Australia Uber Alles

the illegitimate bumbling joyce was the one vote that stopped the royal commission into banking and saw the end of weekend penalty rates. he and nash and canavan also hold the purse stings to the national party's $5 billion northern australia re-election/counter hanson slush fund from which they want to give adani $1 billion .... a better pm than shorten? .... i guess everyone is entitled to an opinion but hoping its informed. personally, i think joyce should quit politics and join his former national party leaders who are all now working in mining (along with many party officials) . why do we allow that and why do country people still think the nationals is the party for them when in reality its a just a grubby elected lobby group for the mining industry.

Shorten? Mr Charisma he ain't, and nor is he possessed of 'the vision thing', but after ten years of politics stalled by internal bickering - that goes for Labor and Liberal - you have to credit the way he's kept his party in check, how he's instilled discipline and summoned loyalty. Australia could do with some focussed governance free of friendly fire.

I think you've just administered the most apt backhanded compliment that anyone could summon about the state of Aussie politics.

Shorten - Uninspiring useless fuck with a history of shit deals for his constituents in pursuit of his own political glory, but at least he isn't sporting any knives in his back courtesy of his own party....yet.

And he is still head and shoulders above the opposition.

Lucky us.

Its odd to me that people are still willing to put Shorten down when he has held Labor together as a cohesive team for four years and during that time the party has articulated many major policies they would bring to government. Contrast Shorten and Labor's performance to that of Abbott/Turnbull and their governments - a waste of time and opportunity marred by infighting and very poor policy and political judgement. Turnbull's judgement in calling a DD election must also be highlighted as the main reason we have such a Senate wacko cross bench. So far the government has thrown a royal commission and the ROC raids at Shorten to somehow prove he is corrupt in some way yet they steadfastly refuse a royal commission into banking and all their known breaches of corporate, consumer and national security laws ...

Shorten sold out the most vulnerable workers of Australia when he sided with the religious nuts behind the AWU.

He also encourages the continued erosion of work place conditions in Australia through his high immigration and visa policies.

He has no place claiming he represents the workers of Australia.

Another career politician private school nobody whose only positive is that he's slightly better than the absolute fuckwits at the LNP.

I also dispute that the LNP is responsible for the minor party fools currently in parliament. It was Labor that failed to represent their constituents and forced them to look elsewhere as a solution or a protest. The LNP lost nobody to these smaller parties.

When I was younger I assumed I'd be a Labor voter for life . Then they started betraying their original ideologies and it was over.

Blowin, not sure what you mean about the religious nuts in the AWU but agree immigration levels here are too high and allowing foreigners to buy land here is criminal - hate that about both major parties.

Since the return of Hanson #2 the majority (by a long shot) of One Nation preferences flow to the LNP so your point about mostly disaffected Labor voters voting for Hanson is likely to need reassessing. Further, there is broad consensus the LNP vote is fracturing to One Nation and Bernardi's conservative party while some Labor voters are now voting Hanson but equally many are now voting Greens.

Another point , there are special rules that apply to DD elections, in summary, they lower the threshold or percentage of votes needed to be voted in as a senator. These rules most certainly saw Malcolm Roberts elected and now that he is "OUT" the next in line gets a gig. I could be wrong but I think the person who will replace Roberts got less than 100 first preference votes! ... anyway, my point is it was Turnbull that triggered the DD election on the flimsiest of excuses, thereby enabling the special parliamentary rules that saw the wack-jobs elected, its down to Turnbull and his poor political judgement no-one else.

The other thing about Hanson I believe is her base is FNQ. She failed dismally in the recent WA election but may do well in the now announced Qld election but only in electorates north of Bundy, that and the upper house if they have one in Qld. All things being equal her numbers in the Senate come the next election ought to fall given the normal electoral rules will apply.

One Nation failed in WA BECAUSE they supported LNP , not despite this fact.

Nationals wanted to increase royalties on mining . LNP didn't . One Nation - fuckwits they are - sided with LNP for votes and paid the price.

People such as myself vote One Nation to get rid of the unrepresentative majors.

When they side with them....what good are they.

PS - 100 votes and a well paid job involving not much work at all. Sounds like a dream .

Till you realise that you'll become a politician.

No amount of remuneration will atone for that suffering.

Keep banging your head against that wall then , Sheepy.

Just accept the contempt they treat you with as your lot in life.

Because of preferential voting (lower houses) Hanson will only ever be a protest vote option for the upper houses e.g. the senate.

Hanson fielded candidates in lower house seats in WA - after charging each candidate a large fee, had to sack some because One Nation has a problem selecting/attracting good candidates, proposed some wacky policies and then went into a preference deal with Colin Barnett who was on the nose with the electorate because of the massive debt he has racked up for the state and that's after the biggest mining boom the state has ever had.

Hanson will never be a credible 3rd force in AU politics, she just follows a long tradition of political wackos from FNQ.

Too true.

But every vote she receives at the expense of the parties that would traditionally have received that vote makes the majors question their act just a little bit more.

Cause they sure have a few questions to face.

Such as - " How did we let ourselves get so out of touch with our voting base that they'd abandon us for the clowns at One Nation in protest ? "

Correct sheepdog, Hanson is a wholesale supporter of the Abbott/Turnbull agenda - she knows where her FNQ votes come from i.e. disaffected LNP voters.

Yes Sheepy.

They treat you with contempt.

This is the Labor I used to vote for -

Labor's constitution has long stated: "The Australian Labor Party is a democratic socialist party and has the objective of the democratic socialisation of industry, production, distribution and exchange, to the extent necessary to eliminate exploitation and other anti-social features in these fields".[3] This "socialist objective" was introduced in 1921, but was later qualified by two further objectives: "maintenance of and support for a competitive non-monopolistic private sector" and "the right to own private property".

Then this started -

Labor governments have not attempted the "democratic socialisation" of any industry since the 1940s, when the Chifley government failed to nationalise the private banks, and in fact have privatised several industries such as aviation and banking.

And there is this claim -

Labor's current National Platform describes the party as "a modern social democratic party", "the party of opportunity and security for working people" and "a party of active government".[3]

But in reality, they are just spruikers for the Big Australia that Corporate Australia demands and are more than willing to oversee the deterioration of the working conditions for Australians in order to appease the same big end of town.

When Labor starts representing Australian workers again as was their original premise then they'll again garner my support .

If you want to spend half your life whinging on here about how Australian living standards have plummeted so drastically , then spend the other half whining that I don't support a political party that helped create the situation then knock yourself out.

Just don't expect me to agree with you.

This is the type of labor party I want - Sally McManus.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/actu-boss-sally-mcmanus-hits-b...

Until that day it's just Eddie Obeid , Ian McDonald and Bill Shorten. None of whom I'd trust with a $10 note , let alone speaking for the workers of Australia.

Smiley, im no one nation fan but shes actually the only minor party with the balls to run enough candidates to potentially form government. If you know roughly where her preferences go then why not?

@sheepy - the major parties are treating you with contempt. The sa labor/liberals are ripping themselves apart over preselections fot safe seats before next march. If thats not contempt i dont know what is. You definitely wont be getting rid of the major parties by voting for them.

@gaz, i reckon by fielding candidates in the lower houses she dilutes her brand and runs the risk of having even wacker people representing her name than she is (e.g.recent WA election). Hanson will never ever ever get enough votes to form government anywhere in the universe, anyone that thinks that is wacker than her. Further, voters can direct their preferences where they like, that is why so many flow to the LNP, people who vote for her tend to be former LNP voters with a chip on each shoulder. It will be interesting how she goes in the QLD election, she will have a good show of upper house seats from FNQ but that will be it. Equally, if she does well how will that influence people like Christensen and Katter who also come from that part of the world. Will George cross the floor and vote with Labor to force a royal commission into banks, the voters in his electorate will love him if he does.

What are my real reasons ?

Here you go Sheepy.

https://www.universalclass.com/i/course/reading-comprehension-101.htm

That'll give you a foot up in any future discussions we have.

If you think that the Greens are an option for me , maybe we'd better look for a course that's even more introductory.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-30/manus-island-png-tells-australia-t...

im assuming that the US are taking all of the refugees?

No USA is not taking all the refugees about 200 have been rejected by the USA as not being true refugees, of the 200 apparently about 100 have agreed to go home (possibly with that huge cash pay out) and about 100 are in limbo http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-15/asylum-seekers-on-manus-face-indef...

100 are going home.

Arent you from sa too sheepy? I thought you'd be all about voting for someone besides the big 2. One party is a neoliberalizing friend of big business who have decimated the poor and middle class and the other is the liberals. The liberals are also facing the prospect of being pushed back to minor party status by sa best, Bernardi and whoever else next year. Once upon a time the nationals were a fighting force now they're in minor party land too. Seems to be a great time to vote for the motley parties.

"One party is a neoliberalizing friend of big business who have decimated the poor and middle class and the other is the liberals."

Ain't that the truth!

The question is, why did - and still does - labour embrace neo liberalism with such gusto?

Yeh it was a little money spinner for upper level parasites at the beginning, but it seems, were it not for trump/brexit etc. parties of 'the left' still wouldn't be questioning it, and onwards it would roll...

And why did it take the unions about 25 years to produce someone useful and relevant like sally mcmanus?

What the fuck have they been doing?

The money's gone, the asserts have been sold, and the bill's in the mail for generations to follow...nice work....cunts...

One nation picking up experienced politicians from elsewhere now.

Former liberal guy running for qld state election sounded most impressive on RN this morning, even appeared to know what he was talking about and presented some good ideas and arguments re. energy

It's a sad state of affairs if the major parties are so pig headed and out of touch that they allow one nation to develop into a real force...which seems to be happening before our eyes, while the majors continue with same same

Lets all not get too excited here ........

There is full preferential voting in Qld and there is no upper house .... meaning for One Nation to become a "real force" many of her candidates will need to get over 50% of the vote after preferences in each electorate. That will not happen, not even in Malcolm Robert's flat earth.

I did visit her website this morning and I note it has had a wholesale revamp, looking semi professional now. I love the fact that Hanson claims she "listens to the people" and one of her main policies this Qld election is the reintroduction of an Upper House in Qld ... something that was abolished in 1922 .... either her voters can remember back that far or she's trying to rig the electoral system in her favour ... me thinks the latter!

The Turnbull government is an ethics-free zone. Re-election at any price.

yeah .... standby, in the great LNP tradition they're going to offer tax cuts to buy some votes but ignoring the fact that the increase in the Medicare levy will off-set the tax cut. Sneaky x2.

.... meanwhile Bill Shoe-in is starting to channel Corbyn and Sanders. Turnbull was calling him the most socialist leader since before Whitlam today. Haha every time he said that convinced me more i'll be voting for Bill at the next election.

Nah, didn't see, i take your point no polished media performer but i'm thinking he has set the agenda now for over a year and that takes talent of the political cunning type, mal is only 3 or 4 bad polls away to equal abbott's so lets see, its all-in for bill, if he misses out come the next election, Anthony will get his go but who would put bad bitcoins on the LNP to win next? .... maybe indo would hahaha

hey Sheepdog

was thinking about the abbott/turnbull legacy.

here it is [ ].

apart from, what is it now 58 consecutive negative monthly option polls and doing things they were against (e.g. ending carbon pricing, trashing the golburn- murray water agreements etc) what nation building policies or initiatives have the LNP put in place over the last 5 years?

Please name some coz I'll be buggered if I can honestly think of one ..... and you say Malcolm The Magnificent will be reelected next time!

I can't see it regardless of how poorly you rate Shorten.

What do you mean ?

The LNP have been taking massive steps towards solidifying the future of the nation. Look at all the agricultural and food security they’ve ensured. Look at the ownership and access to ports , utilities and infrastructure they’ve enshrined. Guaranteed water rights. The future is assured.

Oh wait.....you mean nation building for Australia ? Yeah , not so much .

But look what they’ve done for China !

nice work @blowin.

Some observations on the news that Barnaby Joyce and a now former female staff member are having an affair and she is expecting a baby.

Firstly, the New England by-election. Would the good people of New England have voted for Joyce if they had known of the affair and how he had misled his wife of 20 plus years and their four daughters? Further, did Joyce need to get the election in the bag before he actually told his wife of the relationship and the pregnancy? i.e. putting his political career ahead of his wife and children.

Secondly, given that he mumbles and bumbles like no other can you imagine how badly he actually told his wife and children? It would have been ugly to say the least.

And lastly, given his opposition to same sex marriage on traditional conservative/ religious grounds at the same time as he was engaged in this affair the irony, the contradiction, the moral dilemma, the lie is duly noted.

Perhaps amongst the political elite Sheepdog from what I gathered from the news last night but not amongst the voting public. .

More hypocrisy from the Nationals the great defenders of "traditional marriage" in the recent SSM debate.

To avoid the moral, ethical and political inconvenience of employing ones own mistress she stopped working for her lover and went and worked for Joyce's underling and the Nationals great moral guardian of FNQ Matt Canavan MP who you might remember as a fierce campaigner against SSM.

Hypocrisy on a grand scale.

Yes sheepdog Labor it seems wasn't going to blow the lid on this and your point about the AFL is also highly relevant.

Even more relevant is the what is happening with the head of Border Force Roman Quaedvlieg who has been on paid leave now for almost a year for a rumoured similar situation to Joyce.

Anyone remember the Democrats? No! A Swingers club for extramarital individualists.
Family unit was overpowered by individual's democratic rights to screw everything up!
Fruit Bowls of keys all doors ripped off the hinges to heavy breathing office furniture.
With each branch meeting another new Wine Trail for the town.

One partner ran the household bankrolling the Democrat partner to keep screwing around.
Perfect setup until their partners booted the"individuals" onto the curb.
The party quite literarily screwed themselves into the ground...(Ode to Pompeii).

You're not allowed to criticise the diggers, Sheepdog.

As Tony Abott says, you're either on Team Australia or you're against us.

Aaah classic Abbott.

Heard someone say the other day the conservative narrative must always include an external threat - communists, unions, socialists, Howard's "un-Australians", muslims, terrorists, axis of evil, teachers, the ABC, leftists, LGBTI community, greenies, climate change scientists, science, progressives, Labor, Getup just to name a few.

G'day Sheepdog, don't criticise the diggers, that's at least un-Australian on the riker scale.

Who was it who said that listening to voters complain about those democratically elected to govern them was like hearing sheep bleating about the dogs that fenced them in, or out?

Who was peterb?, reckon it must have been someone from the right of politics because they are extremely sensitive to anything balanced or vaguely presenting an oppose view of the world ....... the ABC is now in the cross-hairs for a neo-con sell off.

I'm guessing it was uncle Joe.

Anyone care to suggest what the aussie soldiers aim was in displaying the nazi flag.

A schoolboy(ish) prank ?

Or a deeper cultural issue within the army?

If the latter, a bit misguided and ignorant I reckon, as quite often (ironically) muslims love a bit of hitler worship and swastika waving, ...it's a bit of a jew hating thing I think...my enemy's enemy and all that...

I read a story about a hitler portrait being proudly displayed in south sumatra for such reasons

Not really related, or maybe it is, an interesting perspective on Indonesia, religion, socialism and extreme capitalism

https://m.journal-neo.org/2018/05/27/indonesian-islam-eat-what-even-saud...

"...In Indonesia, an extreme and unquestioning obedience to the religions has led to a blind acceptance of a fascist capitalist system, and of Western imperialism and its propaganda. Creativity and intellectual pluralism have been thoroughly liquidated.

The 4th most populous nation on the planet, Indonesia, has presently no scientists, architects, philosophers or artists of any international standing. Its economy is fueled exclusively by the unbridled plunder of the natural resources of the vast, and in the past, pristine parts of the country, such as Sumatra and Indonesian Borneo (Kalimantan), as well as on the brutally-occupied Western part of Papua. The scale of the environmental destruction is monumental; something that I am presently trying to capture in two documentary films and a book.

Awareness of the state of things, even among the victims, is minimal or out rightly nonexistent.

In a country that has been robbed of its riches; identity, culture and future, religions now playthe most important role. There is simply nothing else left for the majority. Nihilism, cynicism, corruption and thuggery are ruling unopposed. In the cities with no theatres, galleries, art cinemas, but also no public transportation or even sidewalks, in the monstrous urban centers abandoned to the ‘markets’ with hardly any greenery or public parks, religions are readily filling the emptiness. Being themselves regressive, pro-market oriented and greedy, the results are easily predictable."