September 14 it is - the next Federal Election

http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/national/australians-fearful-of-the-future-gillard/story-fncz7kyc-1226565011494

With enough time for the gestation a human baby between now and then, this will be one painful election campaign.

I wonder why? To catch the Liberals before they have a chance to punt Abbott maybe?

So we've got 8 months of Gillard & Abbott bollocks to look forward too, not to mention those awful election adverts.

God help us all.

Indeed to both of those posts.

Abbott has plenty of time to gather his army of death-eaters together and Julia has plenty of time to do who knows what to start sounding credible.

Yes it will be an agony.

I think the mute button on our tv wil be used non stop for the next 8 months.

just take the $1.35 for the coalition to win & at least make a profit out of it

I've told you before, bayman, "odds on, look on".

Besides, more money to be made betting on individual seat results at better odds

it is a gift redandblack an absolute gift


ps, i like our Labor bloke here, he is a nice person, even though he barracks for West but he wont get my vote this time

Gingernuts wrote:I wonder why? To catch the Liberals before they have a chance to punt Abbott maybe?

So we've got 8 months of Gillard & Abbott bollocks to look forward too, not to mention those awful election adverts.

God help us all.

I think we're spared the ads until August when the writs are formally handed to the Governor-General.

One thing to take out of this announcement though - Julia musn't have much faith in the Western Bulldogs holding an election on semi-final weekend.

Cant wait for it.

As Bob Dylan sang "The times are a changing...."

(Hello R&B !!!!!!!! )

Hello Southee

Do I see some chickens being counted a bit early

Why do you want to vote against your own best interests, though?

Just like old times though, mate

Yeah we are back! Reunited!

Maybe we will try and keep it civil on here.

I think the chickens have already been counted

Yes, probably you're right, it looks that way, but politics is very changeable.

I'm sure we'll be civil, never a problem with you or especially this site.

[quote="Brucetiki"]

Gingernuts wrote:One thing to take out of this announcement though - Julia musn't have much faith in the Western Bulldogs holding an election on semi-final weekend.

She may think they'll be straight into Prelim Final weekend. Ok, maybe not.

I've said it before and I'll say it again - I honestly think the political environment is ripe for a 3rd moderate party to enter the scene.

There are a lot of people like me who dislike both of the major parties, but also can't reconcile themselves with Greens policy as the only legitimate 3rd option at the moment.

I value my democratic right to vote, but at the same time I feel that currently I have no one to vote for.

Interesting point, GN. Do you think both parties have moved away from their original philosophies to a fair extent? I think it's reasonable to say that both parties have moved to the right. While Labor seems to be moving back to their base in terms of income distribution, Disability Insurance, health and education, their policies on several other things, such as refugee policy, single parents, etc have certainly gone the other way.

The Liberal Party also seem to have moved well to the right of Bob Menzies original idea of liberalism and have several very right wing people calling the shots.

The Greens have appealled to many as that third option, but with the withdrawal of Bob Brown and their penchant for a result that gives them nothing, rather than accepting 90% of what they believe, has frustrated a lot of people.

If you're looking for a moderate party, I can't see a new one emerging soon. Most of the new parties that spring up are even more extreme, such as One Nation, or The Katter Party. Your only hope seems to lie in the major parties moving more to the centre.

I'd class Malcolm Turnbull as a moderate, but he's sidelined by the power of the right in the Liberal Party.

I just hope that there is a good discussion on policy, rather than the pap that passes for mainstream media political commentary.

You’ve hit the nail on the head with your last sentence R&B.

The main issue for me with politics in Australia is that both of the major parties (and perhaps you could even say the entire political system) have become largely disconnected from the common Australian.

They seem forever embroiled in leadership spills, muck raking, personal attacks, and petty point scoring while meaningful policy debate goes by the wayside.

When they do take their attention away from each other from long enough to address the people they are meant to represent, they just throw out a succession of catch phrases aimed at doing nothing more than pleasing the whims of the mob. It’s like they’re throwing bread to the peasants.

I know I’m drawing a long bow by suggesting the emergence of a new party, but I wish that someone in Australia’s political sphere had the guts to stand out from the crowd and champion real change to our political system.

Alas, it more likely we’ll just continue to be faced with choosing between what shade of beige we prefer running our country.

I think this election is one of the hardest ones because it seems to be a personality election first then policies second.

Agree with both of you.

Strangely enough, for all its faults, I think the salvation might start to lie with social media.

A lot of the political discussion in social media is the usual 'she's a witch', or 'he's an idiot', partisan rubbish, but there are a lot of good sites on both sides putting forward factual and interesting policy discussion.

In the recent US election, they had several 'fact-checking' sites, where what politicians said were checked against the facts.

Perhaps that's what is needed in Australia, to bypass the partisan nonsense on both sides.

Gingernuts wrote:You’ve hit the nail on the head with your last sentence R&B.

The main issue for me with politics in Australia is that both of the major parties (and perhaps you could even say the entire political system) have become largely disconnected from the common Australian.

They seem forever embroiled in leadership spills, muck raking, personal attacks, and petty point scoring while meaningful policy debate goes by the wayside.

When they do take their attention away from each other from long enough to address the people they are meant to represent, they just throw out a succession of catch phrases aimed at doing nothing more than pleasing the whims of the mob. It’s like they’re throwing bread to the peasants.

I know I’m drawing a long bow by suggesting the emergence of a new party, but I wish that someone in Australia’s political sphere had the guts to stand out from the crowd and champion real change to our political system.

Alas, it more likely we’ll just continue to be faced with choosing between what shade of beige we prefer running our country.

Can you wait another decade or so? I'm thinking of joining the ranks. Just not yet.

Anyway, my take on how to vote this election is ignore the personalities, vote on the policies.

Liberal Policy:
http://lpa.webcontent.s3.amazonaws.com/realsolutions/LPA%20Policy%20Booklet%20210x210_final%20LIB.pdf

Labor Policy:
http://www.alp.org.au/agenda/

I hope people don't vote for change for the sake of having change. I think it'll be close to another minority government.

It's a tough position - Gillard the preferred PM, but Labor slipping in the polls. If the Liberals could change their leader, I think they'd win comfortably. However, many of the states now have Liberals in power and seem to be unhappy with spending cuts, job losses, infrastructure cuts etc, so that may be a vote against them.

I agree with bundy, it'll be a very tough election indeed.

mr thompson gets arrested in sydney on 149 charges.......gotta love the timing

Yes, interesting that it was known to a journalist the day before, several media were obviously tipped off and it took 5 police to be there to arrest the dangerous fugitive.

Unusual procedure.

For information, lost in the distractions from Mr Abbott's speech today is that he will abolish the Schoolkids Bonus.

Well.................. lets............ ah ........... hope .............. Abbott ............................ can ............................ ah ....................... string .............................. a ........................................... sentenece ........................... together .................... without ............................ a ...................................... pause ................................................ between ..................................................... each um ....................................... word

redandblack wrote:Yes, interesting that it was known to a journalist the day before, several media were obviously tipped off and it took 5 police to be there to arrest the dangerous fugitive.

Unusual procedure.

Correction, there were seven police and he was strip-searched!!

Given the timing and the tip-off to the media, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that the relationship between the Murdoch press and the police we saw revealed in the UK might be replicated here to some extent.

Hopefully it was just a coincidence, otherwise it's a scary thought.

redandblack wrote:

redandblack wrote:Yes, interesting that it was known to a journalist the day before, several media were obviously tipped off and it took 5 police to be there to arrest the dangerous fugitive.

Unusual procedure.

Correction, there were seven police and he was strip-searched!!

Given the timing and the tip-off to the media, I don't think it's unreasonable to suggest that the relationship between the Murdoch press and the police we saw revealed in the UK might be replicated here to some extent.

Hopefully it was just a coincidence, otherwise it's a scary thought.

Nothing wrong with the strip search it is protocol with any arrest.

You seem to keep defending Thompson R&B ?