Comments on: Young Lib on Libs: no principles, no ideas. Just a void

By: Cathy

Cathy — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Full points to young Tim for twigging so early in his political career the sport of politics isn’t like any other. You just bat whichever way the winds of approval blow using any number of tactics based on knee-jerk reaction. There’s no game plan, training or development just unswerving trust in spin, loads of patience and buckets of loyalty. Incentives are awarded to the complacent with protesters handed penalties and no correspondence entered into. Its sort of an administrations sans frontieres…
PS Tim..you’re too bright, idealistic and honest for any political party.

By: Cam

Cam — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I first loved the fact that he represents the “peek” body for Australian liberal students. Suddenly though, I was truly struck by Tim’s genius - “politically prostituting yourself to climb the greasy poll to success.”

Delicious, unintentional puns through the mastery of confused homophones.

By: adam

adam — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

check the way the wind is blowing in the world tim. left to right with a social conscience. at about 100 knots. the bluster is here and the breeze has blown out. ( bush howard blair)

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

If the Liberal party failed to reproduce in this generation it could only be considered a kindness.

By: barb

barb — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Loved the bit about Turnbull’s sole convivtion:that he should be PM
right(H)on Tim!!

By: skink

skink — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Andrews’ use of phrases like ‘media elite’ and ‘mainstream media’ suggests that he has been reading too many right-wing American websites and watching too much Fox News.

does Australia have a ‘mainstream’ media, and if it does, exactly how much of it has a liberal bias?

By: John Goldbaum

John Goldbaum — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Eric Abetz appears to be as authoritarian as his great uncle Otto in wishing to stifle public discussion about the policy directions of the Liberal Party. As a senator, he doesn't have to try to garner the vote of each of his constituents. His only battle is to secure a winnable position on the Coalition's Tasmanian senate ticket. Eric sees the Liberal Party as an exclusive members only club rather than a branded product or service which needs to be marketed and sold to a skeptical buying public.
Kevin Rudd moved the ALP to the centre which forced the Howard Government even further to the right. The only way back to power for the Liberal Party is to move back towards the centre so as to force the ALP to the left. If uncle Otto had attended military college, he would have learned tactics and strategy. Unfortunately, as a jumped up SS amateur volunteer, he remained recalcitrant until the bitter end.
You can continue to reminisce about the glorious past or you can try to regain government in the future, but you can't do both. If Eric wants to keep living the golden era of conservatism for the rest of his days, he should disappear to a small community in southern Argentina like many of uncle Otto's erstwhile compatriots. Tasmania and Australia will change with the times.

By: The Colonel

The Colonel — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Sadly for this angry young man, the wheels fell of his right-wing bus when his undoubted hero J.Winston went down in a screaming heap. Reading Andrews blog, is it any wonder Dame Murdoch would happily throttle Howard for decimating the Liberals?.

His analysis though, of the party under Turnbull’s is spot on. Can’t imagine what they will do but if Malcolm wishes to survive he should defect to Labor.

By: Jillian

Jillian — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

I do not remember Malcolm arguing for a government guarantee of all bank deposits - although I think he did suggest a higher upper limit than Labor's original upper limit of $100,000. Labor then panicked and gave an unlimited guarantee. That was the irrationality of Labor, overreacting to what Malcolm said. I was a bit concerned myself about the level of government intervention involved with guaranteeing bank deposits, but I think Malcolm recommended it because it was needed for Australia to be able to participate effectively in the international financial markets.

I am on Malcolm's list of facebook friends. What's wrong with being popular on facebook? Malcolm is a lot more active on facebook than Kevin Rudd. It's a form of accountability. Although it may seem trivial, when Malcolm says things like 'I'm on a train from the city to Bondi Junction', I admire his willingness to let us know what he is doing on such a regular basis.

Anyway, what is it with these ultra-conservatives? I'm sure many liberals in the Liberal party felt like publicly disagreeing with John Howard at times, both before and after he was elected as prime minister, but they did not succumb to that temptation. For example, the attempts by John Howard and his allies to stop single women and lesbians from accessing IVF were appalling. There is no reason why single women and lesbians cannot be responsible parents, provided they have the emotional and financial resources that any parent would need.

Why should Malcolm engage in some kind of competition with Labor to see who can be more right-wing? The Liberal Party is a right-of-centre party, but it doesn't have to be as right-wing as it can get away with, which seems to be implied by the ALSF.

By: Jenny L

Jenny L — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

If he’s got any left after shooting himself in the foot you can bet young Tim will be toeing the party line from now on.