Who will be Australia’s PM tomorrow? (Answer – Gillard)

UPDATE: Rudd refused to contend. Gillard and Swan “won” uncontested. (The ALP loses.)
QLD State Liberal Premier Newman calls for a federal election. “‘The country cannot afford the waste of time; the paralysis we’ve seen.'”
———————————————
It’s on. Finally.

Leadership ballot called for Labor Party at 4.30pm today.

[Skynews] The Prime Minister Julia Gillard has called a caucus meeting for 4.30pm (AEDT) to allow a ballot for the leadership of the Labor Party to be held.

Ms Gillard made the announcement at the start of question time in the lower house on Thursday – the last parliamentary sitting day before the May 14 budget.

‘For the information of the house, I have determined there will be a ballot for the leadership and the deputy leadership of the Labor party at 4.30pm today.


Question Time has begun and Mr Abbott has called for a motion of no confidence in the Prime Minister.Mr Abbott then called for a suspension of standing orders in parliament to debate a motion of no confidence in Ms Gillard.

‘(This is) an incompetent and chaotic government which just gets worse and worse with each passing day, let alone each passing day,’ he said.

At one stage, Mr Abbott pointed to Ms Gillard across the dispatch boxes and said: ‘You should go.’

Earlier, Mr Crean said he was convinced Mr Rudd, who has previously be criticised as being a too controlling prime minister, was changed.

Mr Crean plans to stand for deputy leader.

He said he would back Kevin Rudd.

 

9.3 out of 10 based on 33 ratings

166 comments to Who will be Australia’s PM tomorrow? (Answer – Gillard)

  • #
    Backslider

    OT – Crean has called for a leadership spill in the Labor party.

    Woohooo!

    51

  • #
    Paul R

    Julia Caesar.

    60

  • #

    Who will be Australia’s PM tomorrow?

    Is a caretaker too much to hope for?

    90

    • #
      Olaf Koenders

      Heh.. Couldn’t do a worse job 🙂

      30

      • #

        FWIW: A caretaker PM (link to PDF of Caretaker Convention) is one who holds office after an election has been called. Gillard’s announcement of a date is not the same thing as calling an election. The Reps can be dissolved by the GG at any time. An election has to happen within 5 to 8 weeks of writs being issued.

        P.S.: I agree that a janitor could do a better job than Gillard. At least a janitor knows what to do with rubbish. 😉

        110

  • #
    inedible hyperbowl

    As a misogynist nutjob, I will leave my comment to sometime after 4.30.

    I would welcome the change of moniker.

    40

  • #
    AndyG55

    I bet she has said she will resign from parliament forthwith if toppled as leader.

    just the sort of grubby thing she would do to try to hold onto the leadership.

    61

  • #
    Olaf Koenders

    It’s on – again.

    Will the Labor party survive?
    Will the Governor General step in?
    What will I wear..?

    Most people I’ve spoken to would rather have Dullard ousted and have the entire embarrassing episode put behind them. Lame duck Labor never even got off the ground and was shot down again. Fitting.

    Filling your tanks with green contaminated fuel can only lead to disaster.

    30

    • #
      Richard the Great

      Guys, guys guys. We must all band together and support the prime minister. It would be a bad thing for Jules to leave now after all her accomplishments.Whenever you see a poll vote for Jules for PM. Labor must not be allowed to change leaders at this advanced hour. Send in support emails. Stick with it Jules.

      Somewhere in my turgid brain I have an image. It does not involve lemmings or trains going over cliffs but an obsolete WW2 era Stuka bomber aircraft (ALP) sirens blaring with Jules white knuckled pig headedly jamming the stick foward refusing to pull out of the dive while cold jagged rocks race towards them.Why on earth would one want to change this?

      110

  • #
    Backslider

    20 minutes to go… I wonder how long it will take.

    Was just looking at the list of those who should go down with her… all the labor figures that people most despise – Swan, Conroy, Combet, Plibersek, Maklin…. joy, oh bliss…….

    50

  • #

    Oh dear.

    Just imagine the headlines if the result is a tie.

    If it is, then Labor rules decree that the result will be decided by ….. a coin toss.

    The Australian media headlines would be enough, but can you imagine the World headlines.

    Tony.

    40

  • #
    intrepid_wanders

    Oooohhh… Rudd is not playing…. Ouch.

    30

  • #

    I don’t care who gets it – I’m not voting Labor.

    I’ll certainly be glad to see the back of her, but I would have liked to see HER lose the election. If someone else is in, she’ll blame THEM for Labor crashing and again dodge responsibility.

    Ah well, I guess Labor couldn’t stand it any longer. They must have chewed their nails all the way up to their elbows.

    141

    • #
      Allen Ford

      I’ll certainly be glad to see the back of her

      The back of her is not a sight to behold!

      11

  • #

    I wonder if the result changes, will this alter what Combet said this morning here:

    Renewable energy target survives review, despite criticism

    The figure he quotes here is 41TWH, and that is 16% of all electrical power generation on today’s total’s umm, which are currently running at around 2.6%.

    Imagine the cost.

    Sooner we get rid of people like this the better.

    It’s an impossible target, and even he knows it.

    Spin.

    Tony.

    60

    • #
      connolly

      Tony I always read your contribution with great respect. Everyone who works or has worked in the mining and energy industry should know this, particulaly if you not from NSW and don’t recieve this information. In 2008 Greg Combet who I know, wrote to Ian MacDonald (who I also know, for over thirty years in fact, although we became estranged after he tried to bully me some years ago over an ALP pre-selection)the then NSW minster responsible for the issuing of coal mining licences in NSW. Greg Combet urged MacDonald to issue a mining licence to John Maitland’s company at Doyles Creek in the Hunter Valley as a “training mine”. Against all departmental advice and WITHOUT A TENDER PROCESS in 2008 MacDonald issued the licence to Maitland’s company and as a consequence Maitland made at least 15 million profit. Apparently Combet believes the transition from fossil fuel based energy in this country should not imped his mate Johnny Maitaland from making a fortune. And for those who don’t know, Maitland is a former CFMEU National Secretary and a Vice-President of the ACTU. The rats stayed on the sinking ship yesterday but workers are filled with complete disgust over the corruption of the ALP. Combet is a hypocrite, a liar and a facilitator (whether knowingly or not) of corrupt dealing in the fossil fuel industry. Jo could this issue be the subject of a seperate thread? This needs full exposure in the CAGW debate. The information is and will be in the ICAC transcripts. Combet and the “green” ALP mates (which included Maitland) are beneath contempt. Under Maitland the CFMEU changed its stance on the issue of CAGW and supported the hypothesis against the interests of their members. I know a lot of workers in the steel and mining industry and they just can’t stomach this corruption anymore by a party which threatened the livelihood of thousands of decent hard working Australians. September can’t come soon enough when we throw them out of office. The only pity is that they wont be joining us in the dole queues but retiring on the best superannuation scheme in the country. Scum. Just scum.

      110

  • #
    crakar24

    It is not often that i feel ashamed to be an Australian but these clowns are making a habit of it.

    We create history by sacking the first, first term PM then after one election we do it again and this time we double up on the historical magnetude by sacking the first woman PM.

    I am of course assuming Gillard is sacked but even the attempt to sack her makes it an historic moment.

    I was pissed off that i was denied the opportunity to vote out Rudd now ti looks like i will be denied the opportunity to vote out Gillard

    241

    • #
      crakar24

      Wow i got a thumbs down i really am not sorry if i offended any of you precious little moronic labor voters

      160

    • #
      Mark

      Well crakar, Rudd has just announced that he won’t even nominate.

      40

      • #
        crakar24

        LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

        He is slow roasting Gillard and just sold Crean up the river, one down 37 to go.

        170

    • #
      Bob Malloy

      No Sacking, as no one put thei names forward.Still stuck with Gillard and the lame duck as deputy.

      50

  • #
    ExWarmist

    My preference is Juliar – anyone else is likely to somewhat mitigate the upcoming electoral debacle for the ALP/Greens.

    I think she deserves to be the one at the helm as the Titanic slips beneath the waves in September 2013.

    Never to be seen again.

    Cheers ExWarmist

    281

  • #
    Andrew McRae

    Aaannnd Rudd says he won’t contest it.

    Aaannnd the spokeman just said the Red Queen and Swannie were re-elected unopposed.

    Okay, pack up this thread, turn the lights off on the way out. What a joke.

    50

  • #
    Mark

    Just announced on Sky.

    No ballot. Joolya survives. Beeeyoooty!

    40

    • #
      Andrew McRae

      Is your exclamation of delight motivated by the preference to see Joooliar lose a federal election instead of being stabbed in the back?

      40

      • #
        Mark

        The former, Andrew.

        Reason being that I believe [snip yes – glad you understand.:-)]

        The woman is evil incarnate.

        Mod: I’ll understand if you [snip] this.

        60

        • #
          Yonniestone

          Mark, 100% agree but where we see democratic justice served she will revel in how much damage she caused and future ventures to come, she’s as popular as a speed hump with the emotion of one as well.

          20

  • #
    crakar24

    Time to go but i wonder what Jo has for us next on the agenda.

    10

    • #
      Andrew McRae

      Next? Not half demanding are you? Jo posted 4 articles in one day on Tuesday!

      I guess you would say in H.G.Nelson tradition, that too much Jo is barely enough?

      30

  • #

    OMG

    Who the heck has she got by the short and curlies? Everyone, by the sound of it. Are they all SCARED of her???!!!

    50

    • #

      They have all got something on each other … it’s what former and current union office bearers and lawyers do. Threats are the normal operating standard.

      60

      • #
        jorgekafkazar

        Mutual blackmail, extortion, and intimidation were the order of the day in Nazi Germany. They were a nasty lot in their personal lives. Who had the goods on who played a big part in who went to the top. Paul von Hindenburg and son were implicated in an embezzlement scheme where funds for veterans had been diverted for personal use. The investigation was immediately quashed after Hitler was named Chancellor. Thus a petty scheme became the pivot point for World War and the Holocaust. Can’t recall what reminded me of this. Oh, well.

        10

  • #
    Jaymez

    I can’t imagine anyone wanting the poisoned chalice this side of the budget and the election.

    Labor won’t win the election either way. so it would be far better to pick up the leadership after the election and just concentrate on retaining your seat in the election. Unless your only objective is to have your photo and name in the list of past Australian Prime Ministers.

    40

  • #
    Backslider

    So, it was all just a show…. was surprised to see Rudd play along with it… we’ll see in time what he had to gain.

    Now we can listen to all the spin about what a solid prime minister we all have… excuse me while I puke.

    OK folks, at least we all still have the opportunity to vote these jokers out of office.

    40

    • #
      Rereke Whakaaro

      This smells like a set-up to me. It has all the hall-marks of theatre. I think they wanted to know what the reaction would be.

      They will be analysing the Press response to the spill, the comments to the Press response, comments on blogs like this [hi guys and gals – coffee supply to your satisfaction, is it?], the reactions from the ALP branch offices, and the chatter down at the local RSA and the Footie Clubs. ‘Cause that is how it is done.

      All that stuff will come together and be put into the big concrete mixer, and an answer will come out that they need to get this group on side, and that group is a no-hope outsider, and this bunch over here can be ignored, and these people need to be bribed, er, incentivized, etc.

      That will be what informs policy from now until an election is called.

      Labour policy has never been about the good of Australia and Australians, it has always been about the good of the Labour Party and the Trade Unions that pull the strings behind the scenes. That will now become obvious, even to the dimmest punters, in the lead up to the election.

      80

      • #

        Holy @%&! I think you are onto something, Rereke.

        Didn’t she set up some violence or other a couple of years back? Someone threw something at her and she and her bodyguards ran away (probably not the right way of putting it). She lost a shoe, maybe it made her look vulnerable or something, to garner pity maybe???

        I’m going by memeory and things I heard, so I’m probably way off. Ignore everything I said in the paragraph above.

        But I do think you have hit the nail on the head, Rereke. I wondered why they had called it if they weren’t certain of a change!

        10

      • #
        KinkyKeith

        Was saying to my wife this morning that all the fuss over Convoys Media attack and the Drugs In Sport stupidity

        (huge footballers don’t take steroids????) and this Leadership ( what leadership?) challenge have been put up as a smoke screen.

        My belief is that they are up to no good somewhere.

        The most likely activity is to raid the Treasury even more before they have to hand the keys of the Treasury back.

        Look for lots of Special Projects Funded Right Now in an electorate very close to theirs;

        perhaps even right in it.

        KK 🙂

        20

  • #
    ianl8888

    It’s all rather ho-hum, but the question no-one is asking is:

    WHY did Crean self-destruct ?

    My offering: he’s simply panicked by the size of the forthcoming electoral loss. He’s flipped and flopped from Rudd to Gillard then back to Rudd, so claiming noble loyalty of some sort won’t cut it. Just sheer unseemly panic

    The truth is that he’s a weak, vain, cowardly person with no courage for any of his claimed convictions. Some years ago, his pre-selection was threatened with an actual contest … he whined and whinged publicly about how long-standing and loyal an ALP servant he was, and reminded everyone that his father had been a Cabinet Minister in the Whitlam Govt, so he (Simon) deserved to be a Cabinet Minister too. And then he pouted, bottom lip way out

    Well, now his convictionless vaccillations has left him as a back-bencher with no Caucus support. A life-long damp squib

    Having said that (and he’s no loss one way or the other – as I said, ho-hum), the silver lining is that Gillard stays for us out here in Mugsville to kick the stuffing out of later

    I’m rather envious of the voters in Rudd’s electorate … they get to kick both Rudd and Gillard at the same time !

    150

    • #
      connolly

      Don’t underestimate the deviousness of the supoporters of Gillard. There is a theory that Crean was the Manchurian candidate who deliberately brought on a challenge without Rudd’s approval before Rudd had stitched up all the numbers. By forcing the issue now Crean saved Gillard. The ALP is a festering wound on the body politic of this country. Crean is no dill. Not real smart but no dill. He took one for the team.

      50

      • #
        ghl

        Do you think that after a spell on the back bench Mr Crean might be drafted?

        10

        • #
          connolly

          He will be lining up his contacts to join Hawke and Keating as a consultant in the off shoring of Australian industry after the thrashing in September. A lot of them are already preparing for life outside the Canberra incubator. And the superannuation retirement benefit will be a handy little earner as well. He is a contemtabloe labor aristocrat (son of Frank Gough’s Treasurer). Never worked a day in his life and never will. Stood in front of the media yesterday and carried out one of the great political scams in Australia’s history.

          10

  • #
    ExWarmist

    OK – let’s say that Juliar leads the ALP to electoral oblivion in September 2013.

    Here is a possible series of events after that happens.

    1. The remnants of the ALP in their safest seats survive – they are heavily of the left & the far left.

    2. The destruction of the ALP moderates hands power to the extreme left wing of the ALP.

    3. The Lib/Nat coalition walk into the ticking time bomb of the Australian economy as the ALPs massive mismanagement collides directly with a hard landing in China that wipes out the Australian terms of trade, our dollar drops precipitously, many local businesses struggle, joblessness rises, loans, especially mortgages become non-performing, the banks with massive exposure & leverage to the residential housing market break down and the USA experience of the GFC comes home to roost in Australia.

    4. The ALP rebuilds from it’s hardcore communist/fascist base, leveraging the discontent of the Australian populace.

    5. Australian politics lurches from the centre too the extremes.

    6. Something even worse than what we have now comes to power in … say … 2018.

    30

    • #
      Mark

      Hmmm… interesting hypothesis ExW but funny things occur in elections with big swings. What can happen (and has happened often) is that big swings wipe out many of those who thought they were safe. At the same time there are some amazed survivors in seats which would normally be among the first to fall.

      What I’d like to think would happen is that the grass roots of the ALP takes matters in hand and lets party headquarters know that they will no longer tolerate long serving party hacks and union heavies being ‘parachuted’ in to safe seats against the wishes of locals.

      20

      • #
        ExWarmist

        Hi Mark,

        I too hope for a renaissance of the ALP into a party that serves Australia’s interests and not the special interests that it is currently beholden too.

        50

    • #
      connolly

      The dominant AWU faction is already planning the return from the wilderness. The most immoral politician in Australia (big call but true) Bill Shorten, son in law of the Govenor General, protege of the late and unlamented scammer Richard Pratt will lead the smoking ruin back into power. If you think that is bad, Paul Howes will probably be Treasurer. Lock up your daughters and your money.

      20

    • #
      jorgekafkazar

      The Left’s proposed solution to failed Socialism is always more Socialism.

      10

      • #
        ExWarmist

        If only the Left had more money – socialism could succeed. But for some weird reason, they keep running out of other peoples money to spend.

        20

  • #
    Frank

    I think this is exactly what Crean was aiming for. Rudd has done his dash – his forces weren’t ready and Crean forced a spill (possibly with Gillard’s private approval) so that Rudd’s position was exposed as wanting.

    This should shut up some of the waverers in the caucus and give Gillard and Swan some breathing space until the Budget sitting or even longer.

    I believe Crean when he says he did this for the party – he is loyal to the party and wanted the speculation to stop, or at least go away for a while. In this he succeeded – at what cost to himself we shall see.

    At any rate it keeps the Liberal’s best target in the game and guarantees the largest victory for them. I look forward to election night.

    80

    • #
      ianl8888

      … he is loyal to the party and wanted the speculation to stop

      So he self-immolated ?

      As I said, pious declarations don’t cut it

      21

  • #
    Spitfire

    Labor thoroughly deserves all the flak they’re copping, and there’s a sense of schadenfreude that I think I’m not alone on this forum in feeling. Nasty, spiteful and poorly considered policy, with a healthy dose of hubris, have brought the party to the parlous situation in which it now stands.

    But oddly I have mixed feelings. Keeping the status quo allows more time for Gillard et al to dig themselves even deeper into the mud and an even more robust thrashing come September. But the longer we wait to go to the election the more damage Labor can do. So the best outcome is just to have an election in May. Won’t happen though it’s nice to dream.

    60

  • #
    inedible hyperbowl

    Hi, my name is Kevin. I am not going to run until you bastards first demand that Julia step aside. After this when you all apologize, grovel and brown-nose non-stop; then maybe I will condescend to standing for the position.

    60

    • #
      johninoxley

      Another thing, none of you are worthy to be in my presence and stop slapping my face, Im eating earwax.

      40

  • #
    GerardB

    Same old-same old

    20

  • #
    Warwick Hughes

    So Rudd could not get the numbers pledged that he wanted –
    just before 4pm the ABC published two lists – PM supporters 27 – Rudd supporters 24 – out of 100 exactly today in the Labor caucus.
    that means there were 49 undecideds, so undecideds won the day you could say.
    Now they recess for 7 weeks holiday till the budget in May.
    I can not see any good news for the Govt to promulgate in the Budget – so whatever happens they and the PM look doomed.
    And it has emerged that three of the “independents” who are propping up the Gillard Govt voted with the oppsn around 2.30pm to hold a no-confidence motion. It needed 76 votes and got 73. So no joy for Gillard to see her cross bench backers voting with the oppsn.

    10

    • #
      Catamon

      Actually Warwick, Oakshott and Windsor usually vote with the Coalition on an SSO as they have a stated, in principle aversion to voting so as to cut off debate.

      I think they have pretty much voted in favour of most SSO’s except the sillier ones. But there have been so many pointless SSO’s from the OOppoosition its hard to be sure?

      Would have been interesting if the SSO had gotten up. I suspect Windsor would have had a few words and pointed at his phone again. 🙂

      01

  • #
    Mattb

    That, dear readers, was Simon Crean doing a favour for Julia Gillard. He’s effectively taken the bullet and stage managed a spill he knew Rudd would not challenge for and Gillard would win.

    Result: He’ll slink to the back benches so it looks like “pinishment”, having created a false spill to creat the illusion that everyone loves Julia. Seriously why would Rudd want to take over now it would mean he had 6 months, lost an election, and lose the leadership. WHeras a spanking in the elections may get the ALP to consider his genuine worth and start all over again.

    71

    • #
      AndyG55

      “That, dear readers, was Simon Crean doing a favour for Julia Gillard. He’s effectively taken the bullet and stage managed a spill he knew Rudd would not challenge for and Gillard would win”

      OMG, sorry Mattb.. but I suspect you are actually correct !!

      Stage managed by Gillard et al. from the start.. with a major twist of McTernan thrown in.

      50

    • #
      Spitfire

      Interesting theory and has some merit given the nature of politics. Perhaps Crean has decided to retire at the next election to take up a cushy job as consultant of some sort. He can then distance himself from this rabble for the remainder of his term and escape with a little dignity. Not much, mind you, but he’ll take what he can get.

      10

      • #
        Mattb

        next ALP federal govt watch for a Crean ambassadorial/UN role.

        30

        • #
          connolly

          Matt he will be 102 years of age. But your theory that he took one for Team Gillard is spot on.You see there are conspiracies after all.

          00

    • #
      MadJak

      Agreed – this is exactly what happenned.

      Crean is not and never really was an Ally of Rudds. Crean took one for the central committee

      20

      • #
        Andrew McRae

        Join the dots. Simon Crean is the son of Frank Crean, who was named by Hawke as one of the great Fabians of the 1960s and 70s. Was young Simon indoctrinated with the Fabian Method and their values? Well then you can expect him to be shepherd and minder of a disastrous prime minister, and time will tell if that was Jooliar or whether even greater things are planned for Crean himself.
        The Fabians are in it for the long haul, so they are unlikely to backstab their own key members.

        20

  • #
    Dave

    .
    Left early for work & got home late – then I read all this,
    Crean calls for a spill at about 8 am or so
    Julia calls a ALP vote at about 1pm – schedules it for 4.30pm.
    Kevin decides not to run before the vote.
    Julia & Wayne re-elected at 5.00pm

    All too convenient……..

    They virtually canceled the last day of sitting.
    Took heat off the media bill of Conroys.

    It has to be a setup or like MattyB says – Crean took the wooden spoon to stop the talk.

    It’s a joke, like the ALP. Everyone’s laughing at them now.

    60

    • #
      Mattb

      What they pulled the media laws? I don’t believe you, the only thing that happened today was the leadership spill… lol.

      22

  • #
    Otter

    She won? Sorry to hear there are so many useful tools Down Under 🙁 (I suspect a lot of Democrats in the US have a second home / vote in Australia, just like they do in Florida….)

    10

    • #
      AndyG55

      “She won?”

      Well, no..

      It’s just that not even Rudd was prepared to pick up the stinking great T**D that is now the Labor party leadership.

      70

  • #

    Who in their right mind would want the leadership of the ALP at the moment?

    Go down in history as working behind the scenes to depose our first female PM, and then knowing full well Federal Labor will be wiped out at the next election. Twice a loser.

    Say, where was the man who would be king, Bill Shorten? Naah! He knows.

    Come the election and the Leader duly retires, then you’ll see Bill.

    No more Rudd. What you heard from him today is spin. He too knows. He’ll be off to the UN soon, anyway.

    Speaking of after the election, watch the retirements from sitting MP’s from that Labor side, if there’s that many left. I’ll even think to myself that some are secretly hoping they actually lose, so the embarrassment of retiring so soon after the election is moot.

    Look at Antony Green’s Election Calculator.

    There’s an interactive little section there, the first box at the top left titled Overall Swing. Move the red tab in the centre toward the Liberal side and you get an indicator telling you the size of the swing. At the moment, the swing is around 5.5 to 6%.

    As you move the tab towards that mark, watch the blue bar at the right and see the number of seats that will change hands and give some general idea of what the house would look like with a swing of that nature, and this only takes into account Coalition/Labor and does not count the Independents, and seriously, Bob Katter looks the only safe one of them left.

    This is what any prospective Labor Leader has to look forward to.

    Tony.

    40

    • #
      connolly

      Who in their right mind would want the leadership of the ALP at the moment?”

      Tim Mathieson – rent free lodgings and there are a lot of freebies for the footy between now and September

      10

  • #

    Memo to Joel Fitzgibbon and Simon Crean
    You both know, as do we all, the Lying Slapper and the Dopey Prick will NEVER win the next election.
    So, do us all a favour ( and yourselves) and move to the “naughty corner” whence you can form two valuable services to your Country.
    You should form the Democratic Labour Party. And join with the Coalition ( just once) to defeat this God awful rabble.
    Think, no Gillard, no Thompson, none of the other cross bench turncoats, no Rudd, and not even the rotten parts of the Union Movement.
    You will pick up much of the right/centre of the Australian Labor Party, and be re-elected in your own right in your own Seats.
    Do it and do us all a favour that we will never forget.
    PS. Hey, you even secure your own Super and post parliament perks!

    20

    • #
      Spitfire

      Actually, Michel, the DLP still exists – they actually have one senator,John Madigan. Though I wonder if they’d be desperate enough to adopt a couple of ALP refugees.

      10

  • #
    Albert

    The polls for Labor are heading down towards uncharted waters as I type.

    40

  • #
    MudCrab

    Did anyone else notice the rampaging orange balloon and matching small toddler down the end of the Corridor of Death during the coverage?

    Most bemusing 🙂

    An interesting day.

    I think it is pretty clear that Rudd has no intention of trying to take back the ALP just to go down in the election. His primary motivation now seems to be 100% well aged and room temperature revenge. He will take the leadership the moment each and every one of the ALP lay face down in front of him and beg humiliating and public forgiveness… and then he’ll say no.

    Any consideration to fighting the Liberal/Nationals and/or actually trying to convince the voting public they are not boobies on a boy bovine seem way down on the to do list.

    My only hope is that there is enough of them left to completely crush come September 😛

    20

  • #
    MadJak

    Have you heard about the new ALP Motto?

    “Beat me beat me, call me nasty names and call me trash coz I have been soooo naughty”

    Their logo should be changed to be a whip and some handcuffs.

    30

    • #
      Rod Stuart

      I went over to KFC last night to get some tucker.
      They have a new product out called “The ALP Bucket”.
      I bought one and took it home.
      It looked OK, although it smelled a little off.
      Turned out to be a few left wings and a whole bunch of arseholes!

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      • #

        Thanks, Rod! I’m soooo glad I wasn’t drinking coffee when I read that. 😀

        20

      • #
        Yonniestone

        Good one Rod,
        I’ve got a few myself (blue collar background) but I don’t want to lower the tone or tarnish that gold star (so proud, sad but true) maybe I could sneak one in on unthreaded weekend? quite fond of ad lib limerick’s too.

        10

  • #
    Another Ian

    Just maybe one of them will remember having read “Tale of Two Cities”?

    10

  • #
    realist

    Rudd knows exactly what game he is playing, causing maximum damage to all those who stabbed him in the back and then villified him, and to the party (trade union thugs) who pulled the rug from under him. He is smiling all the way, off camera of course, watching the blowtorch fire up under Gillard’s and Swan’s backsides.

    That the rest of the rabble still don’t have him pegged says it all; how dumb and incompetent can they show themselves to be? Rudd’s well thumbed books must include a variety on the machinations of Machiavelli, and the Art of War (Sun Tzu). The best wars to win are the ones where others do the fighting and you come out victorious without losing your shirt. It’s all about strategy and he had plenty of opportunity to hone his ego under Goss. Who will be amongst the “last men left standing”?

    50

    • #
      inedible hyperbowl

      Rudd knows exactly what game he is playing

      Agreed. Well trained in the bureaucracy. In Sun Tzu style, he is leaving the no escape route for the enemy. A massacre looms …

      30

  • #
    Norman

    This is good news isnt it? I mean labour will be completely wiped out maybe for generations?

    30

    • #
      MadJak

      Norman,

      That was going to happen at the next election anyway.

      Right now the focus must be to get the election happening ASAP so the damage can be contained as much as possible.

      The ALP insiders keep going on about the internal war for the “soul of the ALP”. The ALP has no soul, it has no principles or standards to maintain. It is just a hollow shell constructed around an obsolete class war ideal, populated with Union Fee loaders who are just concerned about their own ambitions.

      For now it looks like the ALP is quite content to spin our their last governments time for as long as they can because they know the people are going to wipe them out for what they have done at the next election.

      Think of a cornered pig, it’s just that in this case, the pig has a split personality and keeps attacking itself. Oh, and it has rabies.

      20

      • #
        ExWarmist

        MadJak says …

        Think of a cornered pig, it’s just that in this case, the pig has a split personality and keeps attacking itself. Oh, and it has rabies.

        I would contend that the pig has no personality of it own…

        I will suggest a metaphorical image of what I see, and you can draw from it whatever meaning that you will.

        FADE IN:

        Exterior, Twilight, – a woman, “The CANDIDATE” walks over the pale stones of a rough pathway. Before her looms the fortified temple of CUTHAARAK – Lord of Earthly Power. Withered trees line the path to the temple, in the shadows lurk forms, once human, now ever watching with lidless eyes, silent with sown shut lips, they study her and wait.

        She mounts the black stone steps of the temple, and passes beneath a large arch stained with ancient sacrifice, her face is impassive, calm, self assured. Without fear, she crosses the final threshold into the inner sanctum. There are no guardians to bar her passage – her passage has already been bought with the willing self-immolation of her most loyal servant.

        Interior, Inner sanctum of the temple, – lit with pale torches, shadow possesses the room.

        The Candidate, peers at the shadow, now in it’s presence, unavoidable atavistic fear flashes across her face and she almost snarls as she speaks.

        “I have come, I am ready for the final rite!”

        The shadows swirl, and condenses into a single reptilian eye, a meter across, it floats before her. Where the eye looks, light flees, and is diminished to feeble illumination that leaves the shadows to all but engulf the room.

        A heavy voice fills the room, as CUTHAARAK speaks.

        “You have served me well, and proven yourself fit for the next stage.”

        The Candidate – exultant.

        “Master – fill me with your presence.”

        The flaming torches lining the wall, all but gutter out, now only embers providing a pale reddish glow. The Candidate stands still, as if paralysed, as a grey, moist tentacle emerges from the shadows and snakes it’s way towards her. Still she remains, now transfixed by the great, reptilian eye, until the moment the tentacle touches her bare skin – and then she shrieks.

        Exterior, fortified temple of CUTHAARAK, – a horrible, high pitched shriek rends the air, and then again, it is heard, and then silence. The watchers in the shadows peer at the entrance to the temple. The Candidate floats out of the temple, supported by a thick tentacle, grey tendrils protrude from her eyes, ears, nose and mouth, what is left of her face is frozen into a mask of pure horror.

        CUT TO:

        Office, Day, – The Candidate sits behind a palatial desk. The emblems of her high office adorn the walls. She runs lines through the legislative document in front of her with a big red pen. She murmurs to herself as she edits the laws.

        “So little vision – however did they manage without me.”

        FADE OUT:

        10

  • #
    Rod

    If something was to happen that significantly improved labour’s chances and that Gillard couldn’t claim credit for, THEN there would be a confident caucus vote for a new pm and probably also deputy.

    10

    • #
      Rod

      But since when screw ups occur and the screw ups are both a result of Gillards (include Plibersek and Roxon and Wong)stupidity AND the supposed publically spouted allegiance for the pm by the likes of Conroy, Smith, Howes etc no one with a brain wants to take the helm of a ship that will likely sink.

      10

  • #
    Tim

    I have a dream…

    That the socialist revolution will be defeated in our country and the bogans in suits will all immigrate to Russia.

    20

  • #
    Ian

    Perhaps Rudd and Joel Fitzgibbon and Chris Bowen and other Rudd supporters will stand down from parliament forcing by elections which the LNP might win thus ending this bloody awful hung parliament

    10

  • #
    Dan Clancy

    Who else but the Labor party would arrange a contest without a contestant?

    50

    • #
      janama

      Thanks Dan – mind if I use it 🙂

      10

    • #
      Joe V.

      Was it just to scotch mischievous press speculation through the coming recess ?

      Canny ALP Leaders appreciate their time in opposition, to let the Libs. restore the coffers, for another round of indulgent squandering.

      10

      • #
        Backslider

        Canny ALP Leaders appreciate their time in opposition, to let the Libs. restore the coffers, for another round of indulgent squandering.

        Too true.

        I have always found it remarkable that Australian voters seem unable to comprehend the obvious and always “get tired” of the Libs and vote Labor back in for yet another round. Do they just forget history? (or never learned)

        Australia would be so far ahead if voters just learned. Please go to a Labor party meeting and listen to them all greet each other as “comrade”. Listen to the ideological crap that gushes from their mouths, particularly the young zealots.

        40

        • #
          Spitfire

          That’s why I think voting should be voluntary. People who can’t comprehend the obvious usually vote Labor. People who won’t comprehend the obvious vote Green.

          We just shouldn’t be forcing people to extend their stupidity to the ballot box.

          40

  • #
    Roy Hogue

    I admit that I’ve not had time to read very thoroughly. But my take on this is that it’s better for Australia if Gillard survives this challenge and goes on to the national election, than for her to be replaced.

    Have I understood it correctly?

    21

    • #
      Backslider

      Its actually better for Australia if the house immediately passes a no confidence motion against the government and an election be held forthwith.

      That is highly unlikely with idiots like Oakshott, Wilkie, Windsor etc. in the house. The debacle continues, with incredible damage to Australia.

      30

      • #
        Roy Hogue

        Thanks!

        11

      • #
        Safetyguy66

        Agreed, Windsor and Oakshot will go down in history as disgusting opportunists. Their base desire to remain at the trough as long as humanly possible is reprehensible.

        10

        • #
          Backslider

          Exactly. Oakshott knows that he’s dead meat, I don’t like the chances of the others either, or the Greens for that matter.

          10

        • #
          Dennis

          Oakshott and Windsor have deceived the voters of their electorates, Lyne and New England, by claiming to be conservative former Nationals standing as independent candidates in electorates where Green and Labor receive low numbers of votes and which were previously represented by National Party MPs. Accordingly they have let Australia down by propping up what has turned out to be dysfunctional, chaotic and deceitful socialist government with international agendas that are undermining our nation.

          31

        • #
          Andrew McRae

          They’ve given independents generally a bad name, which is a shame as I reckon we need more independent MPs/Senators and less cloned party goons.

          00

  • #

    Looks like a classic case of political opportunism. The opposition tables a vote of no confidence. Prime Minister Gillard then calls a caucus meeting. If anyone had stood against her, it would have been just as much a signal of no confidence in the Labor Government as of the leader. If Kevin Rudd had stood, won the leadership and later lost the federal election he would have been blamed for losing the election, not Gillard.
    Also, come the federal election, discontent within the party will be silenced. If Kevin Rudd less than 100% backs Gillard, he will stand accused of not standing. Also, if Gillard loses by a small margin, it will be more difficult to oust her after the election.
    Unfortunately, if Abbott loses the no confidence vote, it could help the Labor cause.

    10

  • #
    Safetyguy66

    I was actually wondering if it wasnt a little bit of genius for Simon. I mean now he gets to nose the trough from the back bench, fall asleep during question time and argue to his electorate that “at least he tried to get rid of her”, keep his seat then fall asleep on the back bench in opposition. If your a genuine lazy pig with a fear of losing your trough, it makes perfect sense.

    31

  • #
    Rod Stuart

    I’m sorry to be O/T but I thought folks might be interested in this response from the All Bull Company.
    I wrote this complaint:

    From:
    Rod Stuart
    Sent:
    28 February 2013

    Comments:
    Dr. Karl, in responding to a call from a caller, misquotes a figure from the British Met Office, falsely claims the Earth has warmed 0.3 degrees which is at least six times as much as is measured by UAH, HADCRUT 3, HADCRUT4, and RSS satellite data. In addition, Dr Karl falsely claimed the caller referenced a British Daily Mail article last year by David Rose, rather than a front-page story in The Australian this month. What qualifications does Karl Kruszelnicki, with an MD, have in this area of expertise? I have access to all of the datasets listed above. Does Dr. Karl regularly perform analysis on the data obtained from these datasets?

    This is the response that I received to that complaint:

    Dear Mr Stuart
    Thank you for your email concerning comments made by Dr Karl Kruszelnicki on 612 ABC Brisbane on 28 February.

    As your correspondence raised concerns of a lack of accuracy, your email was referred to Audience and Consumer Affairs for consideration and response. The unit is separate and independent from ABC program areas and is responsible for investigating complaints alleging a broadcast or publication was in contravention of the ABC’s editorial standards. In light of your concerns, we have reviewed the broadcast and assessed it against the ABC’s editorial requirements for accuracy, as outlined in section 2 of the ABC’s Code of Practice: http://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/CodeofPractice2013.pdf . In the interests of procedural fairness, we have also sought and considered material from ABC Radio.

    The content you are referring to was a brief exchange with a caller in a talkback segment. Below is an extract of the key sections.

    Caller: Dr Pachauri has said that there hasn’t been global warming for the last sixteen years and the models they use to predict global warming are based on CO2 being the driver and CO2’s been going up but the temperature hasn’t, do you think it’s time for the scientists to throw their models out and start with a new one?

    KK: What was the first thing you said; that Dr Pachauri said?

    Caller: That there hasn’t been global warming for 16 years

    KK: OK let’s just stop at that one … that’s incorrect … what you’re looking at is the report by David Rose in the Mail, which was then answered by the UK Met office …[they] have said that David Rose’s comments were inaccurate. There has been global warming over the last 16 years and the world’s temperature has gone up by point three of a degree. This is not from models, this is from measurements… what people are doing is taking things out of context. Dr Pauchari did not say that ”

    There are three factual statements by Dr Karl:

    1. The Met office said that David Rose’s comments were inaccurate

    2. Global temperatures have risen by 0.3ÂşC over the last 16 years

    3. Dr Pachauri did not say that global warming has stopped over the last 16 years

    In assessing this, we have taken into account that this was live and unrehearsed radio and that there are many different data sets of global temperature which present the data in different ways. The expectation, therefore, is that the figures should be substantially accurate and reasonable, i.e. that they were a reasonable approximation of reputable and widely available data and did not materially mislead listeners.

    1.

    The Met Office in a media release published on 14 October 2012 said:

    “In article by David Rose appears today in the Mail on Sunday under the title: ‘Global warming stopped 16 years ago, reveals Met Office report quietly released… and here is the chart to prove it’. It is the second article Mr Rose has written which contains some misleading information…. Firstly, the Met Office has not issued a report on this issue… Secondly, Mr Rose says the Met Office made no comment about its decadal climate predictions. This is because he did not ask us to make a comment about them.” http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2012/10/14/met-office-in-the-media-14-october-2012/

    The Met Office’s response to an earlier article by Mr Rose was equally strong claiming that his “article includes numerous errors in the reporting of published peer reviewed science”. http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/met-office-in-the-media-29-january-2012/

    2.

    Data from the National Climate Data Center (NCDC) of the USA shows a temperature rise based on yearly average global land and sea surface temperatures of 0.25ºC from 1996 – 2012. The difference in the five year average temperatures is similar. ftp://ftp.ncdc.noaa.gov/pub/data/anomalies/annual.land_ocean.90S.90N.df_1901-2000mean.dat

    Data collated by NASA shows a slightly higher rise in temperatures of 0.27 ÂşC over the same period. http://data.giss.nasa.gov/gistemp/tabledata_v3/GLB.Ts.txt

    The US Energy Department’s The Carbon Dioxide Information Analysis Center (CDIAC) data shows a temperature rise of 0.24ºC for 1996 – 2012. http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/temp/hansen/gl_land_ocean.txt

    The CDIAC data used in the last IPCC report shows a rise of 0.365ÂşC from 1996 to 2005 when that data set finishes. http://cdiac.ornl.gov/ftp/trends/temp/lugina/90N-60S.dat

    The Met office in its response to Mr Rose’s article earlier last year noted “to suggest that the latest global temperatures available show no warming in the last 15 years is entirely misleading…. what is absolutely clear is that we have continued to see a trend of warming, with the decade of 2000-2009 being clearly the warmest in the instrumental record going back to 1850. Depending on which temperature records you use, 2010 was the warmest year on record for NOAA NCDC and NASA GISS, and the second warmest on record in HadCRUT3.” http://metofficenews.wordpress.com/2012/01/29/met-office-in-the-media-29-january-2012/

    In summary, for the period Dr Karl was referring to, the various data show that temperatures have risen by about 0.24ÂşC to 0.27ÂşC in the last sixteen years, which is consistent with the more meaningful 5 year moving averages. To have rounded those figures up to nearest full tenth of a degree was reasonable and not misleading.

    3.
    We assume the caller’s reference to Dr Pachauri was in relation to a story reported in The Australian of 22 February. The article begins:

    “THE UN’s climate change chief, Rajendra Pachauri, has acknowledged a 17-year pause in global temperature rises, confirmed recently by Britain’s Met Office, but said it would need to last “30 to 40 years at least” to break the long-term global warming trend’.

    The article contains no quote from Dr Pachauri to confirm that he said that there has been a 17 year pause in temperature rises. It does, however quote Dr Pachauri saying:

    “If you look at the last century, records tell you that the increase in average surface temperature has been 0.74C,…If you have five or 10 years when you don’t have the same trend, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you are deviating from the trend – you are still around the trend.”

    He is clearly saying that the warming trend is continuing. Given that the story’s first sentence distorts the Met’s findings, it is hard to take it as evidence that Dr Pachauri said that warming had paused for seventeen years when the direct quote from him says the opposite.

    Accordingly, while noting your concerns, Audience and Consumer Affairs are satisfied the broadcast was in keeping with the ABC’s editorial standards for accuracy. Nonetheless, please be assured that your comments have been noted and conveyed to ABC Radio management and the producers of the program.

    Thank you for taking the time to write; your feedback is appreciated.

    For your reference, the ABC Code of Practice is available online at http://about.abc.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/CodeofPractice2013.pdf

    Should you be dissatisfied with this response to your complaint, you may be able to pursue your complaint with the Australian Communications and Media Authority, http://www.acma.gov.au .
    Yours sincerely

    Mark Maley
    Audience & Consumer Affairs

    20

    • #
      Andrew McRae

      That is indeed interesting, because it’s not often we see the ABC correcting its listeners’ mistakes, it’s usually the other way round.

      It’s not that the earth hasn’t warmed in the last 16 years, it has a bit, UAH proves it. However 16 years ago it was March 1997, not 1996, so the ABC has had to shift the 16 year window to the left by a year to be able to support Dr K’s response of +0.3 when the real answer as at March 2013 is about half that rate, but we always knew the ABC veered to the Left. The earth warmed, that’s not the issue.

      The skeptical talking point is that over a period too short for climatic diagnosis one can conveniently pick 1997 as a split point and produce a graph from Hadley sea surface temperatures showing a sudden slowdown in the warming rate (but note still positive). The slowdown in the sea level rise also supports a slowdown in warming (but not the absence of warming which is a more extreme statement, 16 years is too short for a climate measurement).

      Skeptics ought to not make it so easy for the ABC to prove them wrong. It makes us all look like climate deniers, when some of us are trying to be skeptical (of the genuine kind).
      It would be important if the warming rate diverged even further from the GISS predictions of 1988 and 1995 than it has already, and to properly measure the climate we need another 14 years of data. We know the models were wrong, it’s just a question of how far wrong.

      00

  • #
    Olaf Koenders

    If ever there was a game of football I’d watch, it was yesterday’s political one. So much excitement, so much mud.

    ‘nother beer mate..?

    Betcha!

    10

  • #
    Quack

    wats up!! i go away one day and this is the mess I find!!!

    10

  • #
  • #
    Dennis

    Are we there yet?

    10

  • #
    crakar24

    Would Flannery call this the UK’s angry winter? or simply just your run of the mill, nothing unusual winter?

    http://iceagenow.info/2013/03/coldest-uk-march-50-years/

    30

    • #
      Backslider

      Flannery will say “Yes, its an ‘Angry Winter’ due to climate change…. I told you so, remember?”

      10

  • #
    crakar24

    This stupid pantomine continues to play out

    At 9:08 this morning we have this

    http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/gillard-has-my-full-support-crean/story-e6frea7l-1226603096067

    At 9:12 this morning we have this

    http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/breaking-news/pm-tapped-crean-to-flush-out-rudd/story-e6frea7l-1226603129584

    What a joke we have become, this has to be the worst government since federation.

    31

    • #

      crakar24, where you say this:

      What a joke we have become, this has to be the worst government since federation.

      Just saying that reminds me that maybe there just might be a way back for Labor, and I dread to even mention it, because it might start Labor planners thinking.

      Dear old Eddie is now 96 (97 on July 11, umm, watch that date) and his time left on the twig is getting less and less. Perhaps if his demise happened between now and the election, Labor might just swing it for a victory, getting back in on the sympathy vote.

      They will have a problem though, and that relates back to what crakar24 says about this (ex) Rudd now Gillard mob being the worst government since Federation.

      If dear (ex) leader Eddie does pass away, they’ll be hard pressed to wipe the smile off his face, knowing at last that it wasn’t he who led the worst government in history, and that’s probably why he has held on for so long. Just waiting for the moment.

      If as Leader that’s how he navigated Australia, I’m glad I was never in any Ventura he plotted the course for, as a flight looey in the RAAF.

      Tony.

      (think I gave enough hints without naming him directly)

      20

      • #
        crakar24

        Hi Tony,

        Firstly even with all your hints i dont know who Eddie is unless you mean the one who does not like Kerr? But i dont recall him being a FLTLT in the RAAF.

        Speaking of the RAAF i am currently engaged in an email conversation with someone here at work, my position is that wind farms are useless and nothing renewable has teh capacity to operate as a base load power source.

        I have made one small break through in that he now acknowledges that the wind dont blow somewhere all the time and we will need a mix of renewables, as i said it was a small breakthrough.

        I then tried to explain just how large the power demand is per day and how not one renewable could cut the mustard but alas he has replied with more flights of fancy which i would like to share with you and get your response. It will take some time to digest so maybe on Monday.

        Feel free to email me directly (see Jo for details) if you want, anyway here are the links he gave me.

        To get around that pesky base load problem

        http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/12/02/3081889.htm

        Read the comments LOL

        And to get around the derdy polluder power he gave me this

        http://www.energy.unimelb.edu.au/uploads/ZCA2020_Stationary_Energy_Report_v1.pdf

        Page 84 fig 4.5 was what he highlited,

        Have not read much as yet but what i have read is that none of this actually exists and all figures have been fabricated in a computer model (sound familiar?).

        Anyway at the very least i thought you would find teh PDF of interest, actually a laugh.

        Cheers

        Crakar

        10

        • #

          indeed Edward Gough

          00

        • #

          crakar24,

          I know it’s way of topic, but this is really important.

          People have no concept of the word(s)……Base Load, and until they do actually, really, truly, honestly understand it, it will always be what the loudest voices refer to it as.

          They still use it as a description, like this:

          We have power plants that supply their power constantly, (large scale coal fired plants) so we need to find ways to consume that power.

          This is completely and utterly ass-backwards.

          Base Load is an actual physical requirement correctly described as this:

          We have an absolute physical requirement for power consumption, so we need plants that can actually supply that level of power.

          That can actually be shown, by using the simplest of charts that no one pays any attention to, because they (again) have no concept of what it actually shows.

          See the chart at this page, and it’s the third graph down the page, so just scroll down until you have it mid screen, and this is just one page selected at random, this one for almost three weeks back.

          Actual Power consumption Monday 04 March 2013

          See that dip in the morning where that top black line dips to around 18,000MW.

          Draw a line across the page. Everything under that is actual power consumption. It’s the same virtually every day of the year and has been the same for the five years I’ve been watching graphs like this.

          Everything below that is what is termed as the Base Load.

          What is it?

          It’s 24 hour a day 7 days a week, 365 days a year actual physical power consumption.

          It’s Industry that works around the clock, It’s Commerce that works around the clock. It’s Commerce like every shop in the country that has power on all night, even when no one is at work. It’s Commerce, every Coles and Woolies in the Country with their vast banks of cold and cool storage refrigeration to keep their goods at a level where they can actually be sold. It’s commerce, every mall in the country. It’s every building in towns and cities taller than three levels that require fresh air inside the structure, so every unit on the roof of every building runs 24/7/365, not as air conditioning for cooling and warming, but to supply conditioned BREATHING air into and circulated throughout the building. It’s every hospital in the country. It’s the whole electrified rail network. It’s traffic control throughout the country. It’s every street light you see. It’s every petrol station. It’s every club and pub with their cool and cold storage. To a lesser extent, it’s every fridge in every residence in the country, and it’s most hot water systems in those residences. I could go on, but you get the picture.

          It’s actual physical required consumption.

          Until people see that graph, and KNOW what it is showing, then baseload will still be used as a damned adjective.

          It’s not just those plants humming along and finding ways to use the power.

          It’s ….. we have all this consumption and we need plants that can actually supply those amounts of power.

          24/7/365

          I’m just a crackpot nutter with a barrow to push some people say, but that is one graph that mere journalists with a story to print have no concept of, and worse, don’t even bother to find out about.

          I can beat my head against the wall explaining it, but hey, those green acolytes don’t want to know, let alone understand, and even after I explain it, they still change the subject ….. “Hey look over there, isn’t that Britney Spears.”

          It’s a lost cause that will only be realised when one (just one because that’s all it will take) of those large scale coal fired plants closes, and people look around dumbfounded, and say, “Hey! Where’d the power go?”

          Tony.

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    • #
      Backslider

      Its pretty clear that Crean wants to have a rest in the backbenches for a while… getting long in the tooth he is, looks very tired. Thus he was the perfect candidate to set up this kerfuffle.

      10

  • #

    Be careful about pre-election predictions of disaster for the left. That is what a bunch of us conservatives thought would happen to Obama and the democrats in November. Unfortunately about 4 million of our guys stayed home, likely due to some variation of “there’s not a dime’s worth of difference between the two” while Obama and the dems did some serious magic turning their voters out; winning reelection with fewer votes than they got in 2008.

    Wish you guys all the luck in the world, as you may need it. Entrenched leftists supported completely by the media and the religious left (greens) are (unfortunately) very difficult to turn out of office these days. Cheers –

    30

    • #
      Rod Stuart

      Spot on.
      Hubris is a very dangerous animal.
      We would do well to heed your warning.

      10

    • #
      llew Jones

      If “they” stay home in Aus, without a valid excuse, “they” get fined. Getting to a polling station and getting one’s name ticked off on receipt of a ballot paper is compulsory. What ones does with the ballot paper is another matter.

      10

  • #
    pat

    crakar24 –

    your second link “PM tapped Crean” matches my own analysis of the farce. the MSM pushed for a spill yesterday – why? – given they knew two Rudd votes in a tight vote would not even be available – Carr & Adams. it reeks of a set-up.

    21 March: CNBC: Reuters: Climate needs less U.N. talking, more market action-EU draft
    …carbon pricing could help provide climate financing…
    Fewer United Nations climate summits and more incentives through carbon pricing could speed up international efforts to slow the pace of global warming, a draft European Commission paper seen by Reuters says…
    Measures to make U.N. negotiations more effective could include getting rid of the rule that requires all decisions to be agreed by a consensus of nearly 200 nations and “revisiting the frequency” of the annual summits, while continuing smaller, technical meetings…
    The European Union’s ETS, the world’s biggest carbon market, has collapsed to a series of record lows under a surplus of emissions allowances generated by recession.
    Against the backdrop of financial crisis and worries about energy costs, the Commission has been struggling to push through reforms to strengthen the market, but still says the ETS is central to EU environment policy…
    Looking ahead to a 2015 UN deal, the Commission says it must include all countries and be binding…
    The 2015 agreement will need to mobilise private and innovative financing. One source could be an international price on aviation and shipping emissions, the document says.
    EU law to make all aircraft landing in EU airports pay for carbon emissions provoked international outcry, including from the United States, which said it breached sovereignty…
    http://www.cnbc.com/id/100579603

    this Fund will never get up, but if it did:

    Private investors seek access to $100 bln UN climate fund
    LONDON, March 21 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Investors want money donated by rich nations to the U.N.’s Green Climate Fund (GCF) to back investment in low-carbon initiatives in the world’s poorest countries, which they said is necessary to mobilise cash to fight climate change…
    http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2232331?&ref=searchlist

    N.B. “fixing” the market is still “divisive” despite more arm-twisting:

    Ireland, Slovenia back EU carbon market fix: govt spox
    LONDON, March 21 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Ireland and Slovenia will back an EU Commission plan to prop up carbon prices, government spokespeople said on Thursday, while Malta said it will not stand in the way of the divisive measure becoming law…
    http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2232499

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    pat

    N.B. surely “did put it through” is meant to be “did NOT put it through”. nice one reuters:

    Group asks U.S. Supreme Court to hear challenge to greenhouse gas case
    WASHINGTON, March 21 (Reuters Point Carbon) – A public interest legal group on Thursday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the finding underpinning the Environmental Protection Agency’s greenhouse gas regulations, arguing that the agency did put it through necessary scientific review…
    http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2232660?&ref=searchlist

    CO2 investors disband JI lobby on bleak prospects
    LONDON, March 21 (Reuters Point Carbon) – Developers of Joint Implementation (JI) emission reduction projects are to dissolve a lobby group promoting the U.N. mechanism and many are abandoning the scheme entirely because they see no prospect of a recovery in rock-bottom CO2 offset prices…
    http://www.pointcarbon.com/news/1.2232395?&ref=searchlist

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    Considerate Thinker

    This has all the hallmarks of a Tammany Hall ALP trap that was sprung on the innocents in the ALP who “believed” that a change to Rudd might save a few seats of good members who do not deserve to go down with Julia’s ratnest. I have watched this done in Union elections ostensibly wanting grass roots information, where surveys are handed out with no requirement for the person to identify themselves, except that the surveys are like a deck of marked cards carefully rigged to catch the person who honestly points out that they have issues with the leadership.

    At the end of this bogus survey process, the hatchet men systematically clear the decks of all iffy/wavering opposition and to cover the illegitimate viscious rat cleansing a couple of insiders will be temporarily sacrificed as the old executive goes through some “soul searching” and taking hard looks at how they are responding to members needs and reforming, but actually regrouping stronger and more ruthless than ever. Gone are the good honest shop stewards who believe in the benefits and responsibilities of Unions, to be replaced with yes men and that process easily aided by trumped up allegations, smears and innuendo, all covered with spin and propaganda to cover their tracks.

    Labor are excellent at such things, they only come unstuck when they feel so secure that greed kicks in to line pockets. Federal Labor had everything covered with the right people in power in key places and all beholden to one another from participation in past blood lettings,associations and covering up dishonesty. lately that rock solid all bases from attorney general to governor general has been done in by leaks (from inside labor) and some of the main key players exited left perhaps to avoid leaks of dirty linen or whatever, we will never know. The time was there to cleanse ship, bring in allegedly new faces, if you can’t fix it appear to reorganize, to take notice and above all take revenge to instill loyalty by fear.

    And it was absolutely obvious that some in the media weren’t as surprised as they later claimed, cue the Paul Murray live indignant and extreme union style bucketing of Rudd and the way that Mark Latham used the opportunity to brand and smear those that he knew were Rudd supporters with conduits to insider information, he slated all and everything in the hope that those conduits of insider information are closed off forever – he rather over played or over egged the performance as in the end he came over as a thug keen to do in rival media commentators like Richo and of all things suggest he was the better man for honest commentary even inventing his patented method for fixing things.

    There will be more bitterness and evening up as the labor (note now small L hard labor), continues its rampage)a contrived media event to destroy Rudd and those that even thought about a change of leadership. Contrast that media circus with the TV journalists who went to the Rooty Hill RSL, and asked labor supporters who they preferred and the clear message was mostly RUDD but all the ladies adamant that Julia had to go!! Strangely you wont see that TV clip repeated too often and “Dear Julia” would have been frothing at the mouth to get even – how dare the media show what the majority of voters think!!

    I would like to think that the Steven Conroy grossly mishandled muzzling the media legislation event, along with the Doug Cameron I hate you guys and we will hang it on you, baiting of labor haters framed as profit hungry Moguls opposed to social justice and intent on riding roughshod over community standards that was never defined, in the vague terms of the legislation was also p[art of the plot to lull some of the media to believe the genuine concern of Crean – unfortunately, those guys just like Mark Latham, revert to type when under the spotlight.

    I could almost write the internal labor playsheet as it will pan out, don’t discount those that Latham and Murray slated, and those that realise in the labor party that they were conned and labelled as rats to be scourged from the ranks. Poetic really, as parts of that playsheet was used to remove Latham too, no wonder he is well versed in it, but too stupid and bull headed at the time to heed the warning signs.

    Dominos will fall as this progresses and it is not unlikely that labor will devour itself in the process. I talk with many voters, they all say they started off with great hope that Julia would be a breath of fresh air, instead she lied to protect her naked ambition, and need to secure power to ward off (see off) her not so glorious pathway through the labor party morass. Maybe she should be nick named Epsom Salts as her droning over emphasized voice dramas and this is the real,real, real Julia plus the choreographed repetitive intoning of her points rather than addressing issues, does rather have an effect on voters.

    let us wait and see the inevitable unfold in the liarbry.

    PS will all those labor and union insiders please stop filling my inbox with spam about the indecent/unlawful things that Juliar has done, along with her companions and now Australia. I really don’t want to be expected do what you should do and bring these dirty linen snippets to light yourself if you had the guts. Its your party, you created the mess so fix it – I just delete a hundred or so a day.

    Thanks…

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      old44

      I will tell you how pensioners rort the system, for every dollar they earn, they lose 50 cents in pension. Who else pays 50% tax?
      If you are lucky enough to be assessed under assets, $400,000 over the maximum tax free amount will net approximately $2,000 p.a. extra.
      Now that’s what I call a rort.

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    old44

    KEVIN Rudd says he has abandoned all hope of retaking the Labor leadership, declaring there are “no circumstances” in which he would ever contest the position again.

    Kevin Rudd, Mastermind, special subject ” The bleeding obvious”

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    Okay then,

    let’s look at another place no one has bothered to look at, somewhere where the CO2 Tax is really critical.

    The Australian Senate.

    What people who call for an early election, now or soon, have not taken into account is that is we do go now, or soon, in fact before August 3rd, then that would mean just an election for the Lower House only, as the House and the Senate are so far out of whack, and we would then need a Half Senate in 2014.

    So, no, let’s keep it for September eh!

    Now this fiasco, with Labor staying as low as they are we have this scenario here.

    Qld – 3 Labor senators up, and possibly losing one, hence an extra coalition senator.

    SA – 2 Labor, both likely to be re-elected with Hyphen from The Greens fighting with Xenophon for another spot, probably leading to an extra Coalition Senator.

    WA – 2 Labor, both re-elected, and Ludlum (Green) possible losing to Coalition.

    NT and ACT – No change one each for both Territories.

    Victoria – 3 Labor with the possibility that one will lose hence extra coalition senator.

    NSW – 3 Labor and the distinct possibility that one will lose hence an extra Coalition senator, and here I want you to imagine the infighting on this ticket, Bob Carr, Doug Cameron, and Ursula Stephens. Who gets that perilous third vulnerable slot, and there’s no contest there, and does that make you a misogynist for even suggesting it?

    So, this scenario sees 4, possible 5 extra coalition senators, and The Greens losing the Balance Of Power.

    If I was a Coalition strategist, then keeping the election in September would be best case, and if Labor goes early, hence a Half Senate next year on top of this, it would hurt them even more, because people would see it as a ploy to extend their Senate chances in the hope that they could recover in the intervening year.

    That CO2 tax is the main target to get rid of, and that can only be achieved if the coalition controls the Senate, which won’t happen until 2014 anyway when new senators take up their posts, even if they get elected in September.

    Tony.

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      What people who call for an early election, now or soon, have not taken into account is that is we do go now, or soon, in fact before August 3rd, then that would mean just an election for the Lower House only, as the House and the Senate are so far out of whack, and we would then need a Half Senate in 2014.

      I have taken it into account and looked at the other side of the balance; the damage that a continuing “government” can do in the intervening months. There are no more adults in the cabinet. Just a bunch of petulant children who will destroy the toys so that others cannot play with them.

      Dissolving the Reps now will stop the bleeding. A coalition government being unable to pass bills through teh Senate unfettered for a while is the least of the problems. It’ll take at least 6 months to draft legislation to rid the country of the carbon tax; and longer to eliminate RETs. How long do you reckon it’ll take to get true numbers out of the bureaucracies?

      As for stuff like immigration (including 457 visas), Ministers can change departmental focus to redeploy existing resources without additional legislation. Positive changes can be made to happen immediately.

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    Mark

    That’s exactly right about the timing of a Senate vote Tony. I was intending to post something similar earlier today but managed to ‘wipe’ it completely with an inadvertent stroke of a finger.

    http://www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Elections.htm

    So, folks. Cease and desist with the ‘election now’ crap. It might provide some satisfaction that the current bunch is gone but probably not much else. Unless the ALP senators either supported Coalition measures or abstained then we would probably see chronic obstruction until such time as a DD was held.

    DD elections are a double-edged sword. If the Government of the day doesn’t have the voters on side then the reduced quota can lead to more loose cannon Independents. I suspect that the voters have had enough of Independents for the moment so that just might go in the Coalition’s favour.

    I would just add one point to Tony’s comment about the ‘carbon’ tax, not only must it be repealed but also the transition to an ETS with it. The Coalition is being very vague about that and the rest of the suite of bills that the ALP enacted. The savage imposts that were put on refrigerant gases are yet another example.

    Finally, Tony’s Senate analysis is very plausible. If the ALP vote collapses that also means there are fewer surplus/preference votes for the Greens to benefit from. Would love to see Hansen-Young go down in SA.

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    Mattb

    If we are looking at this as a sham attempt to heal the ALP… what would the odds be on the new frontbench including Rudd, Crean, Bowen etc.

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      what would the odds be on the new frontbench including Rudd, Crean, Bowen etc.

      Lower than a truck from the lotteries commission dropping off $25million at my front door next week.

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      Backslider

      It’s quite curious to have you here not trolling for a change Mattb.

      Are you a disillusioned Labor man, or a backslidden Liberal?

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    Dave

    .
    September Election.
    End of September AFL Grand Final?

    Good – means freeloader Tim won’t get a free seat.
    But he has got a whole season of AFL freeloading ahead of him.

    When he came to lodge he seemed quite slim – now he’s verging on a porker. Must be all the free meals, and the chef at the Lodge. Lounging around all day couldn’t be good for you either.

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    Backslider

    On the resignation of Martin Ferguson:

    The Greens welcomed the departure of Mr Ferguson, their long-time nemesis, saying the fossil fuel industry had never had a greater advocate in cabinet than the former minister.

    “His departure offers Labor the opportunity to embrace the renewable energy age and fix the mining tax,” Greens leader Christine Milne said.

    I will welcome the departure of the Greens at the next election, particularly Milne.

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      Backslider, you say here,

      I will welcome the departure of the Greens at the next election, particularly Milne.

      Sadly, she’s still a Senator until 2017, or as she says, “Yippee, five more years. Imagine what my Super will be by then.”

      I have never seen such a clueless person when it comes to electrical power, and trust me, I taught a few of those.

      Tony.

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    jon

    Maybee not a singel politician want’s to clean up the mess after the LIAR?

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    Peter C

    A bit off topic here but someone may know the answer.

    Question: Where is the CO2 back radiation?

    Skeptical Science cites this paper which purports to measure atmospheric back radiation. However they made measurements against a background of “cold clouds”.
    There seems little doubt that liquid water (ie cloud) can radiate energy according to its temperature. However that is not radiation from a gas.

    https://ams.confex.com/ams/Annual2006/techprogram/paper_100737.htm

    Does anyone know of experimental confirmation of Green House Gas downwelling radiation?

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    Konrad

    “Whacking Day”

    Common usage –

    1. An annual day of snake slaughter in an episode of the long running TV cartoon “The Simpsons”

    2. Australian federal election September 14, 2013. At this election the now de-registered Australian Labor party suffered an electoral rout that lost the party major party status. This was proceeded in late march of the same year by a purge of any person not qualifying as an inane clown from the Labor cabinet, an incident later referred to as “The night of the long shoes.”

    See also –

    – Thirteen coil Gillardian knot

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    Myrrh

    From a piece on WUWT:

    http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/03/18/newsbytes-climate-scientists-turn-skeptical-as-climate-predictions-fail/#more-82284

    “Newsbytes: Climate Scientists Turn Skeptical As Climate Predictions Fail
    From The GWPF by Dr. Benny Peiser

    British Government Abandons Climate Change Education For Young Children

    …….

    “Debate about climate change has been cut out of the national curriculum for children under 14, prompting claims of political interference in the syllabus by the government that has failed “our duty to future generations”. The latest draft guidelines for children in key stages 1 to 3 have no mention of climate change under geography teaching and a single reference to how carbon dioxide produced by humans impacts on the climate in the chemistry section. There is also no reference to sustainable development, only to the “efficacy of recycling”, again as a chemistry subject. The move has caused alarm among climate campaigners and scientists who say teaching about climate change in schools has helped mobilise young people to be the most vociferous advocates of action by governments, business and society to tackle the issue. –Juliette Jowit, The Guardian, 18 March 2013″

    And from 2011:

    http://www.news.com.au/national-news/australian-kids-are-living-in-climate-of-fear/story-e6frfkvr-1226091097398

    PRIMARY school children are being terrified by lessons claiming climate change will bring “death, injury and destruction” to the world unless they take action.
    On the eve of Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s carbon tax package announcement, psychologists and scientists said the lessons were alarmist, created unneeded anxiety among school children and endangered their mental health.
    Climate change as a “Doomsday scenario” is being taught in classrooms across Australia.
    Resource material produced by the Gillard government for primary school teachers and students states climate change will cause “devastating disasters”.
    Australian National University’s Centre for the Public Awareness of Science director Dr Sue Stocklmayer said climate change had been portrayed as “Doomsday scenarios with no way out”.

    Is this still what’s happening in Australia?

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