Nelson’s clearly in a spin…you know, the one that he inherited from John Howard, Peter Costello, Tony Abbot etc etc. FuelWatch is a proven success with motorists in WA. It’s politically inane/irrespopnsible for Nelson’s Liberals to refuse to accept it.

Those Crikey commentators who oppose FuelWatch are drawn from that group who just can’t get used to the fact that Sleazebag Howard’s gone and Australia is a far nicer place as a result.

Finally, on a completely separate note, am I the only one who thinks Brendan Nelson shows a remarkable similarity to Beavis from Beavis & Butthead?

There is good evidence to suggest that it may very well decrease rather than increase competition by further driving out the independents.

ACCC already did much to see that happen by supporting the big 2 grocers control of petrol retailing.

It is yet another cynical cheap retort by Rudd with much fanfare and no substance to bolster his populist rhetoric of the last election.

Wrt to Iraq and detention Labor has no moral high ground.

It’s only you who can be ‘justly’ self-righteous Marilyn and don’t we know it.

A data base will not blow up Iraq, nor lock up children in concentration camps yet the coalition were happy to squander over $6 billion on both of those measures while avoiding the truth about the consequences.

As for Brenda Brenda, more annoying every day of the week with Abbott a close second and Costello right up there because no-one actually gives a toss.

I of course have NEVER hit Submit twice.

That 4 Corners profile on Turnbull was a bit on the light side wasn’t it? But what a fine mop of hair he had back in the day.

Labor is just finding that it is easier to say than to do - and actions have consequences. In 3 yrs time I’m the plebs will have turned on labor & pine for the good old days under the libs. And so the cycle will turn again.

Then again it could just be about iraq.

1. A Regulation Impact Statement (RIS), which was tabled in the Federal Parliament on May 29, 2008, and it advised the Rudd Government of the negative impact a nationwide FuelWatch scheme will have on motorists.
Specifically: The report notes ‘the provision of this taxpayer funded service creates greater opportunities for price co-ordination amongst retailers, especially in more concentrated markets’ and that it ‘may create a perception amongst consumers that this option will deliver lower retail petrol prices.’

2. FuelWatch ‘spells death to independents’ The Age July 17, 2008 reporting on The Senate Inquiry into the National Fuelwatch Bill:
http: //news.theage.com.au/national/fuelwatch-spells-death-to-independents-20080717-3go4.html

3. The Service Association says:
The inability to reduce prices to remain competitive will disadvantage independents much more
than oil company and supermarket networks as these large organisations will be able to spread
the cost of being uncompetitive at one or two locations over a large number of other sites. The
single operator has no such fall back and must live or die every day on his/her ability to get it
right. Clearly, he/she won’t “get it right” every day and will lose ground in his/her battle with big
business.
http://www.ssa.org.au/news_events/pdf/fuelwatch_proposal.pdf

FuelWatch is a turkey and Mr. Swan(Hon or not) is not renown for “words of wisdom”

Nice piece by Greg Barns tho’

Wrt the thrice requirement……. a cheap shot is a cheap shot is cheap

Re the Turnbull report. IMHO it was interesting, but I thought to paint him as the saviour of democracy in Australia, was a wee bit over the top. Still I have to say I’m dead grateful that Kerry Packer was stopped from taking over the Age. (as I said in another comment months ago that nearly all the world’s printed media are on the skids-unless they have a solid presence in the electronic media. And that the Age had bu*gered up
their ‘on line section’. I don’t know if you’ve ever wanted to comment on an article in The Age, but all you will find is a huge list of the headings, followed by a comments closed notice. I guess if one commented at 8.30 am one would have a chance. The point of this long parenthesis, is that a few months ago I wrote a comment in Crikey expressing these thoughts, only to have one reader landing on me like a farmer in Mildura throwing an egg at Tim Holding-the outraged scribe, I must hasten to add, was not you. So, in the light of today’s massacre of editorial staff, I feel vindicated, but not happy) the whole I felt rather as if Malcolm Turnbull had paid for the whole glowing interview. I noted that every time he declined to speak to the press the last shot of him was a Roman Imperial profile image, complete with undershot jaw. I wonder if PC plod has got enough money to strut his stuff? on the ABC.

Have Crikey re-introduced a curfew on the amount of words?

Cheers

Venise

JamesK: Don’t you ever lighten up? You criticize Labor for having no moral high ground? To find moral ground anywhere in politics is inconceivable. But by criticizing Labor’s lack of it, yet you seem to be, ipso facto, implying that this “High Ground’ my be available in the Coalition.” Pardon me while I pick myself up off the floor. Under the odious reign of the little dwarf John Winston Howard, the meaning of the phrase “High Moral Ground” virtually disappeared out of Australian reportage. To even come within a whisker of suggesting the Liberal Party even knew what the words meant; demeans the intelligence of an extraordinarily dim-witted member of the family, phylum Mollusca.

PS: what does WRT mean.

PPS: Great article, even greater put-down of the writer of the lead comment.

Wrt Pistol Pete Prince of Perfervid(not perfidy)….. he requires passionate support from his constituents…….plucky Pete needs you!

I would not normally apply or use the word or term ‘respect’ to a comment from KCH.

That’s a backhand insult aka a ‘backhander’!

Petrol - “It’s about Iraq.”

Groceries - “well they don’t have food in Iraq.”

Childcare - “how many children died in Iraq.”

Climate change - “Iraq.”

Brendan Nelson yells “I care” repeatedly. Marilyn yells “Iraq.” Hmmm.