Dr No (Mates)

So I said they'd keep on giving but even I could not anticipate this deliciousness....

Recently a poll result was released showing just how unpopular the Good Doctor actually is. Dr Nelson's approval ratings have plumbed new depths.

Now you could have been forgiven for assuming that after hitting the 9% mark in the preferred PM stakes there was nowhere esle to go. I mean there must be a critical mass of of die hard Liberal voters who would always prefer a Liberal Government led by anyone to Labor.

Apparently it's not 9%.

In fact the Good Dr's approval rating is at a meagre (and utterly embarrassing) 7%. This despite of the fact that around 37% of voters would prefer a Liberal Party Government (wackos!).

Ouch!

Not even the Lib grassroots can muster up any affection for Australia's (least) favourite turncoat.

So where does this leave us? Well sitting pretty, at least until Labor actually does something. Not that I want to detract from ratifying Kyoto or attempting to heritage list the Kokoda trail. Nor do want to cast any negative aspersions on the Apology to the Stolen generations which was in my opinion one of the best moments in Australian parliamentary history.

But it has to be said the Labor party hasn't spent any money and they didn;t make many promises in order to win the election.

Roll on the budget and we'll see what they are really made of (more of the same I'll bet). We'll also see what the most unpopular man in politics can make of himself... if anything at all.

Don't know about you, but I am not holding out high hopes.

They Just Keep on Giving

This blogger was truly concerned that a change in government might mean no more fun.... No more Liberal party antics to post about.

Well never fear, they just keep on giving!

ABC's 4 Corners had an episode that exposed the goings on in the Liberal party in the lead up to the 2007 election.... what fun!

Unfortunately I missed the show but I did catch this article in which Mr Joe Hockey announced that Cabinet did not fully grasp the implications of the changes to IR laws that WorkChoices heralded. Specifically that they didn't understand that "workers could be worse off under Work Choices".

Que?

You mean that the people who supposedly debated the policies, were responsible for tinkering with (read utterly destroying) Industrial Relations policies that seemed to be well, working just fine, that forced them on an unwilling and unsupportive public, didn't actually KNOW WHAT THEY WERE DOING?!!

Well that makes me for one feel so much better.... I mean what JH is saying is that they didn't really mean to screw us over. On the contrary they just weren't bright enough or didn't care enough to fully understand their own policies.

Whew, that's a relief.

But now, all of a sudden I am regretting the election result. You mean we chucked out a whole lot of well meaning ignoramuses, all because we want our rights at work protected... Goddammit, how short sighted of us!

The New Matilda also published an article about the problems within the Libs (yes indeedy there is a lot of good reading at the moment). Andrew Elder contends that their biggest problem is an inablity to create a post-Howard 'narrative' since the party was in effect Howard. Apparently JW destroyed dissent and opposition in his pursuit of absolute loyalty and now no one knows how to distance themselves from him or create a new set of guiding principals... or something.

Methinks they will have to find a better leader than the Good Doctor to do that.

As much as there is a part of me that rubs my hands and licks my lips in anticipation of a longterm Liberal meltdown, there is another that is more than a little worried by it.

We all know what happens when there is no strong opposition in a democratic system. If you don't, move to New South Wales.

In a recent poll the NSW Premier has only a 30% approval rating. Pollsters asked voters who they would prefer out of Iemma, Turnbull, Barry O'Farrell, Michael Costa and John Watkins to lead the state. Iemma still comes out on top (just) but interestingly his closest rival is Turnbull who is in the Federal parliament. Of the two who seem most likely to replace Iemma, O'Farrell, current state Liberal Party leader got a measly 17%. It comes as no surprise to me that NSW State Labor government thinks they can do what they like, you know like privatise our power despite the fact that over 60% of people in NSW don't want them to. There isn't anyone in politics to tell them they can't.

So while the sadist in me will continue to enjoy the thrashings of the Liberal Party, the political junkie will remain concerned. Then again.... perhaps accountability is overrated.

you got to know when to fold....

Can't say I am unhappy about last night.

Actually I am ecstatic. Certainly the result more unequivocal than I could have possibly have dreamed. There was a clear statement made about what Australians think about the direction of this country. I just hope it wasn't all about interest rates.

Certainly Federal Labor has benefitted from a strong anti-Howard feeling. The Coalition is very much linked to Howard's leadership and people have clearly lost faith in that leadership. I think it would be foolish, however, to assume that Rudd's proclaimed new leadership will be much more than simply a changing of the guard. Well that is unless we make sure it is. Labor has made few strong policy statements, and fewer promises. Not unexpected considered the pre-election polling, why make promises when people are going to vote for you anyway.

This may represent an opportunity though. It means that there is an agenda to be set. And it means that we should think about how we are going to set it.

One of the other interesting results in this election is the swing to the Greens. And that despite the mood for change and the fear of "narrowing polls" (and I feel tempted to say 'yeah right' to that considering the results) which might lead strategists to assume that people will vote more conservatively in order to assure a Labor victory. The Greens look also to have picked up some seats in the senate, 3 new seats according to the ABC online today. This is great news for the party and goes some way to deal with what is potentially the greatest threat to Australian Democracy; having one party controlling both houses of parliament. Without that we wouldn't have had WorkChoices, VSU or many other pieces of legislation that the Coalition felt (clearly to their detriment) that Australia needed.

I am extraordinarly happy that Mal Brough has gone. I am also happy that Lindsay spoke at the polls against bigotry, lies and cheating. I wish Turnbull was similary nursing a hangover and disappointment, and while it was always unlikey, if Joe and Tony had fallen my happiness would have know no bounds.

It is too early yet to know if Howard has lost his seat... God knows I am hoping against all hope. Nevertheless, that Maxine McKew managed to have such a large swing in a safe seat, held by the same member for 30 or so years and one that was held by the current Prime Minister, is an astonishing achievement. And a huge statement by the electorate. Even Howard is conceding in the press today that it highly likely that he will lose, meaning that he will join the ranks of sitting PMs who have lost their seat (yes there is only one and it hasn't happened since 1929).

Howard's Menzies complex, his own ambition, and his arrongance have cost him government and perhaps his seat. Well they do say pride comes before a fall and boy has Howard fallen.

Perhaps Howard should have listened to a little more Kenny Rogers. He overplayed his hand and worse than that he didn't know when to cash in his chips.

So, the King is dead...long live the King.

P.S. Well well, always the bridesmaid never the bride!

I have just found out on SMH online that Costello will not seek nor accept the nomination for the leadership of the Liberal Party. That is despite Howard's endorsement (kiss of death?) pre-election. Who will be the next leader? $50 says Turnbull.

At least Costello knows when it is time to go.

T'was the night before polling.....

The irony of seeing Anthony Albanese speak about the Fake Pamphlet scandal in the marginal seat of Lindsay on Lateline last night was palpable. Perhaps he is considered an authority on matrimonial influence since he is the the federal half of Labor's very own power couple, the King and Queen of Marrickville. Nevertheless, the question must be asked, can we really believe that neither Jackie Kelly, nor the current candidate (who's husband is also implicated), nor the Liberal campaign manager, really could not have known what was going on? Labor sure seemed to....

Now I will admit here that I didn't watch the interview. I am suffering from serious election fatigue and I don't find Albanese or Ruddock who was also on, particularly appealing, even after a schooner or two. So I am not going to comment on it. What I am interested in the the Liberals apparent ineptitude when it has come to campaigning in this election. I have only lived in Australia under a Coalition government. That puts me in a similar position to many people voting for the first time in this election. In every federal election to date it has seemed that Howard and the Coalition could literally not put a foot wrong. Partly this has had to do, I think with federal Labor's inability to offer strong opposition. They have been for eleven years or so Liberal Lite. I think they still are really. But for some reason this time it doesn't seem to matter.

Why?

Well perhaps because eleven years is just too long. People want a change. If the Liberal party had changed leadership earlier they may have been in a better position, and I am not talking Costello because who in their right mind would vote for him?!

The next problem is WorkChoices (it really makes my skin crawl to call it that because the only people it really offers genuine choice to is to business). This is one of the most broadly unpopular pieces of legislation the government has introduced and using their senate majority to ram it through backfired I think. It has solidified "battlers'" resistance to both the legislation and the government because it seemed to take no consideration for the opposition. But again, why did this not happen when Howard and co. introduced the GST after promising hand on heart that they would never do it?

I suspect it has something to do with the media. Not a new or insightful comment admittedly. What it seems is that for the first time in eleven years the mainstream media outlets have moved away from subtle (in a few cases) or quite overt support of the government. One could say that they seem to read the mood of the country better than the pollies. But I think we have the cart before the horse. I think the media contributes enormously to that sentiment. I am convinced that what happened in Lindsay is not a new tactic. I am convinced that the government's lies and arrogance are not new traits. This time, however, they are being reported and we are seeing the Liberals for what they are; liars and cheats at worst, frightened at best.

We still see headlines that warn us that business is bracing for the return of the Unions, as was on the front page of the Fin Review yesterday. We are still being told that the polls are narrowing, that the coalition could still win, but this reporting serves Labor as much, if not more than the Coalition. Simply because it makes people afraid. Afraid that the mood for change is not strong enough, afraid that we might have 3 more years of the coalition (if we think they are bad now imagine what the next term will be like when they have won the "unwinnable" election), afraid that we may end up with a PM we didn't even vote for.

We all know that winning this election is a big ask. As has happened before a party can win the most votes and not the most seats... and Labor needs to win 16 new seats (didn't Latham get a kicking?). That is a huge swing in real terms. But not imossible. A poll released last week showed Labor leading in 18 marginals, if they deliver that is a landslide in anyone's books.

Personally I want to see a change, I would love it coupled with a change in Bennelong, but I am not fooled. We will all need to push to keep the ALP honest. The scene has been set for mendacity and wilfulness, remember when Howard said with a straight face that involving us in Iraq was an example of his not being a poll driven politician since he simply ignored the massive displays of public sentiment (you know the great unwashed he is supposed to represent) that were so vehemently opposed to it.

This is a government that has shown itself to be more concerned with keeping their jobs than doing their jobs. Lets make them redundant, take away their penalties, because if there is one thing I know, elections certainly pass the fairness test.