Comments on: Crikey says: Tony’s own goal

By: JMNO

JMNO — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:18:30 +0000

correction to last comment, last para
‘unlike the Press Gallery who work in the same building I found it pretty easy to work out why.’

By: JMNO

JMNO — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 05:17:22 +0000

There was quite a lot of talk about Rudd before his demise, David Hand. Not about him being removed but about his disfunctional style of government, his arrogance and rudeness to his colleagues and his obsessive need for total control, the fact that Cabinet colleagues couldn’t get past his minders to see him, stuff got stuck in his office and had to wait until Gillard was acting PM to get moved on, his excessive and unnecessary demands for information from public servants, the complete logjam in his office. The activity without the action.
When he went it was a shock, but unlike the Press Gallery who work in the same building it was pretty easy to work out why.

By: mikehilliard

mikehilliard — Fri, 08 Mar 2013 02:31:20 +0000

@12 David, Australians really do need to wake up to themselves.

By: David Hand

David Hand — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 10:31:00 +0000

The Liberals are no angels but seriously, do you really think Australians have woken up today and said, “Good grief!! The Libs are as bad as the ALP!! Julia must be not so evil then!! OK that’s all right then, let’s vote Labor again!!”

The main reason that there is no comparison between Gillard and Baillieu is that questions about his leadership have been telegraphed in the media for months now. The media has been replete with stories that he “must lift his game” etc.

So when it happened, though is was dramatic for it being an unusual event that generates uncertainty in Victoria, there isn’t the shock, the sense of betrayal and the sense of a coup being committed that surrounded the demise of Rudd.

Try and draw comparisons Crikey but it’s desperate spin on behalf of your chosen political client for whom there will be no redemption.

By: dazza

dazza — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 09:31:20 +0000

@mark duffet, come on mate-the only thing here that looks half-cocked is your pathetic attempt to paint the liberals as angels. He got knifed, and he got hurt, that’s why he cried like a pig stuck In mud.

By: QUIGLEY JOSEPH

QUIGLEY JOSEPH — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 09:21:12 +0000

Technically - i.e. according to ALP caucus procedures, didn’t Rudd resign?

By: Malcolm Street

Malcolm Street — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 08:48:03 +0000

Mark - from Richardson’s article the parallel I see is ideological - in both case the party’s Right, backed by News Ltd, rolled a leader who was seen as too left wing. I don’t believe for a minute that Bailleu just decided to stand aside without being pushed.

By: Mark Duffett

Mark Duffett — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:46:04 +0000

Exactly, CML - no one else knows (though apparently Bill Hilliger does), which is why I put in the caveat ‘if Richardson’s article is anything to go on’. It cuts both ways. Until we do know, Crikey’s attempt to use the episode to take an extended swipe at Abbott just looks gratuitous, or at least half-cocked.

By: CML

CML — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:09:36 +0000

So, Mark D, you must have been present at the Liberal Party room meeting last night? No one else knows if Baillieu resigned or was pushed. We only have the victor’s word for that. He could have saved his breath - not believable!

By: Bill Hilliger

Bill Hilliger — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 06:07:16 +0000

As for there is a world of difference between what happened to Ted Baillieu and what happened to the Labor party a few years ago. The faceless men of the Liberal party knifed Ted and he was replaced; and there is the faceless men of the Labor party knifed Kevin and he was replaced. Yes Veronica there is no comparison, there is no need to compare - its the same! Even down to the teary and emotional speech following the dumping.

By: shepherdmarilyn

shepherdmarilyn — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 05:09:27 +0000

I think you mean 2013.

By: dazza

dazza — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:58:48 +0000

@mark duffett, It’s the fault of the Labor government… And and.. Juliar must’ve been involved somehow.. And.. and.. she should apologise and not interfere with secret men’s business!
And why has Turnbull not removed that knife from his back.. It’s not his, it belongs to Abbot!

By: michael in melbourne

michael in melbourne — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 03:18:32 +0000

But it is interesting isn’t it? How much influence did the faceless men of the Federal Liberal Party have on Mr Baillieu’s decision to resign? And do these same faceless men have a part in ensurig Federal / State relations are as difficult as possible (think Education, Health etc)? All in the name of getting Tony the keys to The Lodge.

By: Mark Duffett

Mark Duffett — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:29:27 +0000

No doubt it’s going down well with the stereotypical Crikey reader, hewing as it does to the orthodoxy that rapidly emerged amongst the usual Twitterati suspects last night. One must do one’s best to appeal to one’s target demographic I suppose. But this editorial really is a pretty desperate stretch. If Charles Richardson’s piece is anything to go by, the resignation of Baillieu bears virtually no resemblance to the knifing of Rudd.

By: Gavin Moodie

Gavin Moodie — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 02:07:04 +0000

I perceive a substantive difference between the manner of Baillieu’s and Rudd’s departures. It seems that Baillieu was brought to realise that he had irrevocably lost the support of his party room gradually over some months, while Rudd seemed to lose that support over days or even hours without ever accepting that he couldn’t recover it.