Re: The Australian Federal Election 2010 Thread (III)

[Zat]

And something I think we can all agree on...

[G.Wood]

That could come in handy


Are Victorians any use for anything whatsoever?

ANSWER

[JGK]

Looks like Hasluck has gone so only Corangemite (ALP ahead by 550) and Brissy (Libs ahead by 490) to go.

I think they will stay where they are.

Corangemite is 85% counted so assuming a 3% informal and 5% didn't vote, the Libs lass would need to catch up over 500 votes with the remaining 8000 to come which means she needs over 53% of the 2 PP going forward. Hard to see when she has 49% to date but who knows.

Brissy is only 73% counted so there are still potentially another 18000 formal votes to come and Bevis has been closing the gap with the postals received so far. So there may be some hope there for the Pinkos in the Great State.

[Hass]

And something I think we can all agree on...

The day I vote for the Greens is the day the men in white coats take me away.

Having said that, I think they'll be able to do some good in the Senate. Just as long as they never get their hands anywhere near the purse strings - that would be a disaster!

[JGK]

Bevis now 382 behind in Brisbane.

[Zat]

that's down from 490 a couple of hours ago.

[skully]

And something I think we can all agree on...

Farkin PMSL. Sagacity squared.

[Hass]

I'm calling it. The race is over. Gillard will form a minority government.

The indepdents want to be briefed by Treasury on the budgetary impacts of both party's economic policies.

Gillard has agreed to move heaven and earth to make that happen. Abbott says he doesn't want it to happen.

He either doesn't want to form a government or his numbers don't add up.

[skully]

Agreed Hass.

[Paul Keating]

Jumping the gun a bit !

This is Abbott's one and only chance of being PM. Turnbull will make his move if the coalition remain in opposition. He will move heaven and earth to form minority government.

[skully]

Interestingly Gillard has promised the 3 Indies that she'll go full term if they join her. A rather ballsy call, and on national TV. She wouldn't wanna try to pull a DD early if she forms a minority govt. it'll make he look as credible as the NSW Premier at the moment. Currently the NSW pinkos are rating 26% of the Primary vote and have 2 consecutive polls showing a 2PP of 61% Coalition to 39% Pinkos, and 7 months out from the State Election she's now talking of forgetting the past and looking to the future i.e. "moving forward". FMD

[Zat]

Abbott has shown up once again that he is an arrogant boob, better suited to leading the BCCI than a political party. On top of Truss's outburst on Saturday night, the odds on a Coalition govt are lengthening.

As for NSW... is there any chance that the swing could sweep the ALP to single-figure seats in March? Please...

[G.Wood]

I think the only fair thing is for the electorates of the 3 indies to decide which way they go. The 3 of em bang on all the time about looking after the wishes of their people after all.

[bodyline]

Had to laugh at the new Melbourne green - talked about being interested in a Ministry FFS!

As for the outcome - regardless of who gets in - we'll be back to the polls withing 12 months.

[bodyline]

As for the three indies getting exclusive briefings - not even the opposition leader gets that so wtf should they - this is become not the three indies but a three ringed circus. And I am starting not to GAF about who gets in because I think the whole house of cards will collapse and we will be back to the polls.

[Hass]

Abbott is trying to say that he can't trust the Treasury. What's he planning on doing if he actually gets in to power? Mass sackings?

Abbott's also worried about leaks from Treasury - I didn't know Godwin Grech was still working there.

[G.Wood]

Interestingly Gillard has promised the 3 Indies that she'll go full term if they join her. A rather ballsy call, and on national TV. She wouldn't wanna try to pull a DD early if she forms a minority govt. it'll make he look as credible as the NSW Premier at the moment. Currently the NSW pinkos are rating 26% of the Primary vote and have 2 consecutive polls showing a 2PP of 61% Coalition to 39% Pinkos, and 7 months out from the State Election she's now talking of forgetting the past and looking to the future i.e. "moving forward". FMD

Are you really surprised that the pinko ranga turd is prostituting herself, her party and the entire Westminster system?

[JGK]

Abbott has shown up once again that he is an arrogant boob, better suited to leading the BCCI than a political party. On top of Truss's outburst on Saturday night, the odds on a Coalition govt are lengthening.

As for NSW... is there any chance that the swing could sweep the ALP to single-figure seats in March? Please...

I reckon there is a very strong chance of the Greens winning more seats than the ALP at the next election as they will get all the ALP prefs before the Liberal prefs (and vice versa) and they may come close to getting 3/4 of the ALPs primary vote.

[bodyline]

Abbott has shown up once again that he is an arrogant boob, better suited to leading the BCCI than a political party. On top of Truss's outburst on Saturday night, the odds on a Coalition govt are lengthening.

As for NSW... is there any chance that the swing could sweep the ALP to single-figure seats in March? Please...

I reckon there is a very strong chance of the Greens winning more seats than the ALP at the next election as they will get all the ALP prefs before the Liberal prefs (and vice versa) and they may come close to getting 3/4 of the ALPs primary vote.

Does anyone recall - the democrats???? The greens will go the same way.

[bodyline]

MAXINE McKew resisted a party directive for a negative campaign against her opponent, triggering a decline in relations with NSW Labor.

Bennelong has become a crucible for Labor's soul-searching and bloodletting in the aftermath of the election. Ms McKew, a former ABC presenter and the wife of former federal Labor boss Bob Hogg, wrested the seat from John Howard at the 2007 election, and relinquished it to former tennis professional John Alexander on Saturday.

Startling new details have emerged of the Bennelong campaign, by the end of which Ms McKew's relations with the party machine and unions were undermined by her refusal to circulate a so-called "sh!t-sheet" against Mr Alexander, by her support for Kevin Rudd after his dumping and by her disgust at the unions' role in Mr Rudd's ouster.

The details have been confirmed by sources in Ms McKew's campaign and by senior figures at Labor's Sussex Street, Sydney, headquarters.


An indication of Ms McKew's increasing marginalisation is that she was not informed of the decision to commit $2.6 billion to a new rail link between Epping, in her electorate, and Parramatta until 12 hours before the announcement was made.

In late January, Ms McKew was summoned to a meeting at Sussex Street with NSW party boss Sam Dastyari. She was presented with a sh!t-sheet, authorised by the ALP, in which Mr Alexander was portrayed as a "dodgy developer" on account of his long-running legal battle with Sydney's White City Tennis Club, over a redevelopment proposal.

(The litigation was settled in the High Court, in Mr Alexander's favour, in May.)

Ms McKew told Mr Dastyari the propaganda was crude and inaccurate and had the potential to backfire, in the manner of the Liberal Party's bogus Islamic pamphlet in the western Sydney seat of Lindsay in 2007.

She was assured her name would not be on the leaflet, but replied: "If you release this, I will come out 10 minutes later and denounce you."

After the meeting, Ms McKew reflected to her team: "I have defied Tammany Hall, and I will pay a price."

Party officials subsequently approached a close friend of Ms McKew and asked him to urge her to reconsider the negative campaign -- a request that was refused.

A senior party source said of the meeting: "Party office and the central campaign were keen on our using a much more aggressive approach to define Alexander, once he nominated." The same source said: "Our relationship with her broke down completely after the leadership change."

In the week following the dumping of Mr Rudd -- whose support among Bennelong's Asian community had helped her get elected in 2007 -- Ms McKew made no secret of her disgust at the actions of "brutish" faction chiefs and union bosses -- including Australian Workers Union boss Paul Howes, who announced Mr Rudd's demise on ABC TV before caucus considered the leadership.

Her anger boiled over after the election was announced, when a volunteer turned up in Bennelong wearing an AWU T-shirt.

Ms McKew, believing conservative voters would react poorly, insisted the volunteer replace the T-shirt.

The following day, according to a senior party source, ACTU secretary Jeff Lawrence removed Bennelong from the union list of "target seats".

Mr Lawrence last night did not deny he knew about the T-shirt incident, but insisted "the unions continued to work on the campaign in Bennelong".

The Sussex Street source said that following the AWU incident, "Maxine was not running the same kind of campaign as Lindsay and Greenway" (two western Sydney seats retained by Labor last Saturday).

"She was running her own show with her own people. It was a stand-alone operation."

The fissure was not healed at a meeting between Ms McKew and Unions NSW boss Paul Lennon, in which Ms McKew insisted she was not anti-union and reminded him she had ousted the architect of Work Choices from Bennelong.

Her supporters say her alienation from the NSW Right resulted in the tardy delivery of campaign materials and a lack of personnel.

After her defeat, Ms McKew fired the starting gun on Labor's season of bloodletting, citing Mr Rudd's execution and denouncing the lack of "central messages" in Labor's campaign.

Ms McKew said last night she had "no further comment" on her loss in Bennelong. Mr Dastyari also declined to comment.

[JGK]

The Democrats never won a lower house seat though.

The Greens will eventually go the same way as they have so far not suffered any scrutiny and in reality they don't have much in the way of policy other than on social and environmental issues. At the moment though, they are an acceptable vote you have when you aren't voting Labor but can't bring yourself to vote for the others.

[JGK]

All the had to go on Alexander was to replay some of his TV commentary when McEnroe and Courier used to smack him down regularly.

[bodyline]

.........Greens party candidate in Melbourne Adam Bandt told a Marxist discussion forum that he was disappointed in other comrades when they disagreed with his strident defence of leftist militants who’d published a shoplifting guide..........


This guy is a complete farkin nutter!

[bodyline]

No wonder he supports Judas - he was a farkin lawyer at Slater & Gordon before he went to the bar!

[Bradman]

Abbott is trying to say that he can't trust the Treasury. What's he planning on doing if he actually gets in to power? Mass sackings?

Abbott's also worried about leaks from Treasury - I didn't know Godwin Grech was still working there.

My thoughts exactly, on both counts. Abbott has to have more front than Myers. He even backed down on a pledge to release the IR policy on the Friday before the election, 'coz you can't trust treasury'.

I hope Julia says 'bring it on'.

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