Comments on: The Liberals hit the reset button http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/09/17/the-liberals-hit-the-reset-button/ now with extra source Sat, 11 Feb 2012 23:34:35 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Kevin Charles Herbert http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/09/17/the-liberals-hit-the-reset-button/#comment-11895 Kevin Charles Herbert Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-11895 I have a grudging respect for Brendan Nelson. Politics is a very tough business, and Nelson gave it his best shot in very difficult circumstances.<br /><br />I'd reckon the Lord Vishnu would have had problems facing the Australian people after the disaster that the self interested Rodent Howard delivered to his party. <br /><br />As for the comparisons with Downer, whatever his policy shortcomings Nelson came across as a real person.....not the fawning dickhead that Downer portrayed as Australia's worst ever foreign affairs minister. I have a grudging respect for Brendan Nelson. Politics is a very tough business, and Nelson gave it his best shot in very difficult circumstances.

I’d reckon the Lord Vishnu would have had problems facing the Australian people after the disaster that the self interested Rodent Howard delivered to his party.

As for the comparisons with Downer, whatever his policy shortcomings Nelson came across as a real person…..not the fawning dickhead that Downer portrayed as Australia’s worst ever foreign affairs minister.

]]> By: Chris http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/09/17/the-liberals-hit-the-reset-button/#comment-11896 Chris Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-11896 It's a shame the really genuine individuals who enter parliament for the right reasons and Nelson seemed one in that rare species - fall hard. Atleast he got his photo up on the party room wall. From all reports he sounds like a really decent guy who just got mixed up with the wrong crowd if you can put it so blandly. I doubt if he's the memoir type and while he probably plugged a phony policy or two he seems to have gone to the Capital for all the right reasons. It’s a shame the really genuine individuals who enter parliament for the right reasons and Nelson seemed one in that rare species - fall hard. Atleast he got his photo up on the party room wall. From all reports he sounds like a really decent guy who just got mixed up with the wrong crowd if you can put it so blandly. I doubt if he’s the memoir type and while he probably plugged a phony policy or two he seems to have gone to the Capital for all the right reasons.

]]> By: JamesK http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/09/17/the-liberals-hit-the-reset-button/#comment-11897 JamesK Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-11897 It's worse than that Chris.The media don't give a good guy an even break. The real target they were actually after of course was Costello who is obviously and understandably tired and shagged out after along squawk.....so he's resting but perhaps not terminally. But the Bernard Keane's of this world wanted to see him driven him out of parliament! I notice they are now blaming Costello for Nelson's staggered 9 month run. They have no shame!<br /><br />Garnaut released his second report and basically moved towards Nelson's preferred position. Unlike Nelson though Garnaut suggests that even if the rest of the world does do nothing on climate change we will do exactly half the bare minimum ie a 5% reduction on 2000 levels by 2020. That will still cost about 0.5% of GDP less than the economic cost of reducing by 10%. Nelson gets persecuted by the media and his own party whilst barely any criticism for Garnaut's stupidity...........Go figure.<br /><br />The Liberal Party leadership (and not Brendan Nelson or Malcolm Turnbull) is a joke and the left leaning MSM allow Rudd sail aimlessly along unfettered and unchallenged and concentrate their main efforts on making Rudd's pitifully unexamined primeministership even easier by focusing its efforts on destroying Costello.<br /><br />As if it is in the country's interests to have unexamined government!<br /><br />Turnbull's main task identified by Costello is the culture within the Liberal Party itself. Good luck to him changing that but he must. I suspect in the end the fawning media will discover that he is not the syrupy small l-liberal they are hoping for..... It’s worse than that Chris.The media don’t give a good guy an even break. The real target they were actually after of course was Costello who is obviously and understandably tired and shagged out after along squawk…..so he’s resting but perhaps not terminally. But the Bernard Keane’s of this world wanted to see him driven him out of parliament! I notice they are now blaming Costello for Nelson’s staggered 9 month run. They have no shame!

Garnaut released his second report and basically moved towards Nelson’s preferred position. Unlike Nelson though Garnaut suggests that even if the rest of the world does do nothing on climate change we will do exactly half the bare minimum ie a 5% reduction on 2000 levels by 2020. That will still cost about 0.5% of GDP less than the economic cost of reducing by 10%. Nelson gets persecuted by the media and his own party whilst barely any criticism for Garnaut’s stupidity………..Go figure.

The Liberal Party leadership (and not Brendan Nelson or Malcolm Turnbull) is a joke and the left leaning MSM allow Rudd sail aimlessly along unfettered and unchallenged and concentrate their main efforts on making Rudd’s pitifully unexamined primeministership even easier by focusing its efforts on destroying Costello.

As if it is in the country’s interests to have unexamined government!

Turnbull’s main task identified by Costello is the culture within the Liberal Party itself. Good luck to him changing that but he must. I suspect in the end the fawning media will discover that he is not the syrupy small l-liberal they are hoping for…..

]]> By: Whiskers http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/09/17/the-liberals-hit-the-reset-button/#comment-11898 Whiskers Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-11898 All this 'he said, she said' nonsense that has been going on in the media will hopefully, surely, it must, come to an end shortly and I'm sure the media will once again turn their attention back to Kevin Rudd and start slamming him again for what they say he has not done in the short time his government has been in power. Like most organisations in this country the government and the politcal process needs to undergo significant reform if it is to survive into the future. What a job when the change has to take place in an environment where when one party says black, the other party says white just for the sake of it and the media goes into a frenzy siding with one or the other depending on their whim.<br /><br />The world is in a dangerous position where if some major social and economic changes do not occur soon then it will pass a point of no return. Before we all get too carried away with claiming the Rudd government has not done anything, let's think about some of the things that are at least being dicussed that were ignored by the previous government - if change is to be effective it cannot be done overnight.<br /><br />All that said, I have never been so disillusioned by the two party system in this country and in particular the way the media reports it before in my life! All this ‘he said, she said’ nonsense that has been going on in the media will hopefully, surely, it must, come to an end shortly and I’m sure the media will once again turn their attention back to Kevin Rudd and start slamming him again for what they say he has not done in the short time his government has been in power. Like most organisations in this country the government and the politcal process needs to undergo significant reform if it is to survive into the future. What a job when the change has to take place in an environment where when one party says black, the other party says white just for the sake of it and the media goes into a frenzy siding with one or the other depending on their whim.

The world is in a dangerous position where if some major social and economic changes do not occur soon then it will pass a point of no return. Before we all get too carried away with claiming the Rudd government has not done anything, let’s think about some of the things that are at least being dicussed that were ignored by the previous government - if change is to be effective it cannot be done overnight.

All that said, I have never been so disillusioned by the two party system in this country and in particular the way the media reports it before in my life!

]]> By: Kevin Charles Herbert http://www.crikey.com.au/2008/09/17/the-liberals-hit-the-reset-button/#comment-11899 Kevin Charles Herbert Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000 #comment-11899 I have a grudging respect for Brendan Nelson. Politics is a very tough business, and Nelson gave it his best shot in very difficult circumstances.<br /><br />I'd reckon the Lord Vishnu would have had problems facing the Australian people after the disaster that the self interested Rodent Howard delivered to his party. <br /><br />As for the comparisons with Downer, whatever his policy shortcomings Nelson came across as a real person.....not the fawning dickhead that Downer portrayed as Australia's worst ever foreign affairs minister. I have a grudging respect for Brendan Nelson. Politics is a very tough business, and Nelson gave it his best shot in very difficult circumstances.

I’d reckon the Lord Vishnu would have had problems facing the Australian people after the disaster that the self interested Rodent Howard delivered to his party.

As for the comparisons with Downer, whatever his policy shortcomings Nelson came across as a real person…..not the fawning dickhead that Downer portrayed as Australia’s worst ever foreign affairs minister.

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