As Labor did, the Liberals have adopted a risk-averse, front runner strategy to sit on their lead until polling day.
August, 2010
What a weekend: Latham, Oakes and a launch devoid of ideas
Well, that was one weird weekend. I can’t recall one like it. Media misbehaviour, Mark Latham pretending to be in the profession he despises most, Laurie Oakes criticising his own network … and we even ended up with a debate.
Crikey Says: Campaign Crikey morning edition: Day 23
”Isn’t it great to lead a united political party with a deputy I can trust, a predecessor who’s a friend and a former prime minister who’s a hero…”
Bugger the ex-leaders, bring on the title fight
Daily Media Wrap: From footage of Gillard and Rudd pointing at maps of Queensland, to Mark Latham emerging in the press pack and Tony Abbott standing up at the Real Action at the Liberal launch, it was a bizarre weekend.
Manhattan mosque sparks nationwide debate
Approval for a new mosque to be built near ground zero in Manhattan has sparked furious debate about democratic values and religious freedoms across the US. The Tea Party are out in force, bringing dogs and picket signs to Muslim prayer meetings.
The Greens more Christian than Christians
Responding to a damning opinion piece by Cardinal George Pell, Bob Brown has swung back with a bible bashing counter-attack, arguing the Greens’ stance on many election issues are closer to biblical values than those espoused by Pell and his congregation.
Hudson: When competent = compliment
Being described as “competent” isn’t exactly the highest of praises, but Julie Bishop used precisely that word yesterday to describe Tony Abbott. Considering he’s a man many believe isn’t ready to govern, it was taken as a compliment, says Tony Wright.
Wright: Comedy, terror and the Coalition campaign launch
There were howls of delight, guffaws a-plenty and rapturous applause at the comedy show shenanigans that took place at yesterday’s Coalition campaign launch. And such comedy bravado ought to make the ALP terrified, writes Tony Wright.
Morrockin’ it up on the border
You know you’re a bit off the beaten track when you start having to fill in applications and hand over wads of cash to cross a border. Dave Keetch tells of his Moroccan/Mauritanian border struggles.
Romanticising the boxing booth
Boxing booths were popular in fairs and circuses throughout Britain from the 18th century until around the 1970s. Consisting of fighters who took challenges from the audience, the sport is romantically remembered and indirectly linked to England’s 1966 World Cup victory, writes Harry Pearson.
Labor’s panic — a disease acquired in NSW
Labor’s tendency to panic is what has got it into this mess. It’s a tendency acquired from NSW Labor, and it means the Liberals are poised to win.
Garnaut attacks both parties for lack of leadership
Last night, Ross Garnaut delivered a speech on good government as a part of the University of Melbourne Hamer Oration lecture series.
Big Tobacco not just in Liberal pockets — Crikey reveals the Labor links
The Coalition has been exposed this week for its links to Big Tobacco. But Labor members are no clean-skins when it comes to accepting cash from the cigarette industry.
Crikey Campaign Leftovers: GetUp wins high court challenge, meet young Abbott
GetUp wins High Court challenge re electoral roll … 22-year-old Tony Abbott, in his own words … Labor gives up on Bowman … Refugee report card … The word on JA.
Pokies billionaire shafts Gillard’s Doggies for Blues
The Herald Sun’s Mick Warner had a curious double page spread in the sports section today revealing that pokies billionaire Bruce Mathieson has shafted the Western Bulldogs and Richmond by shifting lucrative pokies joint ventures across to Carlton.
Orgill: ‘delivering much-needed infrastructure’ but NSW rushed its projects
The first report from the Orgill inquiry endorses the schools component of the stimulus program and finds less than 3% of projects generated complaints. But that won’t stop the media declaring otherwise.
Kohler: cheapening the deficit argument
The Japanese 10-year bond yield has fallen below 1% for the first time in seven years, as bond yields everywhere continue to tumble.
Putting News Corp in US context (or what might have been)
Imagine if Murdoch had had control of Direct TV and his existing cable business, he’s be challenging Comcast for the top spot and be the biggest pay TV operator in the world, outside of China.
High-speed rail link a rail stink for Albanese
It is telling that Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Anthony Albanese has chosen Melbourne to launch the umpteenth study into a high-speed rail corridor between Sydney and Newcastle.
Entrenching inequity in Gillard’s education devolution
MySchool remains a lemon and a loathsome legacy from Gillard’s stint as federal education minister, writes psychologist Elizabeth Lyons.
This day in Crikey: Thursday, 6 August 2009
Thursday, 6 August 2009, Libs left Rudderless, Rudd is all around etc, by Guy Rundle.
Meet a ‘queue jumper’
The violent slide between asylum seeker and the international terrorist has worked — asylum seekers are now sources of our collective fear, writes Dr Tanya Ahmed, a psychiatry registrar.
Policy Watch — the stakeholders speak
During the 2010 Federal election campaign, Crikey has regularly updated Policy Watch in order to keep track of the spending commitments being made by both sides. We have also looked to gauge the opinion of the key stakeholders involved in each of the announcements.
