I'm not sure what the problem is - but you certainly can't compare any of these people to the stature of former PM's such as Curtin, Chifley and Menzies. Whitlam I'm not a fan of but at least he had an agenda other than corporate mate-ship after politics.

The other thing that this brings to mind is the serious lack of oratory skills in present day pollies. Their public speaking varies between bad and abysmal.
The two standouts were Menzies and Whitlam; both brilliant speakers who could think on their feet.
Interjector to Menzies: "What are ya gonna do about 'ousing?"  Menzies: " Put an "H" in it."
And to Whitlam: "Tell us all you know Gough, it won't take long." Whitlam: "I'll tell you all we both know and it won't take any longer."

How would Bill Shorten pronounce "Keith from Penrith"

I get the feeling that we may be off to a general election before the end of the year, if Dutton is referred to the High Court, which he may well be, and is found to be in breach with his business interests (also possible), some Liberals may also cross the floor as well next week, as I understand Labour is going to try and get Dutton referred

Kind Regards

It's difficult to see where a Federal election could be fitted in this year. If Dutton is referred, when would the High Court hear the matter? Before the Wentworth by-election in October? Then there's the Victorian State election in mid-November. All of this wouldn't give the Electoral Commission a lot of time to get organised before the silly season arrives, and before it can really get cracking, there's the small matter of time required for nominations. I can't see it happening.

If there's a vote of no-confidence gets through somehow then it's at the Governors' discretion working with parliament (isn't it?) - we haven't had a working government for years now, what does an adjournment till a February election matter? Lucky the bureaucracy runs itself while parliament can't agree on what colour the sky is.

Actually it's in the Governor General's court.

... why don't we just blow them all up and start again!

Kind Regards

Doesn’t solve anything. You need to become a politician to get into politics and then stay there.

The problem is us! We see politicians at their worst which is the only time the media is interested. We have no idea what they do the rest of the time.

I’ll tune into parliament occasionally, in particular The Senate and on balance I’m more impressed than disappointed. Seriously who goes to work to do a bad job even if some (one) is clueless.

The problem is us! We see politicians at their worst which is the only time the media is interested. We have no idea what they do the rest of the time.

That simply isn't true; they're always trying to put their good works out for the public to see.

Hell, we've been stuck with that ad campaign for the NEG on the TV despite the fact that the Prime Minister who promoted that as a solution is already long gone. They're always using our money to tell us how good they are.

The bookies have the following odds for the Wentworth by-election:

Liberal $1.65
Labor $3
Independent $5

I'm not thrilled that they picked another IPA type (and a man) for Wentworth; they should have gone for a woman given the extreme lack of them in the LNP. And I say this as someone who isn't normally troubled by gender imbalances.

Tony Abbott completely caught by surprise by a protest vote at his re-endorsement for the seat of Warringah (Fairfax);

More than 30 per cent of grassroots members voted on Friday night to oppose Mr Abbott's nomination as the Liberal Party candidate for the Sydney seat of Warringah, which the former leader has held since 1994. Mr Abbott ran unopposed, which makes the size of the protest vote "highly unusual", according to members who now believe the former prime minister's grip on the blue-ribbon northern beaches seat is not guaranteed.

"Everybody with any degree of commitment to the party and its long-term future wants to see this guy go, he's just useless," said one local member on Saturday. Moderate Liberal Party members are deeply unhappy with Mr Abbott's failure to honour his "no wrecking, no sniping, no undermining" pledge after being ousted by Malcolm Turnbull in 2015.

The fact that Tones is deeply unpopular within his own seat isn't really surprising; there's some very strange grass-roots things happening in the Liberal Party at the moment. They may not survive the coming election defeat as a single party...

I'm glad she made the decision to stay, she's certainly one of the LNP's better performers and frankly if she wasn't there their lack of gender balance would be even worse.

I'm also a fan of Tanya Plibersek. A friend of mine met her and was surprised just how knowledgeable and interested she was in their work. On the flip side you have some women politicians whose ignorance seems to have no limit.

She would certainly be better than Bill Shorten!!!

d_d
NEG =
IPA =
please?

But I do know what TV stands for it usually = crap.

d_d
NEG =
IPA =
please?

But I do know what TV stands for it usually = crap.

Sorry YM

NEG is Turnbull's National Energy Guarantee thing which I've been seeing bombardment adverts for on the telly and it's already dead and buried. The big-spending ad campaign outlived the man who was pushing the policy... actually it appears to have been the thing that killed his term as Prime Minister (ultimately).

IPA is the Institute of Public Affairs - a "think tank" funded predominantly by generous donors like Gina Rinehart et al. Georgina Downer has most recently been working as an IPA researcher/publicist whatever you want to call them. It's a bit of a revolving door between the conservative wing of the LNP and the IPA - it's why Georgina Downer suddenly spoke out in the middle of the by-election for Mayo and suddenly started pleading with the people of Australia to pass the corporate tax cuts in parliament - she honestly thought Adelaide Hills hippies would be interested in hearing that part of her platform (duh).

The newly-endorsed member for Wentworth (Bob Sharma) is another blue-ribbon Liberal man, it's kinda disappointing they went with a man when their own polling showed them they would have done better in endorsing a woman (SBS) and that they're in real danger in that seat just because the people of Wentworth are terribly unhappy with the Liberals...

Early polling suggests the Liberals will face a big swing against them, with voters unimpressed by the recent leadership turmoil and the dumping of their local MP from the leadership.

A loss in Wentworth would cost the Morrison government its slim one-seat majority in the House of Representatives, meaning it would rely on independent cross-benchers to guarantee supply and confidence.

Already, outspoken Queensland MP Bob Katter has warned he could cause "mayhem" unless the government addresses his policy concerns.

Really you'd have to conclude that it's game-over for the Morrison government if they lose this by-election.

d_d
NEG =
IPA =
please?

But I do know what TV stands for it usually = crap.

Sorry YM

NEG is Turnbull's National Energy Guarantee thing which I've been seeing bombardment adverts for on the telly and it's already dead and buried. The big-spending ad campaign outlived the man who was pushing the policy... actually it appears to have been the thing that killed his term as Prime Minister (ultimately).

IPA is the Institute of Public Affairs - a "think tank" funded predominantly by generous donors like Gina Rinehart et al. Georgina Downer has most recently been working as an IPA researcher/publicist whatever you want to call them. It's a bit of a revolving door between the conservative wing of the LNP and the IPA - it's why Georgina Downer suddenly spoke out in the middle of the by-election for Mayo and suddenly started pleading with the people of Australia to pass the corporate tax cuts in parliament - she honestly thought Adelaide Hills hippies would be interested in hearing that part of her platform (duh).

The newly-endorsed member for Wentworth (Bob Sharma) is another blue-ribbon Liberal man, it's kinda disappointing they went with a man when their own polling showed them they would have done better in endorsing a woman (SBS) and that they're in real danger in that seat just because the people of Wentworth are terribly unhappy with the Liberals...

Early polling suggests the Liberals will face a big swing against them, with voters unimpressed by the recent leadership turmoil and the dumping of their local MP from the leadership.

A loss in Wentworth would cost the Morrison government its slim one-seat majority in the House of Representatives, meaning it would rely on independent cross-benchers to guarantee supply and confidence.

Already, outspoken Queensland MP Bob Katter has warned he could cause "mayhem" unless the government addresses his policy concerns.

Really you'd have to conclude that it's game-over for the Morrison government if they lose this by-election.

Thanks d_d.
I should have woken up to the NEG bit but I tend to ignore political comments of all colours these days.
As for Turnbull's would be replacement I believe in absolute gender equality for jobs etc but am still old fashioned enough to believe in the best person for the job regardless of their sex (or not).
YM

Thanks d_d.
I should have woken up to the NEG bit but I tend to ignore political comments of all colours these days.
As for Turnbull's would be replacement I believe in absolute gender equality for jobs etc but am still old fashioned enough to believe in the best person for the job regardless of their sex (or not).
YM

YM - I agree with you one hundred percent but instead of selecting someone because they had done their time as a donor and supporter they should have gone with someone who was electable. It's a bit of a crisis situation; you have the former member and his family telling the people of Wentworth not to vote Liberal - it was more essential that they find someone who could have actually won the seat rather than someone who has just done their time as a minion and is due for a seat.

If they lose Wentworth then there's a good chance the whole Coalition will collapse into a warring mess that they won't recover from for a generation - the stakes are very high.

A comment from someone thats not at all interested in politics...............................

Who's Scott Morrison................................

2ndly, This thread is 8 pages long and except for one constructive post (that is for Aus in general) by Don Dunstan, its almost all about the liberal parties infighting. So if the Liberal party was looking for any kind of positive out come the apparently have NOT succeeded at all!

There's certainly nothing wrong with being interested in political infighting, it does I believe I think though that the political parties have failed us.

woodford

'I again ask fellow Railpagers - what did we do in a former life so badly wrong that our karma was these hopelessly selfish, vain and egotistical people whose only interest is in having power for the sake of it? What did we do to deserve these arsehats, honestly!'

Buggered if I know in either former or current lives but it must have been pretty bad.

A pox on them ALL. Male, female, Labor, Liberal or whatever.

The only person who entered Parliament with an honest intention was GUY FAWKES .................

You just don't get do you? You voted for them and your getting what you deserve. A pox on the voters.

Point of order, we didn't vote for them!! that's the point, how did we know we would end up with a bunch of muppets like these!? these pollies today are a speschal breed, they are dumber than the dumb! why don't we just blow them all up and start again!

Kind Regards

And I take it you still believe in the fairies?

nswtrains wrote "They picked on the wrong man to stuff around. MT is much more intelligent than the whole coalition. He will get Dutton and I hope he does. Someone described Dutton as an old school plod that sees everything in black and white. If Dutton is so sure of his position why doesn't he refer himself to the HC? As for Hansen and Katter, they are both idiots and don't have the necessary intellect to do anything worthwhile in parliament."

The real problem with Turnbull is that there are light years of difference between intellect and common sense.  He may have the intellect but he combines it with an immeasurable conceit and sense of entitlement leading to an attitude that "if you won't let me be the captain of the ship I will sink it rather than let anyone else run it."  He is behaving like a spoilt brat!

The real problem with Turnbull is that there are light years of difference between intellect and common sense.  He may have the intellect but he combines it with an immeasurable conceit and sense of entitlement leading to an attitude that "if you won't let me be the captain of the ship I will sink it rather than let anyone else run it."  He is behaving like a spoilt brat!

As opposed to Abbott? Rudd? There is a pattern emerging here is there not? (not that I agree with any of the above being removed as sitting PMs by their own party BTW)

BG

The real problem with Turnbull is that there are light years of difference between intellect and common sense.  He may have the intellect but he combines it with an immeasurable conceit and sense of entitlement leading to an attitude that "if you won't let me be the captain of the ship I will sink it rather than let anyone else run it."  He is behaving like a spoilt brat!

As opposed to Abbott? Rudd? There is a pattern emerging here is there not? (not that I agree with any of the above being removed as sitting PMs by their own party BTW)

BG

No argument except that Abbott and Rudd did not set out to sink their own party or its government.

Would Turnbull have set out to destroy Australia as a whole had the voters had the gall to vote him out at the last election as they came so close to doing?

Tony Abbot will be the next Opposition leader that is what this  was all about.

Tony Abbot will be the next Opposition leader that is what this  was all about.

Just a few problems here.
Tones was lucky to survive preselection for his seat of Warringah, recently. every chance he'll get booted at the election.
If the polls are correct and remain as they are, the incumbents are likely to lose 15-20 seats. equates to 2 terms in opposition
Tony was an extremely effective opposition leader. A fact, not a compliment, can't stand the bloke..But a triple treat of three word slogans.

Axe the tax.
Stop the boats.
No, no, no.

His party didn't want him in the big chair, so should the above occur, will the party shaft him just after that election? And the circus continues.

With the recent knifings of sitting PM's the only one who has departed with a shed of decency and integrity intact was, Julia.

Duck for cover.

With the recent knifings of sitting PM's the only one who has departed with a shed of decency and integrity intact was, Julia.

Duck for cover.

Indeed, Rudd and Gillard both left politics and didn't snipe (much) after they left. The LNP appear incapable of doing the same.

I really think Tony Abbott still doesn't get that he's very unpopular with the public - and now also unpopular with his own electorate and party. There's no chance that Tones will ever be in a position of authority within the Liberal Party ever again, the damage that he to his own party is a lasting legacy. Mind you, that childish Malcolm Turnbull is turning out to be even worse...

The unfortunate part of it all is that Abbott won preselection unopposed. If a decent candidate had put hm/her self up it should have been bye bye Tones.

With the recent knifings of sitting PM's the only one who has departed with a shed of decency and integrity intact was, Julia.

Duck for cover.

Indeed, Rudd and Gillard both left politics and didn't snipe (much) after they left. The LNP appear incapable of doing the same.

I really think Tony Abbott still doesn't get that he's very unpopular with the public - and now also unpopular with his own electorate and party. There's no chance that Tones will ever be in a position of authority within the Liberal Party ever again, the damage that he to his own party is a lasting legacy. Mind you, that childish Malcolm Turnbull is turning out to be even worse...

How the hell you can call MT childish is beyond me. I know who the childish ones are and they are the ones that deposed MT for no electoral gain.