Australia’s refugee problem has attracted global attention. This from the New York Times.
Who, we wonder, is out to get poor Julie Bishop?
|
Someone is taking pot shots at Julie Bishop via The Australian. The question is, who? Is it a lone assassin, a single disturbed individual who has taken it upon himself – or, rather less likely, herself – to take Bishop down? Is it something more organised, a carefully-orchestrated assault? Or is it just that, once there’s blood in the water, all the sharks come in for a bite? Bishop herself blames Peter van Onselen for having an “unhealthy obsession” with her, and Chris Mitchell and his friendship with the Prime Minister. That’s a bit of a stretch. Accusing The Australian of being pro-Labor is like accusing the Pope of being pro-sex. And particularly as today that Liberal knight-errant Glenn Milne emerges to defend her honour. Milne of course is contractually obliged to promote the cause of any and all Liberals in the Treasury portfolio, whether they be named Costello, Turnbull or Bishop. But he displayed commendable enthusiasm today in making the case for “an attractive and intelligent blonde.” Milne complains that Bishop and Julia Gillard are “of equal status” but don’t receive equal treatment. Not sure what he means by “equal status”. One’s Deputy Prime Minister and the other isn’t. Remember, your side lost last November, Glenn. Milne also recycles the line Bishop apparently told plagiaree Roger Kerr, that the footnote incident was the fault of Melbourne University Press. It wasn’t. Undoubtedly there’s frustration within Coalition ranks that Wayne Swan does not appear to be doing the Government’s cause any harm at all. There’s some Canberraitis at work here. What people inside Parliament House, including in the Opposition and the Press Gallery, might think of Swan doesn’t necessarily translate into what voters think. Swan is also the junior partner in the Government’s economic team. The senior partner is of course the Prime Minister, as people expect. Kevin Rudd dominates the public’s perception of how the Government handles the financial crisis. And so far, they like what they see. The same dynamic is at work on the Coalition side, but it is working to Bishop’s detriment. Turnbull is his own shadow Treasurer. The financial crisis is his sort of issue and he has dominated the Opposition’s response to it. Bishop has been lucky to get a word in edgeways, particularly when the time difference means it’s hard to break into the east coast morning media cycle from Perth. It hasn’t helped that Turnbull likes to hog the Dispatch Box in Question Time. The lack of polling lift from Turnbull’s elevation may also be starting to eat away at MPs. Turnbull is performing strongly enough that no criticism could be directed at him. Bishop might make for a useful surrogate target. So who is after Bishop? Let’s consider who benefits and who doesn’t from all this: Malcolm Turnbull. He needs instability and speculation like a hole in the head. A shadow Treasurer who spends half a press conference answering questions about her own position isn’t much use. Andrew Robb. Most likely to replace Bishop in the shadow Treasury job and therefore a suspect. But Robb is the oldest and wisest political brain on the frontbench and, while a Turnbull supporter, hated the undermining of Brendan Nelson. His preference was for everyone to get on with doing the jobs they’ve got as well as possible, rather than more self-obsession. Joe Hockey. Hockey has been a lot more visible as Finance spokesman than he ever was as… whatever his previous portfolio was. Actually, it was Health, but you’d never have known. A prime suspect, although there’s plenty on both sides of politics who wish he’d replace Barry O’Farrell’s and give NSW a competent government. The one problem with Hockey as shadow Treasurer is that Turnbull is from Sydney as well, but if Robb got the job, the leadership could more easily cover Sydney, Melbourne and Perth. Peter Dutton. Vociferous in support for Bishop yesterday. A long shot for shadow Treasurer, though he gets more time at the Dispatch Box than many and was the last Assistant Treasurer. Christopher Pyne. The usual suspect for all leaks during the short reign of Brendan Nelson (at least according to Nelson supporters) but has recently been more productively employed in Education – about Turnbull’s best pick on his frontbench. Tony Abbott. Afflicted by an acute case of verbal diarrhoea in the last days of Nelson, Abbott has been quiet lately… too damn quiet. This is the bloke who missed out on a new portfolio even after he publicly complained about having Families and Indigenous Affairs. Gets more time at the Dispatch Box on points of order than asking questions. Peter Costello. The once and future prince sits quietly on the backbench, occasionally offering his own take on economic events – views that attract a lot more attention than Bishop’s. Tony Smith was demoted to shadow assistant Treasurer by Turnbull. Playing the long game of waiting for Turnbull to trip up, or – here’s a long shot - maybe hasn’t made up his mind what he’s doing. Unlikely to leak to former Howard spokesman Dennis Shanahan. But then, that’s just what he’d want us to think, wouldn’t he … |
|
|
15 Comments
Oh and Barnett acknowledging deficit budget strategies while he grabs a big dollop of COAG, enjoying playing with the big boys when he was in the twilight of his career. Well it both reinforces the point about Bishop on the skids like a lady who just got tied to an old washing machine on a fishing boat, and he must be thinking it doesn’t get any better than this. And Col, you would be right old boy, it doesn’t for you.
And the other thing Bernard, your notion about getting frozen out doesn’t really work - look at Lindsay Tanner. Competent handle on your work sells itself. Tanner shouldn’t be so high profile but he is. Swan is used to being the political head kicker and shouter. But that doesn’t work for a solid reliable trustworthy treasurer - he seems way smart enough, he just needs to develop a much better bedside manner like his fireside chat with Laurie Oakes yesterday on 9 (though bedding down a $15 Billion spend over 5 years does sort of create a post coital calm all of its own).
The Deputy leader gets his/her choice of portfolio: I wonder if she sees herself as a future leader (in due course - I don’t think she is disloyal - she can’t afford to be), and wanted Treasury to give her economic credentials…
The thing about Julie Bishop is she always looks so bitter & twisted these days. Ever since Howard lost last year she has looked hard done by or just perpetually shitty. Shes a plagiarizer & probably still believes in Howard’s market fundamentalist vision for Australia. Dump her!
Marilyn remembers, Jenny is hot, but Bernard you said this
“The lack of polling lift from Turnbull’s elevation may also be starting to eat away at MPs. Turnbull is performing strongly enough that no criticism could be directed at him. Bishop might make for a useful surrogate target.”
You might be right but there is the issue that the opposition leader ‘banker’ argues fictitious economics in terms of ‘deficit angst’ and a large proportion of the Australian business community have considerable Economics 10, 20 or even 30 under their belt and don’t want to know that Malcolm wants to affect the ignorant masses and their vote BUT want Malcolm to know that Rudd’s plan is good for business. Like Hey Malcolm! The latter gent is not affecting the masses but disaffecting the business community – so the polls show?
With all this talent and statesmanship, you wonder why the voters voted them out - not. If I called them clowns and drongoes, I’d be doing a disservice to clowns and drongoes. I’m sick to the gills of every one of these assinine infantile born-to-rule zits on the face of the Australian body politic. This includes undertaker personalities not mentioned in Bernard’s item like Philip Ruddock and Kevin Andrews.
Bernard: Implying that Hockey is capable of running NSW is preposterous.
Can’t we do a deal with Nauru where we send all these Liberal failures to Nauru? We pay them a wage and inject their parliamentary pensions into the Nauru economy. This is a win-win scenario. It’ll save us heaps on our aid bill. There must surely be close ties between the Libs and the Nauruan “government” forged during our foreign policy glory days of the Pacific solution? Oh, how I miss those halcyon days when we were deputy sheriff and where history had come to an end.
By the fact that you’ve listed him last, together with the man’s character, makes Costello a prime suspect. As we all know the man’s too tired and too much without balls to do anything front on-minor things like contesting the leadership of the late, unlamented John Howard. Peter Costello is fast becoming Peter who? (he came into the local chemist the other day and no one even looked at him.) Julie Bishop would be easy pickings.
Mind you, the nasty little Jesuit is very much missing his time in the sun.
I have to agree with all said here.
Bishop is a lightweight. Her position as deputy leader was very much because she controlled the WA Libs, and Nelson needed those votes to take the leadership. I expected her to depart with Nelson, so was surprised when Turnbull kept her on - maybe he wanted a weak Treasury spokesman so he could control the depsatch box on questions on the economy.
Perhaps it is due to a lack of female talent in the Libs, in which case putting Bishop up to balance Gillard is starting to look like tokenism.
with Barnett making a hash of the West and going into defecit, He has pulled the rug from under Bishop. the West doesn’t need her, Turnbull doesn’t need her, and heaven knows the country doesn’t need her.
if Turnbull decides to vote with the Govt on IR reform, then as the last samurai supporting Work Choices, Bishop will have little choice but to fall on her sword
Ha Ha Ha, I’ve quit gut laughing long enough to say that although the article was mediocre, the responses are priceless. Way to go Mal, prop a dead buddy up onto the parapet of the trench to satisfy the snipers. Spot on Tom. Well said, both Venise and Marilyn. You too, Jenny…priceless. Now I fully realise just why I pay for Crikey. Keep up the good work everybody
The only experience Bishop has at economics is helping Wittenoom asbestos miners screw dying workers when she was still a lawyer.
After the Memoirs landed in basements and not on bookshelves Costello’s eyes have obviously turned back to the front bench for a bit of spite-play. Isn’t he just the ever-reliable fermenting presence in his party and the parliament? And however many times Turnbull, Bishop and the rest of them turn their smarting cheeks he’ll keep spinning minds and egos as payback. It’s a team effort of course with the faithful conservatives over at News Limited scoring headlines from vengeance. Costello the Member for Malvern is back from his lacklustre publishing efforts for more fun and games at a cost to good governance. Its amazing how some people get their jollies.
If only race days were as predictable as the traditional Liberal Carnival!! It’s the Treasurers Gift already out of the gates with Egodriven Editor and Unhealthy Obsession hedging out Poison Dwarf for Confused Paternity and Sunshine Colt to move to the inside of Straight from the Mould along the rails to Perth filly Burning Martyr now in the box seat as Ice Hockey drops back for Bulletproof Biscuit leading into the turn for home and…oh put the glasses away ..Conniving Costello out of Prince of Malvern has moved up the field to storm past the impressive Mind Your Money to win going away. Sorry …but he really is the horse’s arse of federal politics.
I’ll give you my scenario of what’s going down:
WA are the last hold out of Work Choices with all that resources boom till recently.
Bishop is the economic dry wedded to WC as an ideology and a political strategy for her powerbase. But now a few things have sort of changed her whole mojo.
First there’s the Global Financial Crisis, now Economic Crisis with such as Twiggy Forest down $10 billion in paper wealth. That’s still big bikkies in any one’s language. Now miners in WA on their $150K blue collar wages might even be thinking … err we might actually change our mind on that work choices bizzo now. We never really liked that Howard Battler tag now nice Mr Rudd is there giving my mum a good Chrissie Present. And my daughter reckons the Deputy PM is cool, and well everyone knew Work Choices was John on his anti union ideology. Just as well it got trashed last week. And if the mine closes at least Labor are the Mummy Party.
In fact that Julie Bishop banging on about unions and Work Choices … well you know it’s all a bit embarrassing really now the GFC is scaring the bejesus out of the blokes at work. She can just f*ck orf.
And being expert politicians there in the Coalition they see Bishop as a pollie defying gravity like Fortescue’s shareprice. Like nature, politics abhors a vaccuum. She ain’t got a power base much in WA anymore, especially with the Libs back in at State level with the goodies. Van Onselen is just a symptom. So is the grumbling in the Party room. It’s the economy stupid!
Keane you are just as bad- maybe you’re the one supporting the bringing down of Bishop! Guess it’s hard accepting that her knowledge and competence far outweight anything your’re capable of understanding. Stick to writing uninteresting and pointless articles mate!
Julie Bishop talks sensibly on her portfolio. She clearly has done the requisite work. The problem is that she just is not taken seriously rather than actually making errors.
Labor have taken to being quite derogatory in parliament wrt her plagiarism which has been blown up out of all proportion. This could well backfire when Swan messes up and he will.
I did not support her appointment but I think she has clearly worked very hard to be across this area. She has been ahead of Swan on a couple of occasions but it is not noticed not least because Turnbull’s pronouncements on matters fiscal are reported rather than Bishop’s.
I reckon she could feel legitimately hard done by.
Bernard, Bernard. the Pope is totally pro-sex. All those baby Catholics wouldn’t be born otherwise.