ALP spill: Day 2 — Rudd will challenge
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Crikey live blog: The Australian Labor Party remains in turmoil in the wake of Kevin Rudd’s resignation as foreign minister, with a leadership ballot for the prime ministership to be held on Monday at 10am. The gloves are off and the final battle — and the leadership clichés — have begun. Friday, February 24 5.15pm update: Just a quick round up of today’s events. This will be the last update for today (and probably the weekend, unless something major happens):
See you all back here Monday morning for the final showdown. 4.40pm update Prime Minister Julia Gillard questioned why Kevin Rudd does not deny allegations he had been undermining the government at a press conference this afternoon where she acknowledged that Rudd had launched a formal challenge against her. Gillard also spoke of her own personality traits that help her “get the job done” in the speech, which came less than an hour after Rudd outlined his reasoning for a leadership challenge. “It is now certain that there will be a leadership ballot on Monday,” said Gillard. “The choice that the nation faces, and my parliamentary colleagues face, is a choice as to who has got the character, the temperament, the strength to deliver on behalf of the Australian people.” She trotted out her reality TV show line again. “It’s not Celebrity Big Brother, it’s about who can lead the nation, who has the ability to get things done.” Gillard said she has “the personal attributes and personal strength that the nations needs to get things done.” Several times she reiterated that she had the “courage, temperament and the strength” to deliver reform, a clear jab at Rudd’s leadership weaknesses that have been trotted out by MPs in recent weeks. “Talk is easy, getting things done is harder and I am the person that gets things done. “I am asking my caucus colleagues for their support on Monday so we can spend 2012 delivering much needed reform for our nation.” Gillard said she expects to win the ballot on Monday, and that she will go on as leader to win the next election against Tony Abbott. “Politics is a contest and I am very confident that at the next election Labor will defeat Tony Abbott and I as leader can lead Labor to victory.” When questioned on whether she had the public’s confidence, something that Kevin Rudd claimed she doesn’t have, Gillard replied:
Meanwhile, Greens deputy leader Senator Christine Milne responded to Rudd’s claims earlier that he would speed up the carbon price process to move it quickly to an emissions trading scheme. “Mr Rudd should realise that, not only is a fixed price period designed to give business much greater confidence and certainty, and to provide time for the Climate Change Authority to develop its five year carbon budgets, but that it is the result of an enormous amount of work and good faith negotiation by many people. “A review within 6 months is an unworkable timeframe as it is far too soon to give a proper picture of how the scheme is working. But it also jeopardises the whole scheme by giving Tony Abbott much more influence over climate policy again before the community has a chance to see how it works.” 3.25pm update Kevin Rudd will challenge Julia Gillard for the prime ministership on Monday, in an all-or-nothing attack on returning to the Lodge. Speaking from Brisbane this afternoon after returning home from Washington this morning, Rudd said he would contest the ballot on Monday but never again if he loses. Colleagues had urged him to run, he said. Rudd is currently well short of having enough caucus support to unseat Gillard, with roughly a third of the 105 Labor members of parliament expected to vote for him on Monday ahead of a weekend of furious lobbying. “If I did not succeed … I would go to the backbench and I would not challenge Julia a second time,” he said. Gillard has “lost the trust of the Australian people”, Rudd said, “and I want to regain that trust”. ”Our government has a lot do if we’re to regain the confidence of the Australian people,” he said. “I want to finish the job the Australian people elected me to do when I was elected prime minister. “Next Monday will be a tough ballot … really tough when you’re up against the combined forces of the factions.” In a scripted speech to a packed room of journalists, Rudd talked up his achievements as prime minister, highlighting initiatives like the National Broadband Network, investment in hospitals, the apology to indigenous Stolen Generations and Australia’s acceptance to the G20. “This is a good record of achievement. We haven’t got everything right, but let me tell you this is a good record of achievement,” he said. He then outlined new commitments to protect manufacturing jobs, cut the tax burden on small business and “reduce the cost of living for families doing it tough”: ”As we face the possibility of a second financial crisis, we need to let Australians know that we stand for a strong economy and strong manufacturing.” On environmental policy: “It doesn’t need a Green party to tell it how to protect the environment.” He also vowed to reform the party and rid it of factional control. “Members of our parliamentary party should have absolute freedom from intimidation, and intimidation from factions,” he said. ”We need to build the Australian Labor Party of the future.” Rudd called on Gillard to ensure candidates preselected for parliament are not intimidated or threatened with being dis-endorsed. And he demanded a “truly secret ballot” unlike previous leadership contests. Rudd said he had made a mistake as prime minister in “removing the right of the parliament to elect cabinet” and deciding the frontbench himself. “I will return that power to the parliamentary party as part of a broader policy of party reform,” he said. On party reform, he described that as: “In essence, what we want is the power of the factions to be transferred … to each and every member of the parliamentary party … not dictated to in their vote because of the organisation of the factions. “If we don’t change, the Labor Party is going to end up in opposition … We will all end up on the backbench.” Rudd then turned his attention to Tony Abbott, saying the opposition leader had “both feet firmly planted in the past”. He said Abbott had “extreme” views when it came to women and the environment. “Beating Mr Abbott is vital, and beating Mr Abbott is achievable. He is entirely beatable,” he said. “I have never met an entire politician as negative as Mr Abbott … This is the single most negative force that we have ever seen in Australian politics. “I’m not prepared to stand idly by to let this nation’s future fall into the hands of an Abbott government. “If we don’t change the Labor Party is going to end up in opposition. That’s the cold, hard, stark reality that everyone faces.” Answering questions from journalists, Rudd said he had supported the leadership of Gillard until now. And he rejected allegations his time as leader was dysfunctional, saying policy that guided Australia through the global financial crisis was done through cabinet committee processes. Asked if Gillard and Treasurer Wayne Swan convinced him to dump the emissions trading scheme, he said: “Yes, but I take full responsibility.” He didn’t give any firm commitments on refugee policy, but suggested the East Timor solution put forward and ultimately abandoned by Gillard was taking “a walk on the policy wild side”. 12.50pm update Kevin Rudd’s press conference will now be held at 2.30pm AEDT. Julia Gillard will hold hers at 3.45pm. 12.45pm update Minister Bill Shorten just said he believed Julia Gillard has “the wide support of the Labor party and the labour movement.” But he also declared that he was fine with colleagues supporting Rudd because “individual caucus members are entitled to their own opinions”. Labor MPs aren’t “robots waiting for instructions from the mothership” and were free to make up their own mind about the matter, said Shorten. When asked how he found Rudd as prime minister, Shorten replied: “I’m supporting Julia Gillard, that in itself speaks volumes.” Shorten says that 46 Labor MPs have publicly declared their support for the current prime minister. Meanwhile Minister for Climate Change Greg Combet just told ABC News 24 that he would support Gillard in Monday’s ballot, but that had “no animus” for Rudd. 12.35pm update Obviously this is just all a warm up for the big event come Monday, but here’s a quick round up of the day’s events so far.
11.35am update Kevin Rudd will hold a press conference at 1.30pm AEDT. 11.30am update Labor caucus secretary Nick Champion, the MP for Wakefield, just resigned as secretary to support Kevin Rudd. He spoke of how he found a note written on the back of a BP receipt and stuck with chewing gum to his office that said “put Kevin back as PM, people voted for him”. “The return of Kevin Rudd will be the greatest comeback story in politics for a long time,” declared Champion. “Only he can reassure the Australian people at this torrid, tulmutous time for the economy.” Champion said his undecided Labor MP colleagues need to ask themselves: “Are we choosing a leader for ourselves or are we choosing a leader for the country?” Meanwhile, here’s a round-up of some of our favourite tweets from the twittersphere this morning chattering about the leadership spill. Kieran Gilbert from Sky News talks about Attorney General Nicola Roxon’s interview where she slammed Rudd’s behaviour as PM:
Kochie from Sunrise offers up his cheesy political dad joke of the day:
Several journos question the “faceless men” line being banded about by Rudd — and the Coalition, of course. Virginia Trioli from the ABC tweeted:
The ABC’s Annabel Crabb also noted:
Sky News’ David Speers tweets news from an anonymous Labor MP:
The Sunday Age’s Mischa Schubert talks about the MPs — ie. Roxon — who are speaking publicly about cabinet meetings.
10.55am update Independent Tony Windsor had a quick chat with the media about events, again reinforcing that he was more interested in focusing on long-term issues than the 24-hour media cycle. He noted any expectation that his support of a Gillard government was “some sort of transferable document, that you have can a revolving door of leaders… that’s not right,” and said he would go to an election if required. Windsor added that the Gillard government is pursuing difficult long-term reforms and managing to do them in a minority government. He pointed out that the public criticisms that the government isn’t working hard enough are unfair. “They want to see the government at work, well they are at work.” Meanwhile, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh spoke of how her campaign has been overshadowed in recent days by the bickering of her federal counterparts. “There’s no doubt that it is not helpful ,” said Bligh. “That’s why I want this resolved … the sooner it’s fixed up the better.” But Bligh also noted she welcomed any of her federal Labor colleagues to help her campaign in Queensland. 10.00am update Time to take a look around at some of the interesting commentary around this morning. Mumble’s Peter Brent writes at The Australian about how it’s not just Rudd’s behaviour as PM that has turned many in the caucus against him:
Jess Rudd, the chick lit author daughter of Kevin, wrote a piece for Mamamia that echoes Kevin Rudd’s “people power” line:
The love that the Australian public have for Rudd is not easily explained, notes Greg Jericho at ABC’s The Drum
But the reason Labor MPs colleagues are hating on Rudd is because they finally feel they can speak the truth, says David Marr in The Sydney Morning Herald:
Paul Kelly at The Australian also explains the vitroil being aimed at Rudd:
It’s not just Rudd’s reputation that will be ruined, writes Michelle Grattan at The Age:
9.10am update Both Rudd and Gillard just gave very quick public statements. Cameras — and a small crowd — were waiting as Rudd and Therese Rein pulled up at their Brisbane home. Rudd noted again that he’ll make a statement later today. “What I said from America is that I need to talk to some colleagues first, and what I’ve been on a plane for the last 24 hours.” But first he was going to have a cup of tea with Therese and enjoy some family time. Meanwhile, Gillard just spoke to reporters saying that the decision on Monday is “a choice about who’s got the strength, the temperament, the character and the courage to lead this nation.” “Who’s got the ability to get things done even in the face of adversity?” asked Gillard. “It’s not an episode of Celebrity Big Brother, it’s about who should be prime minister.” She also said she’ll talk further later today. 9.05am update:In further comments by Attorney General Nicola Roxon to Sky News (she just announced she’d refuse to serve as minister in a Rudd government, see below), Roxon explained the difficulties in working out the historic health and hospital deal with Rudd as PM. Roxon spoke of middle of the night phone calls, Sunday meetings at the Lodge that went for seven hours and had no papers or way of making decisions. She said her and Rudd were to attend events at hospitals and it would not be decided which hospital or even which city until the day before, affecting health professionals’ schedules. She said that often it would be her, Wayne Swan and Julia Gillard in a meeting with Rudd with the three of them agreeing against Rudd. She said that Rudd would regularly lose his temper with staff and officials, but she has never seen Gillard lose her cool despite the enormous pressure. She said that Rudd wanted a referendum on the national takeover of hospitals, even though the proper consultation hadn’t been done with officials, legal advice hadn’t been sought and cabinet had not debated it. 8.50am update Attorney General Nicola Roxon, who served as health minister in the Rudd government, has just spoke to Sky News saying that she would not serve as a minister under him as leader. “I doubt I’d be asked, but I absolutely wouldn’t accept if I was.” “I personally would not put myself through that process again. I wouldn’t have confidence in him and I’m sure he wouldn’t have confidence in me.” More Roxon comments to come. 8.35am update Within 30 minutes of returning to Australia, Kevin Rudd gave a press conference in the Brisbane airport with wife Therese Rein standing next to him. Rudd didn’t directly announce that he will stand in the leadership ballot — he said he is still talking to colleagues and will make a statement later today — he urged the Australian public to contact their local Labor MPs and declare their support for him. “These are important days for the country. It’s important we have some plain speaking about our county’s future,” said Rudd. “What’s our vision?” asked Rudd. He said his hadn’t “changed one bit in all the years” he’s been in public life and that it is ”never throw a fair go out the back door. “That’s not Mr Abbott’s view for the future … the implementation of WorkChoices was the biggest assault on that Australian ‘fair go’ our country has ever seen.” Rudd said the core question for the Australian public and his parliamentary colleagues is: “who is best quipped to defeat Mr Abbott at the upcoming election but more importantly to prevent him from inflicting his prescription on Australia’s future?” While not directly naming Julia Gillard, Rudd said “trust and confidence is everything in politics… it’s critical whoever leads our country has the trust and confidence of the Australian people.” Another “core question” for the public and his Labor colleagues according to Rudd is “whether they believe the Prime Minister continues to have the trust and confidence of the Australian people?” “If you don’t have that [trust and confidence] you can’t do anything else. You can’t do anything else,” said Rudd. He said the prime ministership was not about personality: “it’s about vision, policy and the trust and confidence in which all that is constructed.” Rudd continued to slam the “faceless men” of the Labor Party, saying the ALP shouldn’t be ”a creation of factions and power and faceless men but a party that responds to the people. “This ultimately is a question of people power. “You’re not powerless in this, you’re very powerful,” said Rudd, as he asked citizens to call their MPs, talk to the media, get their voice heard. “Though I’ve just returned to Australia and haven’t seen all the shenangains … what I see from the faceless men is the same shock and awe tactics being deployed during the leadership coup of June 2010. “I don’t think that’s the Australian way.” Labor MP Kate Ellis, Minister for Employment, tweeted in response:
Rudd spoke of some of the personal attack on him in recent days, saying that it appeared from reports that “Rudd is the anti-chirst incorporated, if not the son of Satan than the grandson of Satan.” He called on the public to realise that vested interests were in play in these stories. He asked Gillard to make a public guarantee that any sitting member of the House of Representatives or the Senate would have their pre-selection guaranteed, after rumours that pre-selection was being used as a bargaining chip in deciding what leader they would support. Rudd said he would make a statement on Gillard’s call for whoever lost the leadership ballot to go to the backbench and renounce all hopes of leadership this afternoon and also would address the issues of how he’d work with ministers and MPs who have spoken publicly against him and his leadership style if he was chosen. “I’m not saying I’m captain perfect,” said Rudd. He noted that he, like his other Labor PM predecessors had a few flaws. But he warned the public to “be careful of the spin machine” being conducted by the “faceless men”. “I am however pretty disappointed by the level of intense negativity and the shock and awe characteristics, which we’ve seen before. Rudd spoke of the June 2010 coup saying that Gillard came and spoke to him that night about some of the leadership issues and that they agreed to work through them and re-evaluate the leadership issue in a few months. Ten minutes later Gillard walked into his office and said “all bets are off, that agreement doesn’t hold, I’m challenging,” said Rudd. Rudd’s final plea to his colleagues: “What I’m saying to you loud and clear is given the factional firepower of the faceless men and the shock and awe tactics and negative assault… sit back, take a deep breath, have a think about it.” 8.10am update Kevin Rudd: “Don’t get bamboozled. Kevin Rudd is not the son of Satan, or at least the grandson of Satan…” 8.05am update Kevin Rudd is in the midst of a press conference at Brisbane airport, updates coming. Thursday February 25 4.00pm update Here’s a round up of the day’s events in this very hectic media day. Unless something major happens tonight, I expect this to be the last update in today’s live blog.
For more analysis, check out Bernard Keane in Crikey today. He writes about the criticisms of Rudd by his former colleagues today:
3.45pm update Another cabinet minister has come out in support of Kevin Rudd as Labor leader. Robert McClelland, Minister for Housing and Emergency Management, announced that Rudd would be getting his vote in the leadership ballot on Monday.
Senator Kim Carr, a former Gillard minister who was demoted during a cabinet reshuffle last December, also spoke out in support of Rudd and criticised the “campaign of vilification” by the Gillard camp to ABC radio today. “I’m not going to be intimidated,” said Carr. ”There’s been all sorts of threats made, all sorts of suggestions as to what will happen to people that take a different view. “I’ve got scar tissue on my back a foot thick. “We’re in the party games part of the campaign now. I expect that people will make all sorts of claims and counter-claims.” “It’s my opinion that the man has a great breadth of vision and a commitment to the future of this country that stands us in good stead. “We saw in 2007 just how effective a campaigner he is, and we know that he has the capabilities to lead a strong government.” Attorney General Nicola Roxon spoke to 2GB this afternoon reaffirming that she supported Gillard as prime minister, particularly because of the prime minister’s leadership style. “I’ve been very clear that I will support the Prime Minister,” said Roxon. “I think Julia has done a remarkable job in the circumstances. I just wish, and I’m sure the public do, we could be proud of what the Labor government is delivering …” She noted that it had been a “difficult decision” to roll Rudd as PM in 2010 but that Labor needed to tough it out and “show the community we can stick up for decision that we’ve made”. Bill Shorten, one of the key players in the 2010 coup, tweeted today: ”Top performance by the PM this morning, never been more proud of our leader. Looking forward to Monday.” 3.15pm update Immigration Minister Chris Bowen hasn’t exactly shown his hand on who he backs, but he was extremely supportive of Rudd’s achievements as prime minister in an ABC News 24 interview today. “The first point I want to make is that if Kevin Rudd runs the Labor Party will have the choice between two very good candidates who deserve to be treated with respect, and we deserve to have a mature conversation about the merits of each candidate,” said Bowen. “Well what I’m not going to do is provide a running commentary on what other people say, including Cabinet colleagues and good friends. Everybody will make their own statements and they’ll need to defend their own statements. What I will say is this: Kevin Rudd led the Labor Party to victory in 2007 in very difficult circumstances, he is a former party leader and he deserves to have his legacy respected and he deserves to be able to put his case for the future leadership of the Labor Party with respect. “I’m encouraging him to run, I think that would be the best thing for the Labor Party, for Kevin to put his name forward so we can resolve this issue. I do think Kevin Rudd has a lot to continue to offer the Labor Party, but he should put his name forward and then the Caucus can make its choice, and then we can move on.” When asked what it was like having Rudd as leader — when many of his colleagues are so critical of his leadership style, Bowen replied: “When I needed a decision made by the Cabinet or by the Prime Minister it was made in an orderly and efficient way. If I needed to see Prime Minister Rudd, I got to see him and to put my case to him for whatever policy decision needed to be dealt with. That was my experience; others can speak for their own experiences.” And he may be somewhere above to Pacific on his flight back to Australia, but Kevin Rudd still managed to tweet a link to a transcript of his press conference this morning.
3.00pm update The journalist who persistently questioned Gillard this morning about her role in Kevin Rudd’s government until the PM snapped has apologised for his behaviour. During Gillard’s press conference this morning, Michael Owen, a journalist from The Australian, harangued Gillard for so long that she fought back against his “rudeness”. “I’m not listening to this rudeness,” declared Gillard. “I’m not going to have you speak to me like this, end of sentence. Now it is your colleague’s turn [to ask a question], don’t be rude to him.” Owen contacted the PM’s office to apologise afterwards and regrets his actions, reports The Australian. 2.45pm update The first senior cabinet minister has just come out in support of Rudd as leader. Martin Ferguson, Minister for Tourism and Resources, just declared to a media contingent: ”in my opinion, Kevin Rudd is best placed to take on Tony Abbott and is in the best position for us to win the next election. “Both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard have done an outstanding job for Australia, but our responsibility is to assess who can beat Tony Abbott.” Ferguson did not confirm that Rudd will run in the leadership ballot . He also said that he had “no intention to get into a sparring match” with colleagues and warned his colleagues that they were simply providing fodder for the Opposition to use in the next election. When asked what would happen to his ministerial role if Rudd lost the ballot, Ferguson replied “once it’s over we all pull together and get on with the job, 1.20pm update ”This is a great country. Please don’t let the spectacle of cabinet persuade you that there is anything wrong with Australia,” declared Opposition leader Tony Abbott in a press conference just a few minutes ago. “It’s a great country that’s been let down by a bad government.” Instead Abbott said the Coalition was a viable alternative: ” …the Coalition is a stable and united team and we stand ready to give Australia the good government that it needs.” Abbott talked up the need for a stronger economy and to increase productivity. He slammed the carbon tax plan saying Australia doesn’t need “socialism masquerading as environmentalism.” He also asked for Australians to “not lose heart” in the current debacle enveloping the government. “We can have a better government. We are a people better than this. What the Australian people yearn for right now is a prime minister who they choose … whatever happens next Monday it will be the faceless men pulling the strings.” He spoke repeatedly of the “faceless men” of the Labor Party, noting that they were responsible for political “dodgy backdoor deals, deals done in the dark”. Abbott noted that while he didn’t support Rudd and thought he was a bad prime minister, at least he was given a mandate to lead by the Australian people in 2007 “I have had no confidence in this government from the beginning. The Australian people have no confidence in this government, as the [popularity] indicator increasingly shows.” “I am very happy to fight an election against whoever the faceless men put up in the Labor Party.” 12.30pm update How is the rest of the world reporting Australia’s leadership squabble? In The New York Times, Matt Siegel — an Australia based freelancer for the paper — reported on Rudd’s resignation:
It was a top story on the BBC and The Wall Street Journal websites last night.
Duncan Kennedy at the BBC offered some analysis of the situation:
But it seems the UK’s Independent newspaper was a little more unsure of the political situation here in Oz.
Six years ago? How time flies. To be fair, the rest of Marks’ story is quite illuminating:
Crikey is just about to hit publish the edition is packed full of quality commentary, news and analysis of all of today’s and last night events. Plus, of course, examining what will happen next … 12.00pm update A little recap of everything so far:
The most interesting tweets from journos and MPs from this morning:
Meanwhile, Greens leader Bob Brown said that Rudd attempted to contact him after just hours after resigning as foreign minister last night, but Brown was on a flight and unable to answer. In an interesting development, Rudd political strategist Bruce Hawker stepped aside from the Queensland campaign for Anna Bligh’s re-election this morning. “I have taken leave from the Bligh campaign,” said Hawker. “Given the events of the last 24 hours it wasn’t possible to contribute effectively to Anna’s campaign” 11.15am update Thérèse Rein, wife of Kevin Rudd, spoke to the press this morning outside her home and encouraged Rudd supporters to contact their local Labor MPs and Senators. “Sometimes I feel like there are the two kinds of Australia. There’s what happens inside the halls of Parliament House. And then there’s what happens in the street,” said Rein. “And what people tell me is that they trust Kevin. They respect him. They know how hard he worked during the election in 2007. They know how hard he worked as prime minister. They know he’s committed. They know he’s worked hard as foreign minister.” When asked how she and Rudd reacted to the personal attacks against him in recent days and weeks, Rein responded: “I try not to take hurt inside and other people’s anger or embarassment into me because that doesnt help.” When asked what advice Rein would offer Rudd this weekend, she replied: “I’ll tell him to follow his heart and stay true to himself, as he always has.” She was, as always, charming and remains a powerful asset for Rudd. 11.00am update The Labor Party will have a leadership ballot on 10am Monday, announced Prime Minister Julia Gillard in a press conference in Adelaide this morning. Gillard says she expects to win the ballot and hopes that after the Monday ballot, all leadership speculation in Labor will end. Gillard also spoke about the issues of the Rudd government “I have decided that at 10am on Monday a ballot for the leadership will be conducted. Following Kevin Rudd’s resignation yesterday I have formed this view that we need a leadership battle to settle this question once and for all. “I will renominate for the Labor leadership and I expect to receive the support of my colleagues.” For far too long we’ve seen squabbling within the Labor Party which has obscured the government’s achievements,” said Gillard. “In recent days, I believe, this has moved to a distraction from governing itself.” Gillard noted that the Australian public wanted an answer of who was leader. “Australians are rightly sick of this and they want it brought to an end. “Labor can only provide it if we resolve this issue once and for all and proceed with unity. Gillard said that if against her expectations she loses the leadership ballot “then I will go to the backbench and will renounce any further ambition for the leaderhip.” She notes asked Kevin Rudd to give the same undertaking. “If he doesn’t succeed, he will go to the back bench, renounce any further claims to the leadership and acts in the best interests of the party and our nation. Gillard spoke of the reforms that she has been able to deliver even under a minority government. She noted the issues that Rudd had had as prime minister in pushing for climate change reform and a minerals resources tax, both reforms which she has been able to get support for. She also pointed out other reforms that a Gillard government has achieved — a national health agreement, the separation of Telstra, means testing of private health insurance, keeping the economy strong. But Gillard also admitted some faults. “Now, no government is perfect and I have made mistakes in the last 18 months, I acknowledge that. Ultimately the measure of a government is what the government achieves for the Australian future.” Gillard also added that a “measure of a government is not by opinion polls and daily headlines in newspapers.” “Ultimately under my leadership I believe we have been securing the big reforms that make us stronger and fairer. But we’ve got so much work to do building on those reforms.” Gillard also said that she believes she can beat Tony Abbott in the next election. But Rudd’s behaviour as prime minister was also a topic that Gillard discussed at length. “Government is about more than electioneering,” said Gillard. “Government is about having the courage to get the big reforms done. Government is about each and every day you have the discipline and the method necessary to get the huge amount of work done. Government is about personal strength in adversity to ensure you stay focused and get your work done. I believe I have displayed those attributes as prime minister.” Gillard also noted that as deputy prime minister she took on roles outside of her portfolio to try and help save the Rudd government before she confronted Rudd and took over the leadership. She also noted that the 2010 election had been “sabotaged” by leaks. Gillard noted that no other nominee apart from Kevin Rudd and herself was expected to nominate in the leadership ballot. “There is a challenge here for Labor to have the leadership ballot on Monday and then unite after Monday. “Australians are rightly sick of it and that’s why I determined the battle will be settled. “Overwhelming, my view is about the nation and the need for certainty. I don’t believe it’s fair for Anna Bligh and our colleagues in Queensland for this to drift on day after day with no end in sight. The talk by Rudd of “faceless men” in the Labor Party was not appreciated by Gillard. “I think this chatter about faceless men is profoundly insulting to my Labor colleagues,” said Gillard “They are people who went into public life because they believe in something, they believe in a Labor vision for the future… they are people of their own mind and own resources and they make up their own mind. Any suggestion otherwise is deeply and personally insulting to each and every one of them.” 10.11 update Gillard speaks at press conference in Adelaide, updates soon. 10am update Standing by for Gillard’s press conference, which seems to have been delayed after Rudd’s earlier one (see below for all the latest from the Rudd presser). Here’s a look at the front pages of Australia’s newspapers today:
9.30am update Kevin Rudd has just given a press conference from Washington, before flying back to Australia. Rudd indicated that he was likely to launch a leadership challenge, but said he would make an official statement on any possible challenge when back in Australia. “Overnight I’ve had many conversations with caucus and ministerial colleagues. I’m very pleased and encouraged by positive support and encouragement of me to contest the leadership. “The overall argument to me is that they regard me as the best prospect to lead the Labor Party to the next election and save the Labor Party at the election and save the Australian public from an Abbott government. “I’m shocked and disappointed from the tone and content of the intensely personal attacks which have been lodged against me overnight in Australia. Whatever our differences in politics, I don’t believe these vicious personal attacks have a place in political life. “ These personal attacks affect the “fabric of decency in our national institutions,” said Rudd. “I urge my own supporters not to retaliate, not to engage in personal attacks. I don’t believe it has a proper place in Australian politics. “People are sick and tired of the politics of division, the politics of division within our political party and the politics of division within Australian politics overall. As we know, Tony Abbott is the master of the politics of division and dividing our nation. “It’s important we begin to cultivate a new sense of unity in our country. “Bottom line, this question of the future of the leadership … is not about personality. It’s about trust, it’s about policy and vision. Rudd outlined that he had been proud of many of achievements of the Labor government, particularly when he was prime minister during the Global Financial Crisis and Australia emerged relatively unscathed, without a recession and mass unemployment. He outlined that his major policy areas that he thought deserved importance — though of course, didn’t admit a leadership challenge. His main policy areas were
Rudd also spoke of ALP reform. “Beyond policy, there is a big question of the reform of the Labor Party itself,” said Rudd. He again noted the role of Labor’s “faceless men” — “that means a party in the future that is not governed by the faceless men.” The Labor Party is “not about the power of factions, it’s about people power,” said Rudd. Rudd questioned whether Gillard can succeed in the next election, though noted he would make a leadership statement after consulting with colleagues back in Australia. “I do not believe Prime Minister Gillard can lead the Australian Labor Party to success in the next election. It’s a deep belief and one I believe is shared across the Australian community.” He ended with a true Rudd line: “as they say in the classics, I’ve got to zip”. 9.00am update While we wait for Gillard’s press conference, check out the best commentary from the newspapers this morning on the Rudd v Gillard debacle. Word is that Rudd will shortly speak from his Washington hotel. Rudd will be appealing to the public love of him, but his colleague’s memories remain clear. Regardless, the Labor government has destroyed itself, notes Michelle Grattan in The Age:
There’s faceless men on both Rudd and Gillard’s side, notes Peter van Onselen in The Australian:
Gillard needs to make a case for herself, says Lenore Taylor in The Sydney Morning Herald:
And interesting news from Andrew Bolt at the Herald Sun — which a Rudd spokesperson has already dismissed as false:
Government ministers are lining up to dump on Rudd in this morning’s media. Minister for Broadband Stephen Conroy told Sky News that “Kevin Rudd had contempt for the cabinet, contempt for the caucus, contempt for the parliament.” Attorney General Nicola Roxon said “he’s not the messiah and Kevin can’t win us the election”. 8.30am update At a 1am press conference held in a Washington DC hotel, Rudd announced his resignation as foreign minister, saying that without the support of the Prime Minister he was unable to continue in this position:
Rudd also slammed the “faceless men” within Labor Party and hinted at a possible leadership challenge. He is due to arrive back in Australia on Friday.
Within minutes of Rudd’s resignation, opposition leader Tony Abbott released a statement:
Shortly afterwards, the prime minister released her own statement on Rudd’s resignation:
As Bernard Keane noted in Crikey last night: “Note that Gillard refers to Rudd’s failure to consult ‘prior to his decision’ but not his announcement.” The Gillard press conference is due at 9.30am AEST this morning. Environment minister Tony Burke spoke on ABC’s 7.30 last night about the leadership struggle engulfing the Labor Party (it’s a fascinating interview, and worth reading the whole transcript). “I’m glad that it’s now being resolved and I think that’s the most important thing. Everybody has had enough of the stealth and undermining campaign that has been going on through the caucus and through the media for a very long time,” Burke told 7.30 host Chris Uhlmann. “And, you know, the fact that Kevin’s been openly campaigning for the leadership has been the worst kept secret in Canberra.” Uhlmann questioned Burke on what the major difference between Rudd and Gillard was, asking if there was nothing in this leadership debate but politics.
Stories of Rudd’s prime ministership troubles with his colleagues also appeared in a scathing press release by Treasurer Wayne Swan:
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224 Comments
Well, letthebread and circuses commence.
Should R*dd have paid for his flight home considering he’d resigned?
The Stealth bomber has dropped more than an F-bomb this time!
Talk about precision weapons: pick a time in the wee hours of the USA to launch your pre-emptive strike on Australian national TV evening news services and watch the shock jocks and commentators ride the shock wave from coast to coast.
A bit like a thermonuclear blast really, but much bigger.
If Rudd crashes and burns he could always get a job in event management, he’s a natural.
But it all feels way to contrived and staged. Staged for maximum exposure, and with everything so controlled by Rudd that no one can ask him questions about his actions or his past as leader. The micro-manager is in total control of his message despite every Labor minister coming out trying to shoot him down before he even arrives back in the country.
What a spectacle, and it’s all about Kevin. Isn’t that a move title, or something?
Strong words from Swan. I wonder if under other circumstances they wouldn’t simply kick Rudd out? (i.e. when every seat counts in assuring a parliamentary majority)
Christopher Dunne: there’s a movie called We need to talk about Kevin starring Tilda Swinton. She looks so much like Gillard I had a triple take when I saw the posters.
Astonishing isn’t it?
Rudd wins the election for the Labour Party.
His party spits the dummy and dumps him because he isn’t a team man. They don’t consider this treachery however the electorate does.
The electorate continues to show that it wants a leader who leads and not one who follows and tries to please all the sooks.
Leader’s actually lead viz. Paul Keating.
Now the sooks are out again sucking their thumbs and saying it’s not in our interest to have a decent leader because .. wah! he wont listen to us.
Kevin Rudd’s mobile challenge: http://www.KevinRudd.mobi
At stake? The dignity and integrity of the nation.
Moderators: there’s a comment of mine waiting there.
Harry Rogers
How shrt term our memory.
There was good reason those closest to him dumped Rudd as PM.
As Gillard points out in her press conference his majority Government was in parlysis.
The best know example dropping support of priing carbon even with Opposition support.
Corrected for you Kevin …
‘There is one overriding question for my caucus colleagues and that is who is best placed to’ .. represent Australians, and give leadership to the nation.
Has Paul Howes decided who our next PM is yet?
@Thetruthhuts.
Paul howes is not a member of Caucus. There are no faceless men. We all know their names. Listed on the Parliamentary Webste.
The only Labor candidate for the role of Prime Minister with any chance at all of leading the party to a victory in the next 2 elections is Simon Crean. Rudd and then Gillard have each demonstrated that without enough parliamentary experience on the front bench you just can’t be successful in the top job. Crean is the only Labor candidate with enough experience to be a successful Prime Minister, although it is unlikely that enough wisdom exists in the party to recognise that fact.
Why was he on TV the night of the rolling telling us Gillard would be our new Prime Minister despite the vote being the next day?
The factions run the Labor Party
Crean is about as popular as a bout of hemorrhoids.
Stephen Smith would be my pick for the compromise candidate.
@Thetruthhurts
Why is The Australian saying who will be Prme Minister.
Down and Out: Maybe we could do a movie take…
The Kevinator: “I’ll be back”
terror’s two top articles today
1: Dinner before all hell broke loose
2:’Embarrassed about my bo obs’
sydney has it’s priorities right
The truth Hurts - What happened to Geewhizz, are you bak on your meds?
I find it a bit disingenous of Rudd to claim the facelss men forced him to resign when everyone who has called his character into question has put their name to it and generally done it on TV and all those he has had destabilise Gillard have been “un-named sources”. Let’s just hope he get’s the hint when the vote goes somewhere around 70-35 to 85-20 for Gillard.
Also Rudd’s inability to negotiate meant all his reforms failed to get through, Gillard in a much more difficult palriament has actually been able to achieve!
Also Rudd’s inability to negotiate meant all his reforms failed to get through, Gillard in a much more difficult palriament has actually been able to achieve!
I should think that a hung parliament situation, with so-called independents holding the sword of Damocles over your head, would sharpen any PM’s negotiating skills.
Socratease - He could of had his ETS if he had just negotiated with the Greens but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, do you really think he will now negotiate with the Greens, Windsor, Oakeshott & Wilkie?
Talk about a win win for Kevin. He has yet to declare his intention to run so if the mood goes against him he makes a quiet stage exit. If he wins he gets to continue his autocratic style that he loves so well since no one in cabinet seems to want to work with him. If he loses he gets to retire to the back bench and continue his stuff aka Paul Keating.
As for Julia well if she wins or no contest she just gets more or the same yet if she loses she will go down in history as so unable to manage her image and that of her party that she let the public broadcaster white-ant and get away with it.
Savonrepus - If Rudd doesn’t challenge after his press conference this morning he will not get to make a quiet exit, everyone will see he clearly didn’t have the numbers and lacked the “ticker” to go through with his challenge.
@jimmy: do you really think he will now negotiate with the Greens, Windsor, Oakeshott & Wilkie?
Short of bringing on a Federal election to get rid of those “independents” I think political necessity would require it.
However, I don’t think he’ll have to, as I don’t expect him to muster sufficient votes to oust Gillard — this time around.
Nonetheless, Wilkie has already made clear he’s now a Rudd supporter. I don’t think Windsor has problems with Rudd. Oakeshott does not get on well with Abbott so I’m assuming he’d side with Rudd.
Senate is another thing altogether.
Socratease - Rudd won’t even get close and won’t get another chance this term. However your premise of “Short of bringing on a Federal election to get rid of those “independents” I think political necessity would require it.” is shown to be false as when he was PM the same thing could be said of the Greens, short of a double dissolution or backing away completely from his agenda he had to negotiate with the Greens, he didn’t negotiate!
Windsor has gone on record saying his deal is wiht Gillard and he doesn’t think Rudd could make the hung parliament work, Oakeshott has made similar statements and after last time the Greens will be gun shy. Probably none of them would force an election (although you never know) but the don’t have to support legislation either.
@ Jimmy - Rudd resigned because he did not have the support of the PM not because he was mounting a challenge.
What the very public trashing of Rudd indicates is the nasty political culture of the Labor party. We saw that with the Australia Day protests where political bright sparks thought it would be clever to incite a protest to make Tony Abbott look divisive - a peculiarly shameful manipulation at the expense of Australia’s most marginal group. And whatever you might think of Abbott’s indigenous policies, the idea that he does not take the issue very seriously is absurd. We saw it with the leaking of the Happy Little Vegemite video. A political culture has grown up around people who have done nothing else but politics and intrigue in their whole adult lives.
I have been reading through Cablesearch with some interest and found this rather revealing one from 2009 “ALP Factions Bid Their Time”
http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=09CANBERRA188
“9. (C/NF) Two ALP Right factional leaders we have spoken to,
AWU President Joe Ludwig and Senator Don Farrell, former head
of the SDA in South Australia and the most influential
powerbroker in that state, both agreed that Rudd’s political
power in the ALP is now unchallenged, but they opined that
the factions would reassert themselves once Rudd’s popularity
declines. Although Gillard is currently Rudd’s heir
apparent, factional maneuvering could ultimately deprive her
of the leadership. Right-wing powerbrokers, the key to
winning the leadership, are likely to prefer one of their own
- such as the leader of the Victorian Right, Bill Shorten -
for the job. “
It certainly didnt take much of decline for them to reassert themselves, however once they asserted themselves they have generously shown they are prepared to overlook poor polling.
If we espouse politics of the jungle, we should decide a leader based on the law of the jungle - tooth and claw.
No sentimentality.
So I’m proposing a winner take all “To-the-Death” cage fight between Christopher Pyne and Anthony Albanese - winner gets to pick the PM. Loser gets to come back from the dead and dack Tony Abbott.
Fair enough ?
Those front pages are interesting. Just under 1/3 imply that the Prime Minister is in control of the situation, but whose face dominates?
Jimmy,
During Rudd’s term he lead a majority government which, I suggest, provides a very different mindset to one which is held captive to a few “independents” and a loony tunes Speaker. Traditionally, a majority government has not taken kindly to being told how to govern by the “unrepresentative swill” in the other place.
Again, faced with the current situation in the lower house, I think any PM (or his minders) would quickly find a bag of negotiating tricks.
However, it’s all moot as I doubt he’ll get the numbers this time around.
With all of the hate being publicly aired, I’ve been trying to imagine the front bench under Rudd.
It’s all very exciting & everything but will it bring positive change into our Australian lives or is this just more useless political crap, like Governtainment.
@scottmc is this just more useless political crap
Given that it’s all about politics, the answer is yes.
What if Rudd quit the Labor party but not Parliament?
He is clearly acting like he doesn’t have much love left for the party.
He would then be an independent and could still keep Tony Abbott out of power but he could impose conditions on the government and be the centre of attention between now and at least the next election.
Looking at the other options assuming he loses or doesn’t contest the leadership ballot:
1. 24Kevin on the back bench? Please. He wouldn’t be able to sit still without causing trouble or being the centre of attention for 5 minutes.
2. Quitting parliament. As Peter Beattie put it on Lateline last night, if he did this history (or at least every left leaning Australian) would remember him with a big black mark.
Haven’t seen much coverage of who’s challenging for deputy. If Rudd’s really in it to win, he’ll be looking forward someone to replace Swan as well. From what I can tell, Bowen is the only lower house member of note supporting Rudd.
Rudd has News Ltd onside. Murdoch has been involved in making and unmaking ALP
governments since 1972.
Savonrepus - Yeah OK, the same as he has be undermining Gillard because he didn’t support her, he quit to challenge as evidenced by his speech this morning!
Socratease - And how did it work out for Rudd, not negotiating with “unrepresentative swill”, he couldn’t get his legislation through so Gillard has had to spend 18 months clearing the backlog. Any way it’s a moot point because he will not be leader again in this parliament and probably ever again.
Sorry correction should of been -
Savonrepus - Yeah OK, the same as he has be undermining Gillard because she didn’t support him, he quit to challenge as evidenced by his speech this morning!
Simon at 9.20 - I agree. If the parliamentary numbers weren’t so tight, Rudd would be ringing News Ltd looking for a job.
Harry Rogers at 9.50 - You might like to rethink your argument. You compliment Keating but criticise Labor for replacing Rudd as PM after he won an election for them. As recall, Keating did the same thing with Hawke, who had won four elections for Labor.
Truth Hurts - Smith? You’re joking. He is as weak as a wet paper bag, and less interesting.
Rudd’s behaviour is increasingly psychopathic. He is now saying the nation is tired of the divisions within the govt - yet all the while it has been him who has been driving the division by means of his one-man faction. Clever political play but completely lacking any integrity.
So the PM has licensed and unleashed Swan, Crean, Burke, Conroy, various other shopworn party mediocrities, to kick Rudd to death in public?
Then, at 10.03am on Monday, all these bovver-boys will instantaneously kiss and make up with all the Rudd supporters and go off to do good government?
Spiffy! Edifying! Creme de la creme! Haven’t seen such inspired political judgment since Churchill in the dark days of World War II….
Stephen - Or Since Howard & Costello, Hawke & Keating, Hawke & Bill Hayden, Howard & Peacock etc etc etc
Dogma:
“prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by a particular group: the difficulty of resisting political dogma. “
But…what if the press gallery get bored again once the leadership is settled?
Then they’ll have to start inciting a new challenge.
Its really dull when those boring politicians start talking about ‘policies’ - too hard to understand for press gallery hacks!
Much better to start stirring up a challenge, so they can look all grave sober and important and pontificate on the result.
Bit like Michelle Grattan, who loves to run stupid horserace stories, they are much easier to write about than dull old policies! And Tony Wright.
If the people want Rudd & the Labor right wants Gillard, the problem herin lies with the “Labor Right” which is not tradtitionally a core ideology of the (Labor Movement).
The right of this party are nothing more than puppets who act on the behalf of big business & corporate enterprise. The most bizarre thing about this is that (Bill Shorten & Paul Howes) made their way through the Labor ranks via the AWU yet they are “Right Wingers” in the Labor Party. This should speak volumes as Bill Shorten & predecessors of his sold out the AWU in the Pilbara, I have vivid recollections of this. Then again the AWU has had a history of this kind of betrayal.
Question is who do they really represent????
For the past 2 decades people have drifted away from Labor simply because they align themselves so closely to the Liberals in policy that no one can really tell them appart & how often has this been said!!!
Labor needs to get back to it’s core values & drive these “strategically appointed saboteurs” from their ranks otherwise they are doomed.
(Labor Party & Right Wingers are a contradiction to the ideology of this party), whoever now takes the leaderhip will still have the same ongoing problems.
I have seen this playing out for quite some time now & I can tell you (Bill Shorten) has been hand picked by big business for this post as they have endorsed him so many times.
Whatever the outcome of this leadership ballot “Bill Shorten” is next in line for the thrown absolutely without doubt!!!! (remember this space)
The public always get distracted by side shows, “The rule is to always keep your eye on the ball”
Hey Troofie
“…Stephen Smith would be my pick for the compromise candidate.”
Are you auditioning for the job of “faceless man”? I’ll give you a glowing reference based on your performances here… but I’m sure your other selves could also provide with a strong groundswell of spontaneous public endorsement.
Sadly for Stephen Smith, you don’t get a vote in caucus and neither would Suzanne. Or any of you.
The “faceless men” were not caucus - not elected parliamentarians - they were the ALP’s National Executive. Alan Reid coined the expression after getting a picture of Calwell and Whitlam waiting outside a room where the Executive was meeting during the 1963 ALP Conference. Menzies picked it up and the rest is history.
One of the great political headlines in our history by a seasoned campaigner. But not particularly applicable here. Ideas pinched twice lose their flavour.
Incidentally, those of you who find themselves firming to the fulminations of Andrew Blott and Elaine Jones could do worse that have a read of some of Reid’s hatchet jobs for Frank Packer. That’s the trouble nowadays, you just can’t get the hacks.
I don’t think Rudd’s argument that Gillard does badly against Abbott is sound. I remember Rudd let Abbott (with help from N.ewsltd) make gain against the government as well.
I did not support his dumping but I think they had no choice because Rudd’s handling of the RSPT was poor and he should have allowed for a redesign of the tax.
The key question is whether it was more than the poll that made them dump Rudd. I guess it was more than that. I sounds like the majority of the MPs found him difficult to work with so I think they won’t reinstate him.
Rudd’s last newspoll when the faceless men of the Labor Party rolled him was 50% TPP with a Labor Primary Vote of 42%.
42% Primary Vote…. remember that Labor circlejerkers?
Now whats Dillard getting at the moment? 45% TPP and wait for it… a Primary vote of 30%.
So if the argument is that Rudd lost the support of the people of Australia than Dillard is gone for all money because her polling is atrocious.
Sorry Rudd’s last TPP was actually 52%
Well done Labor
John 2066 - Who knows the might decide it is the liberal leadership that is under threat?
Geewhizz - You are back, I thought you had reverted to TTH?
Instead of just quoting numbers why not look at the causes, Rudd constantly destabilising for the last 18 months has contributed to the decline in support, Gillard getting difficult legislation through parliament and having to compromise (something Rudd refused to do which resulted in nothing substantial being achieved) and Gillard being left with a mess from Rudd also have played a part.
Rudd had the most hostile senate in living memory.
All this babble and prattle about a position that has no constitutional basis is tedious.
The media are like brainless brats.
Geewizz
Read carefully, I said “Rudd let Abbott make gain against on the government also”.
With the polls that you quoted that proves my point then, it was more than the poll, they dumped him because he was difficult to work with.
“Labor circlejerkers”. I vote independent, didn’t vote Labor or for any of the parti-es in parliarment at the moment but I remember e*ither you or Suzanne Blake said you used to be Labor voter and did vote for Labor lin the ast election or the one prior. Your insult reflects on yourself, there are quite a few of small l liberals on this page who would not vote for the current Libs.
Geewizz
Read carefully, I said “Rudd let Abbott make gain against on the government also”.
With the polls that you quoted that proves my point then, it was more than the poll, they dumped him because he was difficult to work with.
“Labor circlejerkers”. I vote independent, didn’t vote Labor or for any of the parti-es in parl-i-arment at the moment but I remember e*ither you or Suzanne Blake said you used to be Labor voter and did vote for Labor lin the ast election or the one pri-or. Your insult reflects on yourself, there are quite a few of small l liberals on this page who would not vote for the current Libs.
@Apollo
“I did not support his dumping but I think they had no choice because Rudd’s handling of the RSPT was poor and he should have allowed for a redesign of the tax”
Kevin Rudd had this tax spot on!!! What has now happened is that BHP, RIO & Extrata will actually get a corporate tax cut paid for by the smaller miners boosting their already obscene profits!!!
How many (Advertising Campaigns) have the big miners run against the government since its capitulation to them??
They actually stand to gain even more & probably stamp out the competition in the process.
Please keep your eye on the ball mate!!
Pwen Gary - He may have had the tax “spot on” but his approach to it was stupid, he should of announced a review into it, built public support for it (which should of been easy) at least created the appearance of industry consultation and he would of got it through no worries.
No, I will not dispute the rate 40% but the design of the tax was poor, there are people in financi-al sector who support the concept of more tax but want it crap and redesign because it was not sound. Also it rewards poor performing compani-es which Bob Brown did not want, the risk compani-es take should not be a burden shared by tax pay*ers.
scrap, I have typos all over
scrapped
@Jimmy, the responsibility for a poorly mounted campaign against the miners comes from his “Strategic Planner” Bruce Hawker, I have never seen such a feeble shot at the big miners where Ads are concerned.
The trouble still lies with the Labor party being sabotaged from the right (Faceless Men) when they should be committed to the party & who it represents:- The People. Meanwhile they are off taking back-handers from corporate enterprise, but also leaking feedback to them.
@Apollo
Tell me exactly how this latest capitulation on tax will suit small business & small mining enterprises, somehow you have agreed with me & contradicted yourself at the same time??????
Owen Gary - By the time the ad’s came out it was too late, they needed to build support before announcing the policy. And who is advising Rudd on this ill fated comeback attempt, Bruce Hawker!
The stupid press gallery have got the challenge they wanted. They are stupid, brain dead glorified gossip columnists doing the work for their proprietors. Hopefully the time will come when none of these retarded apes have jobs anymore.
the whole thing is just absolutely embarassing for the ALP and, Australian Politics… How can you run a country when you can’t even run your own party? Rudd would be unelectable as a PM and Gillard will lose the next election in a landslide. Take your pick.
I am appalled by Kevin Rudd’s hubris. His resignation announcement on foreign soil was a disgrace and sounded like a US presidential speech; as we know in this country we do not elect a Prime Minister. And all this back stabbing and undermining of the Prime Minister Julia Gillard has gone on for far too long.
Send Kevin to the back bench now.
Owen Gary
Sorry, I did not know you wrote to me. I don’t come here to comment a lot like other people.
I do not agree with the rate that J.G. made with the miners e,ither. But K.Rudd stuffed it up by not consulting industri,es about the structure of the tax because those in favour of the tax in the finance industry know it would be a nightmare for miners and would be a dead duck. He also like Jimmy said failed to build up support for it first which should have been a very easy and good ide,a to sell.
Rudd has the edge… he has his own song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wg5l9J4Qj1k
(Courtesy http://www.expendable.tv)
Hey Amber, I’m going to have to send you an invoice for subbing your work. Here are the typos I spotted so far in Friday’s section of the blog:
and the leadership clichés — [has] begun.
what I see from the [faceess] men
all bets are off, that agreement [doesnt] hold
negative [asault]
KRudd’s invocation of People Power:
A true revolutionary.
Can Australians emulate an Arab Spring?
Rudd is showing for all to see how egotistical and deluded about his own abilities he is and why he was dumped in the first place.
I wonder how phoney Tony would go if he had to put up with the sustained vicious campaign that the current talentless political media led by the Murdoch hacks aided and abetted by sooky Rudd have led against Gillard?
I hope that Rudds reputation is so badly damaged that he disappears up his own hubris..
Ah, can there be anything more democratic than guaranteed pre-selections?
@Socratease: Appreciate the typo help. I’m trying to get things up as quickly as possible, and with over 8000 words written in the last 2 days, there are bound to be mistakes! thank you.
KRudd comes to a gun fight armed with a pop gun.
This is a battle to decide who will be the next leader of the Opposition.
The direction in which each wants to take Labor and the values whch Labor must support is more important that policies they might wish to adminisster in the remaining few months.
This is a battle to decide who will be the next leader of the Opposition.
The direction in which each wants to take Labor and the values whch Labor must support is more important that policies they might wish to adminisster in the remaining few months.
Am I the only one who is entirely sick of the overrated Michelle Grattan? I used to love her. But she has to be up there now with Paul Kelly as one of the most overrated gravitas obsessed journalists, who simply cover the meta-game of politics and little else. It seems after the Timor solution debacle blew up, she somehow felt betrayed, because her coverage definitely became decidedly feral and curmudgeon-like in her tone and almost gleeful scorn.
But even before that her performance has been lacking — especially with all the nonsense about the Real Julia. That stunt surely deserved mockery, but too often her pieces consisted of little more than the problems within the context of the horse race. I think she is a leading exemplar of what Simons, Posetti and Rosen are arguing against — politics as an insider game — and it just reinforces to me how Fairfax now lacks relevance that she is still regarded as some kind of wise elder.
Give me someone like Laurie Oakes any day over that crap.
Whilst Gillard and Co continue to trash the Labor brand - ” This is Labor we don’t honour former leaders we rubbish them”
In the meantime Rudd continues to show how he can build the party.
Grass Roots Political Movement - now isn’t that long over due. Pity it has the faceless men quaking in their boots.
It is time Labor got a bit of diplomacy and construction in its sales spiel rather than being a bunch of school kids trying to impress their leader with one upmanship over the best way to bad mouth one of their own.
If nothing else a return to Kevin will bring a fresh change to the heavy hearts of the country.
Well done Crikey, great rundown. One typo: anti chirst.
S
Election 2013:
People Power vs People Skills?
Savonrepus has it slipped by you that Rudd has his own faceless men? He has as his chief lieutenants, Carr and Ferguson, two of the most robotic machine men of all time - factional kingpins. Just like his Bonhoeffer speech, there’s nothing genuine behind this ‘people power’ line and the faceless men stuff is so ironic that it’s offensive.
William Fettes - no you’re not the only one. Grattan gets on Fran Kelly’s show and treated like some kind of guru while she makes facile ‘analysis’ of rumour and gossip to Fran’s asinine nodding.
Soc. perhaps ‘faceess men’ was a slip towards the Freudian?
If Kevin Rudd is not installed this party will fall into decay.
He is the only one with vision & is not guided by infiltraters on the right side of the party.
If Phoney Abbott gets in you can look forward to Greek Style austerity which will send us further into recession.
Kevin proved you spend during a recession not cut. How on earth do the greeks recover their country’s economy when the EU have made them sack large numbers of people & cut minimum wage even lower????
If we dont seize the moment we will lose the day & the election!!!!
Am I the only one who finds the continual references to “beating Tony Abbott at the next election” disturbing? It’s one thing to win an election. It’s entirely another thing to govern a country.
Has this distinction been lost in the current climate of popularity polls and the 24 hour news cycle?
Liliwyt - You are correct, the best way for the ALP to win the next election is to spend the next 18 months governing well and continuing their reforms. That is why they will stick with Gillard.
“Chaos is a name for any order that produces confusion in our minds”.
A return to the chaotic dictatorial rule of KRudd will fracture the Labor party even more than it is now, a leopard never changes his spots and the egomaniac that is KRudd will not change one thing about how he wants to Govern Australia.
No matter what happens on Monday… Dillard is GORRRRRRNNN
Whether at the next election or by her own parties knives
Rudd should tell Labor to go get f…. and get him and his supporters to join this party:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Labor_Party
They split in 1955 because of the Communist Union hacks trying to run the party, they can split for the same reasons again
Chaos is a talented opponent.
I’m over Michelle Grattan as well William Fettes.
The media have now got the ‘spill’ they wanted and their continuing campaign to convince KRudd that he should challenge is a success.
When KRudd says ‘faceless men’ I hope he includes the media amongst them
It defies logic that the Labor caucus will knife Gillard as they did Rudd (and please no more sanctimonious claptrap from Abbott who knifed Turnbull)
The job of PM is not a role that anyone in this country votes for. It is and has always been the perogative of the party to appoint it’s senior MP to the role. Just because Australia now slavishly follows Madison Avenue does not mean the role has changed.
Only NOW do the media concentrate on the Independents and ask them what they think. believing this case is the same as the Hawke/Keating battle is lunacy.
Whether you like or loathe her Julia Gillard has been treated by the Opposition and their screeching media pals as an illegitimate PM and that is shocking when it’s been combined with a good dose of chauvinism.
I hate the media. Lying rats the lot of them except for a few noble exceptions.
Geewizz - You have predicted Gillard to be gone numerous times since the 2010 election and been wrong every time. Even just last week you had her Gone before Easter and yet it appears she will win easily on Monday which pretty much makes your pre Easter prediction GORRRRNNN!
The fact that you predict she won’t win the next election actually gives me a lot of confidence that we won’t see PM Abbott.
By the way you want to have a crack at the questions I put to SB earlier, that is what policies you support of Abbott’s or are you just a whinging vote them out type as well?
Axing the Great Big Breathing Tax and restarting the highly successful Nauru Pacific Solution just to name a few.
Geewizz - As I said to SB why do you think removing a massive amount of revenue from the carbon tax and replacing it with a massive amount of inefficient handouts to industry while keeping the tax cuts, pension increases and FTB increases equates to good policy?
And Nauru could be open right now, all Abbott has to do is say yes, the govt have made the offer.
“If Phoney Abbott gets in you can look forward to Greek Style austerity which will send us further into recession.”
Recession? Hope it’s not Geewizz’s influence.
Why is it SB & Geewizz are so keen to tell us what things they don’t like but never explain why they support something. I asked both the same question and they disappeared.
Will people stop fucking blaming Rudd based on rumours and gossip by the likes of Arbib? We know from the Wikileaks cables that it was Gillard undermining Rudd from February 2009 onwards.
And it is a bit rich for her today to claim that he didn’t get things passed, they are the things she shelved and he had a very hostile senate.
People just do not like her.
And the backers are literally backing the only “policy” idea she has ever had.
Flogging refugees off to Malaysia.
So they all show their racism.
As for Swan what an infantile little moron.
Conroy is a jerk with the best job in the country thanks to Rudd’s visionary NBN.
The Gillard mob are acting like gangsters and it was Gillard who did it based only on “rumours”.
She sent out Crean to destroy Rudd publically while he was at an international meeting.
That is disgraceful and at least Cameron, Saffin and others have the decency to recognise what happened.
Gillard has been electoral poison since 24 June last year.
And she is just too stupid to understand it while her toadies forget that Rudd had the most hostile senate in the history of the country.
So they vote for racism.
What I don’t understand is why the media snakes think they have the right to tear down and destroy based only on rumours - they are a waste of space.
David Marr certainly demeaned himself with his vitriol today, he should have stayed out of it.
Of course the vitriol against Rudd only started for two reasons.
1. the UNESCO vote for Palestine which he wanted to support and Gillard went with the racist zionists in an appalling lack of judgement.
2. the fact that he refused to go along with selling refugees off to other countries because it was far, far right.
And the knives have been out ever since.
If the only thing the morons in the party can come up with now are shallow process decisions which we don’t care about anyway then they really are the worthless cowards I always knew them to be.
Is it just me or has Kevin gone all-American on us? First point is he seems to regard the Australian electoral system as Presidential, not Westminster, and the voters voted for him, not the other 102 inferior nuisances in his party’s caucus. Second point is the way he is using his family, parading them around like an American presidential candidate. How soon until Therese gets a hair makeover and turns up with a blonde helmet like Callista Gingrich?
Rudd in the years to come will be spoken of with the same disdain as GG Kerr . The only difference between the two is a wine bottle .
Geomac that is utter rubbish. Fraser engineered the sacking of Whitlam with lies.
Rudd was not doing anything as all the vicious tossers have shown today with their supposed revelations.
Thanks Jimmy. And I agree DF (@ 4.24pm) very much a Presidential-style campaign.
As for him promising not to challenge again if he loses on Monday - is he also going to give away shares in the Storey Bridge?
DF …
No this pseudo-Presidential rubbish is everywhere - not just in the delusions of Kevin Rudd - but in the minds and mouths of the Press Gallery - including our Crikey here. People who should know better.
They speak of a “Rudd Agenda” vs a “Gillard Agenda”…. as if the government’s legislative and reform program was all down to the One Great Man… as if the show was a one-man-band…an elected monarch like Obama. I don’t know why we bother with caucus, the other MPs any of it… come to think of it, neither does Kevin.
I wonder what distinguishes this “Rudd Agenda” from “Gillard’s”…. I can see differences of style, a willingness to negotiate and compromise … Bernard calls that “watering down”…. But it gets up… it gets through parliament without unnecessarily antagonising large and long-term enemies … Perhaps that is the biggest difference after all.
All part of the dumbing-down of political comment in this country. Sad innit?
Chris, there’s a slot at Crikey if 7.30 doesn’t pinch the ratings you all hope from ACA and Today Tonight.
Gillard mentioned Rudd’s “undermining and destabilising the government” multiple times in her last presser today. She was making a very clear point, repeatedly and emphatically.
So far, no journalist or commentator has so far made mention of this and we can probably whistle dixie.
The press gallery is not interested in reporting or investigating Gillard’s allegations because it might open up some discussion about their own contribution, including their strange notion of “journalistic ethics”.
Susan WInstanley - Gillard today said journalists are free to reveal any discussions she had with them about Rudd, Rudd didn’t amke the same offer, in fact he said they should stick to their journalist ethics.
We joke about deck chairs on the Titanic, but this is it.
Quoted by: Ross Greenwood of Money News..
Right now the Federal Government is at pains to tell everyone - including us the mug-punters and the International Monetary Fund, that it will not exceed its own, self-imposed, borrowing limits.
How much? $200 billion. And here’s a worry.
If you work in a bank’s money market operation; or if you are a politician; the millions turn into billions and it rolls off the tip of the tongue a bit too easily. but every dollar that is borrowed, some time, has to be repaid. By you, by me and by the rest of the country.
First thought; Gillard, Swan, Wong, before that Rudd, all of the Labor Cabinet, call these temporary borrowings, a temporary deficit.
Remember Those Words : Temporary Deficit.
The total Government debt will end up around $200 billion.
So here’s a very basic calculation .. I used a home loan calculator to work it out….. it’s that simple..$200 billion is $2 hundred thousand million.
The current 10 year Government bond rate is 4.67 per cent. I worked the loan out over a period of 20 years. Now here’s where it gets scary …. really scary.
The repayments on $200 billion, come to more than one and a quarter billion dollars - every month - for 20 years. It works out we - as taxpayers - will be repaying $15.4 billion in interest and principal every year .. $733 for every man woman and child - every year.
The total interest bill over the 20 years is - get this - $108 billion.
Remember, this is a Government, that just 4 years ago, had NO debt. NO debt.
In fact it had enough money to create the Future Fund, to pay the future liabilities of public servants’ superannuation, and it had enough to stick $20 billion into the Building Australia Fund …..
A note was sent to me which explains that the six leading members of the Government, from Ms Gillard down, have a collective work experience of 181 years, but only 13 in the private sector.
If you take out of those 13 years the number that were spent as trade union lawyers, 11, only two years were spent in the private sector.
So out of those 181 years:
- no years spent running their own business
- no years spent starting their own business
- no years spent as a director of a family business or a company
- no years as a director of a public company
- no years in a senior position in a public company
- no years in a senior position in a private company
- no years working in corporate finance
- no years in corporate or business restructuring
- no years working in or with a bank
- no years of experience in the capital markets
- no years in a stock-broking firm
- no years in negotiating debt facilities with banks
- no years running a small business
- no years at the World Bank or IMF or OECD
- no years in Treasury or Finance.
But these people have plunged Australia into unprecedented debt.
Well, in a way you can’t blame them.
It’s clear the electorate did not do their homework, because the Government is there by right.
Ah, but they are Labor and people vote for them because Labor is good for the working family - right???
Now they cancel the Private Health insurance rebate, that will fill the coffers with more money, shift wealth and put more pressures on public hospitals.
Yes, the GFC never happened and austerity is working a charm all over the world.
The fact that Rudd says he will sit on the back bench when he loses puzzles me.
I do not believe for a second that Rudd will sit there and do that.
I wonder if he will take the nuclear option and resign as an MP?
How many lefties believe Rudd will sit there quietly?
Suzanne your economics are ridiculous. You assume there will be no increase in tax income to peddle your silly wares.
Our government debt is minscule.
Unbelievably the former Hilary Bray has a great piece in the Australian today.
SB
Good to see Menzies house providing you with useless figures . How many libs have been employed at the IMF or world bank before joining politics ? An industrial lawyer doesn,t count ? Costello will be disappointed after his dollar sweets victory to learn his entry pass to preselection in a blue ribbon liberal seat is so sullied . Howard barely made a living as small time lawyer which might explain his zeal to retain his , once again , blue ribbon seat . Yes its not so now but was for nearly three decades. On your logic a nurse isn,t really a health worker because she or he is not a neurosurgeon .
My local member Chester was a staffer for nationals leader Ryan . Mind you he is not a National himself now having failed a few times with preselection or getting elected he deserted the Nationals and joined the libs . A bit like that clown McGauran , senator or lower house member were both shallow tools . One brother deserted his party for another and the other caused the equine flu by deregulation . Both spoilt tossers who never did a drop of work in their life , politics excluded of course , rich pappy .
You know SB aka troothie you sometimes have value > Its good to get a bit off the chest by pointing out blatant and misleading statements occasionally . Of course like all things it should be done in moderation . The opportunities with your posts make moderation essential as over doing it seems pointless .
@ shepherdmarilyn
With the many people losing jobs, change in hours, full time to part time, and the massive fall in business profits (look at the reporting done this week - forget the banks), then the only increase in taxes are the new ones Gillard is implementing.
GST is dropping as well, as sales drop.
Now that Rudd has been outed as the white-anting leaking underminer who was revving up the journos during the last 18 months and assuring them the govt was a house divided, who is going to believe him or them if and when he keeps trying it after he loses again next Monday? Everyone now knows he was manipulating and manoeuvring the whole time and using the media to further his own personal agenda, at whatever cost to the party he professes to serve. Surely any journo who quotes “a well-placed source” is just going to be laughed at and told “yeah yeah - we know, it’s just Rudd again”. He’s made himself a lame duck now. And if Gillard does not lead Labor to the next election, it will not be Rudd either. His colleagues are making sure of that by cutting off his legs now so he can’t dance on her grave.
@ DF
This is a great move
” He’s made himself a lame duck now. And if Gillard does not lead Labor to the next election, it will not be Rudd either. His colleagues are making sure of that by cutting off his legs now so he can’t dance on her grave.”
The more they upset him, the closer he is to the nuclear option button.
This is what Australia needs
if the way baileu’s handled victoria is any indication what a staunchly conservative government does in difficult economic times, we can expect to see taxes raised and spending slashed all in the name of “debt bad surplus good” style economic rationalism. if anyone believes for a moment these “aspirations” you’re a fool. i don’t have a bridge to sell, i’m not actually sure you’d figure out how to cross it.
actually i think tony abbott could pledge to change australias currency to icecream and he’d still get in. i just hope the carbon tax is in for a while before he does get in, i’ve been looking forward to the cluster fvk of repealing that for a long time.
@ hernando garcia
The Carbon Tax cannot be repealed until July 2017 at the earliest, unless in the next Government Labor Senators cross the floor and vote it down.
This is a serious issues for Australia.
The carbon tax goes up and thne crashed when an ETS starts, cause the world price has collapsed. Hint: Its too high now.
Suzanne - my only regret at posting on this site is that I can’t block you from reading or responding, because you have nothing useful to add to the conversation.
Hey Little Suzie,
Abbotts sloozie has a new slogan for the bogan,”We Need An Election,Not a Selection”,actually thought he said he needed an Erection.
Labors selection will be the female who beat him once,and will slam dunk the wine drunk at the next election.
.
Theoretically Kevin could stand as an independent pick up a groundswell of numbers then align himself with the Greens, Labor & other independents to outflank the Fiberals/Gibberals.
After all this is what the fiberals have been doing for decades. They cannot defeat the masses so they infiltrate existing parties, & create new ones that are dupes for the liberal party.
(Family First) immediately comes to mind!!!!
I recall they voted for howard & his workchoices:- thats excellent for families!!
The Nationals who turned the back on their main constituents the farmers, now look whats happened to them with CSG operations being started up in their bottom paddock!!!
History has always shown conservatives sell out the population at large to the highest bidder, this has always been a (core policy) of theirs.
Lord Phoney:- The natives are restless again!!!
@ Schnappi Tom
Before you make comments about Abbott s ex ual life, you better make sure your dear leader has a clean slate with regard to past and present with visits.
Gillard will win on Monday, Rudd will snipe, may go nuclear, but watever happens she can’t win in 2013.
I wasn’t aware of a show called Celebrity Big Brother but bow to the PM’s wide experience of gettin’ down wiff real folks…
^^
but it is an episode of celebrity big brother. thats the thing.
SCHNAPPI
Why do you think I sometimes say the pedal cretin aka peta credlin .
pedal cretin being Anthony Abbott of course .
Ah Sloozie,
More concerned with abbotts sleeping on parliament couches ,missing votes,due to too much wine,than his or the PMs sexual life,never heard of the PM passing out from too much wine.
Suzanne he will just keep leaking from the back bench and wait until Dillards resigns/gets sacked when the election creeps closer.
Then it will be Kevin13
@ Schnappi Tom
You are confusing Abbott with Slipper, Abbott drinks the amber stuff as far as I have seen on TV.
Not true suzzane google abbott,think you will find he is a wine buff,you know drinks the stuff at the wrong time.during the election he drank a bullshit shandy,about time you told the truth only and posted facts not your own dreamings.
both will be unelectable at the next election regardless. The ALP can’t manage their own party, let alone a $1 trillion economy.. thats the scary bit.
the GG should step in and boot them out of office.
TV: if i saw it there it’s real.
you heard it here first folks.
I swear to god, the longer these threads go on the more the look like an empty box of cornflakes. All the good bits gone and just the inedible dust left
chilli, maybe you’d rather our economy looked like Greece’s or Ireland’s or maybe you’d prefer it was run like the Chinese economy - nong
@ SBH
Don’t waste the dust, use it on top of yoghurt!!
“Julia has lost the trust of the Australian people, and starting on Monday I will start restoring that trust” - Kevin Rudd
No Mr Rudd… CANBERRA has lost the trust of EVERYONE who has seen this:
http://www.expendable.tv
Why are you closing ranks around KNOWN serious criminal acts by ex-ministers?
SBH
Cereal??? Appalling notion. Designed by the curious christian Kellog to sublimate the baser instincts and drives.
Give it to the chooks and eat the box.
Crikey’s coverage on this has been more like pop tarts or a pancake stack drizzled with canned whipped cream and maple syrup… something traditionally American and pre-chewed for brekkie.
I’m starting to think we should look at selecting a PM via a panel of “celebrity” judges - like Australia’s got talent or the X factor - with extra source of course.
Perhaps the Press Gallery can provide the panel. Looks like they have already.
Peter Ormonde
Kerry Stokes, Gina Rinehard and subbing for dear pld dad Lachlan Murdoch as judges perhaps.
i didn’t think Snoozie’s rantings could get any worse. i was wrong. FFS get a life.
So now Kevin Rudd is to blame for labours problems over the last 18 months and not Abbott’s negative opposition. Or are they both to blame? throw the media in there also.
@ SBH - no thanks.. I live in London and have a pretty good grip on the economic woes of Ireland, Greece, Portugal and Spain - amongst others..
@ Suzanne - I have seen you spruik our interest and debt numbers before. Australia is a very lowly geared country, we could take on alot more debt if required.
Gillard claiming something without evidence is not proof though. People need proof.
We do have proof that she was under mining him way back in February 2009 with Mark Arbib and Bill Shorten.
Taylormade
I don’t think it’s so much that he is to blame for the govt’s faults, but his snide behind-the-doors criticism and disloyalty has been very unhelpful. The Howard govt made plenty of mistakes and was criticised for them but his ministers were always loyal and defended him through thick and thin. All govts make mistakes but when the going gets tough, a govt should be able to expect all its members will pitch in when it comes time to circle the wagons. Rudd didn’t - instead he wandered into the camp of the govt’s natural critics, the media, and denigrated his colleagues when they should have a right to expect him to defend a group of which he was a member.
@DF,
Well put,and when the libs have their spill and explain all abbotts stupidity as to why he lost the last election,I shall do a charitable act and give all shadow cabinet ministers money to buy guns,hope they shoot themselves ,not each other.
MARILYN
Have you been hearing what various journos have been saying about Rudd . All acknowledge Rudd has been briefing anyone who would listen since he squibbed a party vote . The PM said any off the record chats etc she has made can be revealed regarding Rudd . Rudd explicitlysaid that what was said off the record remains off the record . He has been sabotaging his own party for his own vision of himself as the saviour . Name me one politician who has set out to weaken his own party from within .
Don Chipp left his party to form the democrats . Keating and Turnbull went to the backbench . Costello campaigned inside the party mostly and anything he said outside was not designed to damage the party but improve his standing . I place Rudd just behind Kerr in standing and there is not much lower than the former GG . The party should have spilled their guts on Rudd when he avoided the challenge of a spill . How does Rudd return their reluctance to dish the dirt ? He sets about tearing down the party that afforded him the some dignity in defeat . I doubt even Abbott would be that low .
cereal nowadays has iron filings embedded into it. look it up.
indigestible metal where you can’t notice it.
i’m sure theres a metaphor in there somewhere, i’m far to wasted to point it out though.
but wait, whats this?
the herald sun says that krudd will be AWESOME !
hey everyone, vote krudd the hun says so!
I think what we have been seeing the last few days is the REAL real Julia…. not the FAKE real Julia.
And what the punters are seeing of the REAL real Julia is a nasty, vindictive, spiteful, scheming, ly1ng, coniving, nasty nasty woman who has been doing anything and everything to stay in power… a woman who demanded Rudd dump the ETS and then dump him and then blaming him…. a woman who never had the strength of her convictions to stick by her promise of no Carbon Tax because she was so desperate to stay in power she would kowtow to the Greens and throw all her promises out the window….. this is a woman who just can’t tell the truth to the Australian people, a career backstabber and oppurtunist riding on the coat tails of others.
She has to go… the public have seen enough of her and her “ministers” of hate, spite and bile.
Do the country a g0dd4mn favour and call an early election… it’s the only honourable thing left for the Labor Party to do.
you’re in lala land mate,
i’ve sen your posts, you’re a rusted on scab for the libs,
no substance, no insight, hell, even if you just posted sh!tty witticisms you might be of some use. why don’t you just copy paste the liberal press releases and be done with it? you’ve no idea of complexity, i expect to see you on a but chanting “Jul iar show us your birth certificate”.
get it?
GEomac I don’t give a flying fuck what the snakes in the media are saying now, they didn’t say it any time in the last 6 years now did they?
Rudd did not turn into the mongrel they claim and the notion that the worst media in the world would know anything for real is ridiculous.
The vision we have seen over the last week is of journalists prattling to other journalists all tittering like nincompoops about nothing much and with no evidence.
The rule of law guarantees natural justice for all, Rudd was crucified by the media for not being staunch enough for Israel and the Murdoch hacks, the same hacks then crucified Gillard over something she did not do while applauding her for a war crime.
What natural justice was delivered to Rudd who had a senate who would not pass his laws.
Gillard has flat lined the party and the notion that he betrayed or sabotaged her is ridiculous and what is more ridiculous is the media.
Like a pack of wolves talking about nothing much.
*bus
and besides, why don’t you just wait another year? are you in danger of losing your job as forum ar*ehole which the LNP hires you for?
abbot your messyiah is going to get up. whatever reforms will allow low income earners and small businesses to not pay as much tax will be repealed, public spending will be slashed, as well as lowering the tax rate for large mining corporations.
hell, who even needs a federal tax income? NO ONE! just get rid of tax all together. corporations are good hearted citizens enough to not screw people over. i can’t remember a time when they didn’t…..
but apparently a very poor grasp of the state of the Australian economy - what’s your unemployment rate like at the moment Chilli? How about anywhere else in Europe?
Suze, Yoghurt would be the closest you’ll get to culture
Thanks PO, you raised a giggle
Oh geewizz ,prefer that arwful women who gets things done ,rather than a drunken abbott who was so pissed he slept through the stimulus vote,and now suffers from memory loss that we even had a GFC,shucks hate telling the truth about a drunken fraud.
@peter Ormonde: I’m starting to think we should look at selecting a PM via a panel of “celebrity” judges - like Australia’s got talent or the X factor - with extra source of course.
I’m thinking it should be more like Survivor, with tribes of fractious people trying to carry out challenges like forming a government, and then dobbing each other in around the TV campfire each night.
“I saw Kevin having a leak! He should be voted off!”
“I caught Julia telling a big fat porkie. Send her home!”
(Hang on … we already have that.)
“Tony Abbott hasn’t said or done anything. VOTE HIM IN!!”
not quite sure what you are on about SBH…
are you concerned that I, like the overwhelming majority of Australians, think our current Government is a complete joke? is that offensive to you? apologies if so.
do you consider it prudent and effective governance that Australia could well be on the cusp of 3 leaders within 4 years?
@THE LEARNERED CHILLI EATER
theres no question labor is a joke. this farce is worthy only of late night reruns.
but i urge you, and everyone else, not to vote someone out for sake of what comes next.
australians need to get into the habit of voting people in, not out. vote people in who have the right policies for australia,. vote people in who can weather us through the coming storm.
don’t look at the current idiots in labor and say “they’re crap, i’m voting liberal regardless”, that’s stupid. i agree labor is sh!t. everyone will agree. but don’t get caught in the mindset that it’s either one or the other. abbot led libs will be atrocious. they’re bad in opposition; hardly any policies and unable to justify the ones they have.
i urge you, and everyone, to vote a government IN, not out.
completely agree with you Hernando, thats the way it should be… the alternative doesn’t appear to be the greatest however it looks a lot better than the current mob!
looks, thats the thing.
don’t go on looks. just because tony abbot says “we’re stable” doesn’t mean they’lle be good for the country.
and thats what i’m concerned about, that people will look at the libs and think “they’re not falling apart, they’re ok”. thats the issue, look at the policies. look at what each party intends to do.
abbot led libs intends to repeal the carbon tax, fair enough many think that will be ok. but there’s a massive tax deficit which doing that will create. i’m not an economist, i can’t come out with jargon but i know, once the low income tax threshold is increased to $20k, repealing that will be a bloody nightmare. i just hope all the people who fall in that bracket will understand that voting for abbott will see an increase in base tax.
not to mention his “direct action” plan. actually i don’t expect him to follow through with that, given his propensity for labelling election promises as “aspirations”. it’s a get out of jail free card, nothing less. if abbott says he’ll do something, expect it won’t be done. it was an “aspiration” after all, and that “aspiration” can’t be met.
sorry.
look, i’m just an ordinary joe, if i had the economic wherewithall to pick apart abbotts policies/aspirations i would. but i know he’s full of sh!t. i’m sure you know he’s full of sh!t too.
so, where is there anyone in australian parliament who isn’t a complete sh!thead hack?
understand what you are saying Hernando..
I still think the best leader is sitting right under our noses, Malcolm Turnbull…
yeah, turnbull is ok in my book.
i agree with you there.
but, what of the rest of the liberal party? they’ve shut turnbull out, so that tells me they’re not at all interested in moderate policy. they are, in my view, as psycho as the labor party.
i watch question time when i get a chance, christopher pyne calling for a suspension of standing orders/ censure almost daily is ridiculous. if turnbull was leader of the libs would he really change their tact? i mean, libs can vote in or out a leader as can labor. in my view, in politics, the party trumps the individual, all the time. we’ve all seen that. i have tremendous respect for turnbull, but we’re not an american presidential style government. the leader is, undoubtedly, governed by the party.if the libs try to tell you any different, they’re lying.
I see that Newspoll and Galaxy’s latest efforts still show Rudd as the clear favourite over both Gillard and Abbott. This despite all of the sh*t flying around at the moment.
Seems that when it comes to a 3-way popularity contest, neither of the latter have what it takes while the 3rd member is Rudd. Fat chance he’s going to sit quietly on the back bench. Fat chance.
yeah, turnbull is ok in my book.
i agree with you there.
but, what of the rest of the li beral party? they’ve shut turnbull out, so that tells me they’re not at all interested in moderate policy. they are, in my view, as psycho as the labor party.
i watch question time when i get a chance, christopher pyne calli ng for a suspension of standing orders/ censure almost daily is ridiculous. if turnbull was leader of the libs would he really change their tact? i mean, li bs can vote in or out a leader as can labor. in my view, in poli tics, the party trumps the individual, all the time. we’ve all seen that. i have tremendous respect for turnbull, but we’re not an american presidential style government. the leader is, undoubtedly, governed by the party.if the li bs try to tell you any different, they’re ly ing.
and i’ll screw up and throw away my vote before i give any credence to juli e bishop.
guaranteed of that.
Damn the idiotic Crikey moderation automaton!
Anyway check the latest poll figures on news.com.au …
and yet the economy sails along in better shape than just about anyone elses due to ALP intervention which makes your claim that they can’t manage look silly and ill informed
I think there is a lot of talent within both parties but unfortunately, we’ll probably never get to see their best work due to internal factions etc. Ridiculous really, but thats the way it has always been.. Combet and Shorten come to mind within the ALP.
Time will tell with Abbott but he does need to be given credit, he has held the Liberal Party together for a little while now. I can’t help but think Turnbull is biding his time until the Liberal Party gets elected and will then pounce as soon as the Opinion Polls go south.
@TLC: I can’t help but think Turnbull is biding his time until the Liberal Party gets elected and will then pounce as soon as the Opinion Polls go south.
When they go south of what? They are already heading for Antarctica and the two being reported today by News are even worse for both Gillard and Rudd.
For mine, Turnbull had his shot and flubbed it. He’s a spent force. It was only desperate ego-stroking by the Lib party machine that convinced him to remain in politics as a “better-than” choice for his electorate.
* the two being reported today by News are even worse for both Gillard and Abbott
well, it certainly doesn’t take much to say to the liberal party “shut up and let labor disintegrate”
there is no focus on the libs, no effort for abbot to appear in “control”
while he’s out of control. like i said, i just want the carbon pricing to come in for a decent amount of time before abbott gets the reigns, i want to see not only the rosy picture no-news ltd paints, but the schadenfreude of seeing the fools who voted him in get what they asked for.
it’s going to be brilliant.
Speaking of games and celebrity panel shows… I’m thinking of a modified Where’s Wally? sort of arrangement focusing on what to do with Barnaby Joyce should the Libs be handed government.
Attorney General?
Edjerkation?
Foreign Affairs (although we probably wouldn’t be doing that any more - just roll out a huge NBN of razor wire and pretend it’ll all go away if we don’t talk to them)
I’m thinking I’ll be listening to a lot more Mozart rather than the news for a few more years like I did with Howard.
@ Peter Ormonde
Education? How can you mention that portfolio, run by Rock Star Garrett, under whose watch in his previous Ministry 4 people died and hundreds of millions were wasted on the insulation scheme.
They are still sorting out that inept bungling wasted. A hasty program to meet the 6pm News schedule that cost lives and hundreds of millions.
What about Emerson, with Grocery Watch. He caved into Woolworths and Coles and canned it. What he distracted by the affair he was having or the media interest in it?
Sooz/Troofie et al…
Yes I reckon we’re wasting our money having edjerkation at all really … people wot carn’t spell or use grammar or nuffink. Even our home-grown “foresnic auditors” seem to know nuffink about commerce or accounting even - certainly njot enough to say anyfink remotely incisive or informed - other than by the Tele.
The only folks wot seem to get anyfink out of our skools are the reffos and the like who seem to recognise an opportunity when they see one and start studying.
Scrap the lot Sooz - buy razor wire - more camps… tell the Red Chinese to bugger off out of our mines and stop buying our stuff …stick more kids in prison to send a message to Indonesian fishermen …
Always thought Donald Horne was a weak-kneed softie. His assessment (Australia is a lucky country, run by second-rate people who share its luck.) is too kind by half….
needs updating…
Orstraya is a stolen country, run by the greedy who don’t share nuffink.
Where would you be telling Abbott to put Barnaby Joyce Sooz?
@ Peter Ormonde
You go to China and try and buy companies, residential land, rural land, mines etc etc
No chance.
They come here and buy all sorts of this, a lot by deception, ie buying adjacent rural properties to get under the threshold caps, buying controlling stakes in iron ore companies by a whole bunch buying just under 5%. In one case from the same office tower!!.
The Federal Government is asleep, so to pevious ones.
Yes we need a halt to all foreign buying of mines, commercial, rural and residential real estate , until we have a Royal Commission. This will also take the heat out of house prices.
This is not extreme right wing, its commonsence for Australia.
Ah yes folks …good old Orstayan “commonsence” … can’t beat that canya?
Is this really it?… this is the sort of informed opinion that will bring down a reformist government … with the help of Red Kev of course.
The dictatorship of the knucklescrapers?
Where do you want to put Barnaby Joyce, Sooz… you’ll be voting for him too you know?
You have to love one of the letters in today SMH
“Can everyone please stop calling it the Labor Caucus. The correct term is Labor Carcass.”
“Whats the easiet job in the World? Campaign Director for the Coalition at the next election”
“The real Julia finally calls it as she sees it, look awfully like Julia finally tells the truth”
There are a lot of funny ones, take a look. None are supportive of Labor!!
The polls the polls they toll for the.
Again I want published the questions asked.
I think the results just show two things. People have nostalgia and rose coloured glasses. They remember a time when Labor got its message out without leaks against it.
Of course its all a continuing media beat up. The real headline is Abbots standing.
A standing like that means a drovers dog can beat Abbott.
No matter though even right wing media hacks admit Rudd does not have the numbers.
I will say it again Rudd does not have the numbers. On Monday afternoon Julia Gillard will still be Prime Minister.
If you are not a Liberal supporter this means you have a choice. Support Gillard and Labor policies and values or the executive government or admit you delight in wrecking Labor.
Nielson Polls
Two party preferred puts Labor ahead of Coalition.
This at cknowledged low ebb period for Labor. The good is to come.
Julia Gillard as Prime Minister can win elections.
Performances by her like that this weekend will increase her popularity.
This is a good thing as she will be Prime Minister on Tuesday.
The real winner after Monday will be the Australian people for it is the people that will make the real vote count not the Labor caucus. An election is a certainty this year. The Australian people have been conned by Kevin 07 and completely rogered by Julia since 2010. Enough is enough, i feel i am watching a cock fight at 3 am in the morning in an old abandoned warehouse! Once again the Labor party have committed Government suicide, they always fall on their swords. I fell for them for years, staunchly believing in them since i was 18. I even liked Gough! I liked Bob, but it’s been downhill ever since. This is a battle between the two worst PM’s in our history…some choice!
Blakey first
Suzanne saying ‘rock star Garrett’ is a bit like saying ‘school girl Blake’, Although not quite the same as we know Garrett was a rock star but it’s not at all obvious that you went to school. You could also say ‘Barrister Garrett’ but I guess you’d rather focus on his better known achievements. Is there something a) wrong with being a rock star or b) that once you’ve been one disqualifies you from any other job or c) means that you are incapable of doing a complex job? Clearly Deniz Tek didn’t read that rule book. I’d rather have Garrett as a rep that an illiterate, innumerate soccer mum masquerading as an accountant. But you just keep up the irrelevant ad homs eh?
and so to Chilli
You’re just going to dodge any kind of fact based approach on the economy and make guesses about what the Australian people (who I understand you are at some distance from) think?
“Oh but I’ve read the polls and spoken to my friends and therefore I know what the Australian people think.” you’ll no doubt say. Well hats off to you for being clairvoyant and knowing what the 5,999,800 not polled think.
Leaving aside that is a completely different question to the economy which you seem unwilling to engage on (type ‘Australian Exceptionalism’ into the crikey search box for further reading), we have a system over here where every three years or so every adult in the land votes for the candidate (no Virginia not the PM , not the party) of their choice. The one with the most elected candidates wins and gets three years to run the joint.
Strangely we’ve never adopted a system where the commercial interests of media moguls as exercised through endless sample polling designed to sell newspapers, get to decide who governs. So all the talk about polls and popularity (now there’s a sound criterion for picking the leader - ??) is nothing more than wishful thinking.
JOHNFROMPLANETEARTH
The only winners here are the Coalition and the Medi getting extra clicks, ratings and sales.
The Australin pople win only in the sense our stable 200 years of democracy continues wih the election scheduled by late 2013. I do agree that 200 years of democracy is the rel win.
Sorry about typos.
Uhhhh… put down the crack pipe… Libs are ahead in every poll in both TPP and Primary by miles.
@Johnfromplanetearth
“The real winner after Monday will be the Australian people for it is the people that will make the real vote count not the Labor caucus. An election is a certainty this year. The Australian people have been conned by Kevin 07 and completely rogered by Julia since 2010. Enough is enough, i feel i am watching a cock fight at 3 am in the morning in an old abandoned warehouse! Once again the Labor party have committed Government suicide, they always fall on their swords. I fell for them for years, staunchly believing in them since i was 18. I even liked Gough! I liked Bob, but it’s been downhill ever since. This is a battle between the two worst PM’s in our history…some choice!”
You are absolutely correct - we have been conned by li ars, alleged criminals and convicted criminals in the ALP. They are bullies and cowards.
I was at a function a few months ago with Senator Faulkiner there. I spoke to him, he seemed a decent man. I know he is in the Senate, but Labor could do no worse than have him as the leader.
I like the Gillard line about Abbott.
He reminds me of a tired two year old throwing a tantrum.
hernando garcia
Posted Saturday, 25 February 2012 at 2:08 am | Permalink
“while he’s out of control. like i said, i just want the carbon pricing to come in for a decent amount of time before abbott gets the reigns, i want to see not only the rosy picture no-news ltd paints, but the schadenfreude of seeing the fools who voted him in get what they asked for.
it’s going to be brilliant.”
Im with you Hernando 100%
Gillard needs to stay in power as long as possible to get through as many of the great policies the ALP/Greens have in the interest of the nation - unlike phoney Tony who is only interested in getting his hands on power so he can look after his new mates the mining billioniares and try and undo Gillards good work..
Even with gutless Rudd as PM the ALP would lose the next election so I will watch with great interest when Abbott gets to be PM to see how the fools that believe all the News Ltd/Nancy Jones etc BS react.
@ eric
wow the lefties our out today with concession speeches and we have not even had the burial or wake?
@SB
Concession speeches only in your fevered imagion.
On Tuesday you will realise that.
Albo will be a big loss though,
Although his conduct at times, re waving around lists of legislation passed on the floor of the house, left a lot to be desired, Was admired by the way he confronted the protesters outside his office and attempted to engage them. this showed him a bit different to other labour ministers.
Generally admired from both sides for his down to earth and straight talking manner.
Gillard supporters are dropping off like flies….. can’t wait for Monday, Kev may just get over the line
Gillard supporters are dropping off like fl ies….. can’t wait for Monday, Kev may just get over the line (mod friendly version)
@ Taylormade
Albanese in an ineffective bully. Bullies the members of the public in the gallery - regardless of if the members of the public are right, wrong, smart of nutters, he should not do this.
He is conflicted on the second airport for system or increased capacity issues , as its his seat. Successive governments over 40 years have dodged that one. Gee I can remember it as a case study at School and Uni.
I am surprised he has backed Rudd. I thought he would go for the winner option.
It will be interesting to see if he retains House Leader.
Even more interesting is Gillard sacks her worst Minsters, Garratt, Emerson, Swan and Plibasack.
@Geewizz
What is in the water where you are?
The media has stopped referring to caucus numbers because they are plain. 2/3rds in favour of Gillard.
Hence PR Hawkers desperation in calling for Gillard not to run. Desperate because he knows the numbers.
@ GeeWizz
Yes should be more grenades at close quarters now over the next 36 hours.
Excellent for democracy and a wake up for Independants
One good thing out of all this. A lot of ink in newspapers about how toxic Tony is.
@ Gaytaur
Look at Albanese bomshell. Leader of ALP in the House.
That is a big chess piece, it could unravel now.
@LesbianBlake
No bombshell. Just an individual decision by an influential Cabinet Minister like many others. Noting in a much more measured way to avoid damage to the party.
No one is talking about Tony, all the talk is about Dillard and her backstabbing of Rudd and how in total disarray the Labor Party is.
We are now seeing 2 Labor Parties fighting publically against each other and it’s great watching… time for more popcorn
What is a lefty in todays world ? Apparently to some its believing in providing a decent education and health system to all . This is not good for what can be termed right wing types who believe choice is about getting welfare for those who don,t need it . The howls of protests about paying the price of a barista coffee for the flood levy . Heaven forbid that those who wouldn,t even notice the levy pay for distressed fellow citizens .
I believe if the PM continues with and cements various policies and bills that come election time it will be very close . Elections tend to focus the mind on what is on offer and the chances of those policies being implemented . Abbott has very little on offer bar turning back the clock and no explanation how to do it in a financially feasible way . Hockey , Robb and Abbott are the three stooges of economics so far and can only improve but not with their present stance . You can,t cut taxes and finance rubbish policies without revenue . Its like having a family budget but you ignore the mortgage payments so you can spend more on nights out , tears before bedtime .
If Abbott and his group of minority allsorts couldn,t knock off Labor at the last election with the damaging leaks then why should 2013 be any different ? Extreme right wing like Gina etc have such a perfect life , well except for family tussles . Then there is the myth of being a good business person when like some other very Australians the ground work was done by the fathers . Channel ten ring any bells or OneTel ? What is termed by some as a lefty doesn,t see any sense in subsidising a millionaires health . Abbott not only thinks that that is as it should be but that a woman should have her wage paid for by a tax on business for having a child even when that woman earns high , very high wages . Two things about that , one of which is that somehow the well off woman is not asked to budget for an upcoming birth . The second is why should a well off earner get double , triple etc what a nurse or policewoman would get for exactly the same event , giving birth ? There are no real lefties only people with common purpose for all Australians . The so called right want more for the well off and what they see as reasonable for the less well off , let them eat cake .
en like some other very ” rich ” Australians the ground work was done
@Geewizz
Amazing TinFoil Hat you are wearing. Every politician asked about their vote intention say the prefer Rudd or Gillard because they must beat Toxic Tony.
Lots more space i n media now people hearing labor attack on Toxic Tony. Its an ill wind that blows no good.
@Geomac
+1
Exactly Right. Part of the problem the GOP in America finds itself in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUJxEVAaBhA
Hey Suzanne,
Heard the latest on Craig “Tommo” Thompson? Apparantly the house of the printing presses for the HSU newsletter has been raided by the AFP.
The Printing Press company was being paid $680,000 Per YEAR, thank you very much to print the HSU newsletter and the owners were so nice they gave Craig Thompson and the former HSU head Mr Williamson a credit card linked back to the printing company’s bank account. That was nice of them.
$680,000 per year… the newsletter must have been printed on gold leaf paper.
Follow the money folks… follow the money…
the lesbian thing is out of order guytaur
@Geewizz
Still hoping and praying for that early election. Just like your idol Toxic Tony.
Trawling sleaze will not work. Just as Reith stayed so will Zthomson till next election.
Oh and Toxic Tony has finlly come out to pick up the free pickings left by the Labor infighting.
He really is inept leaving it for so long. No way Zhowrd would have.
SBH
I will keep calling SB lesbian everytime she uses Gaytaur. Fair is fair.
@ GeeWizz
Yes read about it in the paper. Love to know what the credit card was used to spend money on, and also the cash withdrawals from the ATM.
@ Guytaur - I am not a lesbian, thank you
@ Guytaur
It was a typo. If you want to spot the closet Lesbian and the decoy , as Laurie Oakes said, “You will need to look a lot closer to home”
@SB
See my response to SBH. Then the solution will be easy to correct. Remember the first time this happened I assumed a typo. Pointed this out. Got no sorry that was a typo. So I am now calling ou lesbian every time you do it.
By the way. Being gay is as natural as breathing and nothing wrong with that. Desoite some thinking its a great put down.
Mr Taur,
Don’t let Suzanne Blake/Troofie/Patriot set the standard for your language.
Their clever use of such “witticisms” demeans them far more than anything you can add.
Part of the “tactics” for these tory astroturfers is to make places like Crikey unpleasant places filled with personal attacks and vituperation. Don’t hand it to them on a plate.
Don’t talk to them - talk over their sloping foreheads. But if you cannot resist - as often I cannot - do so with sympathy and a degree of pity - like naughty children. They can’t help it.
@Peter Ormonde
That was a short sharp lesson for SB. A case of receiving what is dished out. I still prefer to think it was maybe a slow uptake on her part and not a deliberate attack by trying to demean a minority to denigrate someone with a different point of view. Homophobes that do such attacks are sensitive to it being used against them.
These types of attacks cannot be let be. Even mistaken ones through a possible typo. Demeaning people because of sexuality as a tool of attack can lead to suicide by the impressionable. Just like r acism has to be tackled.
Back to the issue.
Despite the bleating from the right. Including Toxic Tony there is going to be no early election under a Gillard Government.
The numbers as we know them show that Gillard will be Prime Minister on Tuesday.
Therefore no early election. Instead it will be in 18 months time.
I am glad that today seems o be more the positive not the negative campaign for leadership from both sides.
An interesting exercise is to re-read the Latham Diaries: he gets it right so often. (I don’t agree with everything he said about politics, and of course, he was not ready to become Prime Minister)… BUT… community based radical politics - he was on to something… Labor’s factions having the power taken out of their hands.. Nearly everyone but Julia gets a bucketing, adn even she gets splashed…
Also, I think something major happened: Albanese is supporting Rudd… We just might have a new/old Prime Minister on Monday…
@Guytaur: your last paragraph +1
This is typical of leftwingers, look what they do to their own like Rudd!
According to the husband and wife team running the printing company at their house they were dismayed at what the money was being withdrawn for (sounds like a bit of ar5e covering to me) and that it was being used for personal expenses(who woulda thought?).
Can’t wait for the transactions to be released to the media… I bet some sneaky bast4rd has been using Craig Thompsons credit card for hookers again… this bloke is always getting set up isn’t he!
Reith paid back every cent…. EVERY CENT…
Craig Thompson hasn’t paid ONE CENT… not ONE RED CENT.
It shows you the character of the individuals involved, one takes responsibility the other one blames others and makes their poor union members pay. Disgraceful.
But thats the Labor way… make sure you get your cut of the goodies and screw over the little guy.
Albanese has taken the option of ‘staying in power come the next election’
This war will not end on Monday, it will get ugly, whether on the surface or below the surface.
Lets hope that the Independants put their thinking caps on and do what is right for their constituents and the Country.
Suzanne, the Labor circle jerkers think it will all be streamers and party pies come Tuesday.
Lets see Gillards lackeys have said this about Kevin:
1. He was directly to blame for sabotaging the 2010 election
2. He is a physcopath who loves himself
3. He was working too hard and making others work too hard(loved this one, Labor like their go-slows it seems)
4. He is a failure in every way, he couldn’t organise a root in a brothel
5. Nobody can work with him
6. He’s been scheming, plotting and leaking behind the scenes
Then we got Rudd saying this about Gillard:
1. The faceless men run her, she is a puppet of the factions.
2. The rolling was planned weeks ahead
3. She was the one who dumped the ETS and she refuses to answer whether she was responsible because Rudd is right
4. She is a failure on every measure, from the East Timor Solution to the No Carbon Tax promise
5. Gillard didn’t actually win the election and she was twice selected, never elected
6. She is a compulsive l1ar, fr4udster and schemer
We’ve got Wayne Swan…. a guy thats meant to be Kevin Rudd’s mate back at school basically calling him a traitor. We’ve got Senator Conroy saying Kevins actually a monster who requires no sleep and has been working non-stop 24/7 for 18 months straight to overthrow Gillard. We’ve got Crean calling Kev a traitor who has been helping the Liberal Party. We’ve got Doug Cameron calling the Gillard side a disgrace for slagging off Rudd’s name.
But of course… the Labor circle j3rkers tell us on Tuesday they will all be holding hands singing Kumbaya. Reality check losers…
What we have seen in the Labor Party of the last week is so damaging that they will be in anarchy right up to the election now.
Way too much bad blood, everyone hates everyone.
I haven’t seen Labor members even go this hard against the Liberal Party… they hate THEMSELVES more.
@ GeeWizz
Rudd in Queen Street Mall - looks like he won an election.
Gillard on the other hand, never appears in a public place, unless the ALP has organised an army of supports and GetUp. Too risky.
Looks like the boot maker won’t be selling her any shoe leather anytime soon.
No she was at a Union organised cheer-a-thon the other day with a dozen or so cheering ladies in red union shirts from the ASU Union obviously organised by a union factional heavies all with the medias cameras at the ready. Wonder if they are getting paid by the hour and whether there was overtime paid for the cheering work?
Can’t wait to see more factional organised rent-a-crowds for Gillard on tonights news. Perhaps we can get the HSU up next…. oh wait… scratch that one.
@ GeeWizz
The ALP just don’t get it, she is unelectable. The acid test is out there in voter land, voter land in the marginal seats that win and lose elections.
The public see through organised rallies, with the cheer squad and special interest groups like GetUp etc. The same in the US elections with the friendly cheer squad behind them.
Until Gillard faces shopping centres in the close seats, she has NO HOPE.
The Party may vote for her, but the public that count won’t.
Suzanne,
like clockwork she was at a “Country Labor” function stacked with Gillard supporters from the unions. You are right about Rudd saw him on TV news being swarmed by a hundred or so fans from the public.
Whens Dillard doing a mall walk?
see your point Guytaur although she is a semi literate nong so the typo excuse could be true
Politics today is like some tragic teledrama/reality show that you’re embarrassed to admit you watch/participate in. The commentary with regard to it all and comments here at Crikey I find I’m like an addict who can’t resist one more hit.
I find it interesting that people whose comments I usually respect and regard as informed opine that we as the voting public do not vote for who we prefer to lead this country as PM. Yes I understand that technically we vote for the party and not the person when we do vote however the party instills as it’s leader the person who will best connect with the public and hence bring votes it’s way. Boiled down, who are the people going to vote for? Will they vote for a chicken or an eagle, a donkey or a horse. As much as you do not like it, we are a cross between the Westminster and the Presidential systems purely because most just do not care. Sad but true. Therefore most will vote for which leader best connects with them or just to dispose of the current PM. Back when Howard was voted in, I was one of those that did not really care as my green vote in essence meant nothing in the extremely strong Labour seat I was living in. I remember my bewilderment upon hearing that Howard had won and shaking my head in disbelief. He won partly because people wanted to vote Keating out (I’ve heard this too many times to discount it as a reason for voting a particular way) and partly because he connected with the grey population. Flash forward to Kevin 07 and we have people voting to get Howard out, (myself including-first time I ever voted Labour because I and many others had had enough of this uninspiring and uninspired “leader” and cause I liked the sensible straight talking Rudd) but also because Labour had finally put someone in place who could connect with people. Summed up, the voting public do vote for the person and it would be folly to dismiss this as to how people decide to cast their vote. This is what scares me come the next election. God help us all if the Abbott run liberal party get voted in just because people want to vote Gillard out.
The reason the public are so dissatisfied with Gillard is that apart from the way her leadership was gained, she can not connect. She loves her slogans “moving forward” and now “getting the job done”. I cannot listen anymore when she starts trotting out the latest line. I’m sure most feel the same. A wooden puppet has more personality. At least pinocchio had a chance of becoming a real boy. The only thing I can thank the Gillard mob for is getting the Greens and independents in.
As for the Rudd challenge, I was hoping he wouldn’t. He has already shown the nasty workings of not only the Labour party but both major parties whose members are more interested in keeping their jobs and being influenced by external forces or keeping the party line rather than working for the best of the people and the communities they represent.
Both major parties need a shake up. I can only hope come next election more Green votes and more independents.
@ Blaggers
The Greens have fights as well. That extremely extreme Rhiannon and extreme Brown has a argument that spilled over to the media a few weeks ago.
I agree, it has never been worse that now for Labor.
Good comment Blaggers.
I too was deeply disappointed - even shocked - that Rudd would actually do this - and that his personality so flawed that he would undermine his own party in an election and subsequently. It takes a fair bit to shock me actually.
Who is preselecting these munchins - these messianic saviours - without whom the government, the party, the nation, is doomed.
There’s a madness to it.
And the purported Left - the Camerons, Foregonesons and the Albaneses - making a stand for “democracy” - purely - solely - on the basis that Rudd might win an election. The Left has been reduced to a vacillating opportunist rump … don’t even have the guts to stick to their decision to dump Rudd. Shameful and pathetic. A melodrama indeed.
Roll on the Greens … Australian political life needs some policies and politics put back into it. And it won’t be coming from the Labor Left. That is the real implosion here. There is nothing left at all.
@ Peter Ormonde
Rudd will get beaten easily today.
I cannot believe he will take a seat on the back bench for long.
He is EGO driven, images of him on back bench will drives nails into him.
He loves travel and the trimmings that go with it. He likes big noting himself overseas, despite the fact some snigger behind his back for loss of face.
I think he will say that comments he received or says he received from others inside Labor after the vote, (when Gillard said it wont happen) has forced his hand and he is resigning.
Let us hope so Ms Bleak. I’d rather have to put up with buying off another Lib or Nat than put up with the scowling “people’s prince” lurking about. Never liked him. Voted ALP last time despite him.
I’ve checked and Kevin was born on September 21st, 1957. I can’t find the exact time and place. That makes him a Virgo - jings who woulda guessed?
Please have a look and do up whatever sort of chart you can top predict his - and our - immediate futures. Very much appreciated. What will he be doing next Tuesday?
Incidentally … where did you and troofie and the rest go today? … you’ve all been strangely silent until rejoining us an hour or so ago …. waiting to get the spin from Menzies House I guess.