They brought Simon Crean down for daring to challenge the 60 per cent union stake. Commentators just shook their heads at his “disloyalty”.

In the US Congress there’s no such phrase as “conscience vote” because there’s no other kind of vote. But Australian journalists spend all their time sniffing around for “disloyalty to the party” scandals. They don’t get it: in politics, “disloyalty” should be seen as a moral virtue, and “loyalty” as conflict of interest.

Sorry this doesn’t have much to do with Dutton, but I figure we’re done and dusted with him.

As for the whole pedro thing, jeezus what’s he on, makes JamesK look considered and erudite

It genuinely surprises me that there has been so little said lucidly in support of this champion of the LIbs/LNP and his failed preselection challenge.

Open the comments thread in your browser (I use Internet Explorer).
Select the portion of text that you seek to print (Click-and-drag).
ie simultaneously press the CTRL and the C keys to cut the selected text into a buffer.
Open a new Word window.
Click within the document to ensure that your cursor is on the page.
will paste the buffer contents onto the Word document.
Print the document.

You will now have a paper copy of your contribution to frame and hang on the wall.

Question: Who else thinks my comment about the labor party indicates that I think right wingers aren’t entitled to an opinion?
Answer: Who cares?

And James McDonald, because you have spoken such wisdom, how could I say no to you - oh yeah, pretty easily. As for my relevance, I could care less if you consider me worth commenting about or not, lol.

James, I guess you have worked out I do not have a left wing opinion (tried to hide it but…), which means, according to you, I probably am not entitled to an opinion - ahh, such democracy in action! And finally, are you demanding everyone else also reveal their real name, or just the right wingers???

Pedro - you are an arsehole.

PEDRO: are we still talking about you? I mean, are we? We don’t know your real name. Are you the nom-de-plume of someone in public life, perhaps even someone connected with this story? If yes, it would be a sign of character if you end this charade and declare yourself. If not, why would we have any interest whatsoever in your explanations of yourself?

You’ll be pleased to know we just did a straw poll around the office and we decided your reply was the best, brilliant, outstanding even. The way you moulded in my comments about our deceitful little PM and the Queen was mind-blowing, in fact I would even say it was trailblazing journalism. I mean, asking me if I would speak about my ‘favourite queen’ in the same way as Krudd really put me back in my box.

Only one small problem, I’m a republican - always have been. So yes, I would happily speak about the queen in the same way, if she deserved it.

And yes, my respect for your lying PM is very, very ‘Latin’, I mean, fair shake of the sauce bottle, how could it be anything else?

Finally, don’t you have better things to do in the evenings other than being tied to your computer? Perhaps getting a life might help your perspective little, but then, perhaps not.

I think we, the Australian people, are mindful of the superb efforts by the Howard Government to turn what had become a travesty of a political Party, The late, unlamented Liberals, into an unworkable, limp-wristed, begging mat for the big company oligarchs, The Coal Industry, The Water Rights me-tooists, The companies that produce Aluminium products, the Car companies, the Forests Industries groups, the Climate Change Denialists. All of them, indulging in their Phyrric victories on the the carcass that was Australia. It is with varying degrees of regret that the voter looks at what you have become, an animal in the throes of death: we shield our mouths with our hands as we turn our heads; in my case, to throw up.

However, not even an electorate as badly savaged as the Australian one could believe the madder machinations of the devious mind of this once feral animal. Unlike most political warriors who are faced with an election tsunami, the Liberal Party decided ‘Why go with grace? (What’s she ever done for us?). They decided to feed upon itself-slowly. This was a chivalrous act, designed to give the incoming and victorious Labor Party every last bit of help. In an act of deviant despair they made a gift of their most precious possession. A triple-edged sword, fondly reknown as The Peter Costello Factor aka The Peter Principle. Or The principle that had no Peter, and, ho hum, the Peter who didn’t have a principle.

In the ensuing two-years our victorious Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, has gone from strength to strength in the opinion polls. Unfortunately what nobody told us was when the PM inherited the carcass of the Liberal Party, he inherited also the Oligarchic begging- mat. An item on which he has spent much of his time listening to the commands of those who must be obeyed. This is to water-down everything he promised in order to save Australia from destroying itself, and to renege on every single promise he made to the voters on Climate Change, Global Warming, etc.

Just when we, the hapless voters, felt the Rudd Government, at the next election, might get a whiff of electoral disapproval, the remaining cards in Kevin Rudd’s hand turned to pure gold.

An economic whizz-kid called Malcolm Turnbull had the somewhat tarnished laurel-wreath of what had been the Liberal Party, placed on his brow. Big sigh! This was none other than the brash senior citizen who had led something called the Republican Party to despair. The quintessential case of snatching oblivion out of the jaws of victory.

There was a lot of favourable political comment about Malcolm Turnbull’s experience as a Republican which was thought to have proved to be a valuable learning experience. To those of us with less imagination, moi! It seemed that a defeat out of the jaws of victory was the wrong sort of lesson and prepared the ground to a potential two time loser. Left to his own devices the Honourable Member for Wentworth turned out to be a graceless and multiple liar whose scruples were even less evident that the ones displayed by the ex-member for Higgins.

Just when the fourth member of the Liberal Apocalypse, Malcolm Turnbull-the previous three being John Howard, Philip Rudd and Peter Costello-looked as if he would be lucky to drag his wounded warriors into a sitting position for the forth-coming battle in 2010, dubbed by one wit as The Liberals Last Lush-up, to everyone’s astonishment the walking wounded turned around and started killing each other and feeding off themselves.

This latest round of back-stabbing reveals the right-wing of the Liberal Party, the man of the moment being another Peter, called Dutton versus the left-wing of the Liberal Party, a Turnbull called Malcolm involves name calling, hissy fits and the usual bitchiness so beloved of us all. Guaranteed to keep the Labor Party in with a comfortable, if not landslide victory at the next election.

In the case of Victoria it is more of the same, except that the big players on the right have names like Michael Kroger, Jeff Kennett, and guess who????????????
None other than the triple edged sword himself, the Peter, without a principle, called Costello. Led by an amiable giant, Ted Bailieu, the Victorian State Liberal
Party has, over the past twelve years or so become the template from which the Federal Liberal Party is working.

Never, in the history of Australian politics, has the Nation had so little to thank the State of Victoria for. We have fashioned the template upon which the Liberal Party officially declared itself as a mere lackey of the Labor Party. We always knew the federal machine was anti Victoria. But this is ridiculous. A knackered Liberal Party will receive yet another thrashing from the incumbent Labor Party, making it another four years on top of the existing eleven (approx). And a rout by the Federal Labor Government over the weak-witted, sonambulistic Liberal/National Parties in Canberra in 2010.

Well done Kevin, what a master strategist you are!

Howard’s revenge!

How well he sank Costello, who otherwise may have matured but was forced to remain in his childhood; how little did he value the concept of developing continuity in the party which supported him while he ate its heart out. Unfortunately for all of us, this has resulted in a situation where the government is not held to account by the Opposition, who are either displaying their individual lack of brain and decorum or are forced to stand in support of Mr 18 percent.

This is nowhere as clear as in Qld, where the party members don’t have a concept of what the LNP stands for, or who they represent. Either the Nats will eventually disappear from the surface of the earth, or the Libs will be forced to demolish them at the poles in order to get a clear shot at the Government.

There has not been such a mess since the split which resulted in the formation of the DLP, and that kept the ALP on the Opposition side of the House of Reps for a decade or two.

It’s all a shame, really, because a government without an effective opposition is bound to become fat, lazy and incompetent.

So sad…