with the electorate and who cannot read the public mood. It also supports the view of critics who claim Ms Gillard misunderstands the seriousness of her office.

And somehow it epitomises her stand on that darn ‘carbon tax’.

While the country falls apart because of that killer carbon tax she has the audacity to knit . . . while the media tries to pull the wool over our eyes.