Oz Federal Election 2013 - Discussion and Comments

[Hvr]

Yep. And until they call an election it's all one sided and funded by us.

And this is the first time its happened? Not saying that makes it right but given neither side of politics will prevent it happen then their complaints ring very hollow.

 

[Pushka]

And this is the first time its happened? Not saying that makes it right but given neither side of politics will prevent it happen then their complaints ring very hollow.

I don't think an election date has ever been announced six months early though. And the ads pretty much started right then.

 

[drsmithy]

It's not the media's job to sell Government policy.

Leave the poor straw man alone.

 

[drsmithy]

And still Mr Tony complaining about government policies that still produced unemployment rate only matched by power house manufacturing western economy of Germany.

Abbot complaining about unemployment while promising to pursue contractionary economic policies, is probably one of his most hypocritical positions.

 

[Mak404matt]

Anyone watching QandA tonight?

Mirabella is certainly not an asset to the LNP

 

[james4321]

Anyone watching QandA tonight?

Mirabella is certainly not an asset to the LNP

Totally agree - she looked an even bigger fool than usual tonight.

 

[drsmithy]

Anyone watching QandA tonight?

Mirabella is certainly not an asset to the LNP

Indeed, another prime example of conservatism's ugly face. Last week it was Judith Sloan giggling about insulting childcare workers on her blog and George Brandis (possibly the next AG!) insisting that "religious freedom" was more important than not discriminating against people because of their sexuality (and, presumably, anything else).

 

[BadgerBoi]

Totally agree - she looked an even bigger fool than usual tonight.

to be fair Sophie does have a pamphlet. It might mis-spell the word "Australia", but she does have one.

 

[Moody]

Totally agree - she looked an even bigger fool than usual tonight.

I disagree - I think she was far less appalling than usual and had obviously been heavily coached. It was just a particularly tricky panel tonight so she was well out of her depth. Seating her beside Todd Sampson was cruel ....

 

[Deleted member]

Rob Oakeshott is my local member, love him or hate him (and I do neither) he has secured funding for an electorate (that was formerly held by the deputy prime minister in the Howard government) that is unprecedented. Local members who achieve this are usually applauded. And for those who may deride this, I would be surprised if you live in the electorate of Lyne, he made a commitment and stood by it. How many members in the major parties have made promises and let their electorate down by following the party line. From my perspective I will miss an independent member, when the state election happened and a National Party member elected we disappeared off the map. Good local man, easy to talk to, enjoy your next stage in life.

Your notionally conservative local member you mean

 

[Deleted member]

With hindsight the use of foil insulation and metal staples should have been banned from the start, as the industry was basically unregulated and so was ripe for rorting. I put my own insulation in many years ago and whilst I didn't always wear all the recommended safety gear, I was installing the traditional batts and I wouldn't have considered stapling foil to rafters that were criss-crossed with live cables. Unfortunately a few young installers trusted their employer and the authorities to keep them safe, and maybe didn't pause to think of the situation they were in. Unfortunately this phenomena was/is not limited to the insulation scheme - in fact hundreds of people die in the workplace each year - but any new initiative gets more attention and the scheme was rightly shut down.

And I don't want to appear callous, but stories of 4 people dying in a single car accident don't seem to raise quite as much hysteria, so why drag this one out now?

Because there was no control or training involved
It might be different if the 4 people killed in a car accident were there because it became legal all of a sudden to allow untrained unlicensed 15 year olds to drive.
It's not the same and shame on you for such a silly comment

 

[Moody]

Because there was no control or training involved
It might be different if the 4 people killed in a car accident were there because it became legal all of a sudden to allow untrained unlicensed 15 year olds to drive.
It's not the same and shame on you for such a silly comment

Keep some perspective, GPH. I was commenting that workplace deaths (particularly in construction) are sadly not rare, and also that we seem to accept violent death as a part of life ..... except where there is political mileage to be gained.

So what regulations and training were required before the "pink batts" scheme was introduced? As I mentioned before, I had previously purchased and installed my own insulation and I don't think I was breaking the law. Of course once it becomes a commercial arrangement there are all sorts of OH&S issues, and there is a shared responsibility of employers and authorities to ensure safety standards are being met. So has there been any reports on what went wrong in these 4 cases? Three of them were electrical accidents but one just seems to be heat exhaustion or something similar. Let me know what you find out because I am always interested in facts rather than hysteria.

 

[Mak404matt]

Today's polling polled Abbott's personal qualities:

Tony Abbott is regarded by more respondents to be arrogant (59%), intolerant (48%), narrow-minded (55%) and aggressive (51%).

 

[Pushka]

Today's polling polled Abbott's personal qualities:

Tony Abbott is regarded by more respondents to be arrogant (59%), intolerant (48%), narrow-minded (55%) and aggressive (51%).

That same poll also asked for Rudd's personal qualities too. What were they? I found I was almost answering the same for both. Oops.

 

[Mak404matt]

That same poll also asked for Rudd's personal qualities too. What were they? I found I was almost answering the same for both. Oops.

Was sent to me by ALP friends without such info, there is a good chance, I'll do some searching and let you know!

Edit: Rudd is arrogant (48%), intolerant (39%), narrow-minded (46%) and aggressive (45%).

(So pretty similar, certainly not good by any means, but a noticeable difference)

 

[Skyring]

Was sent to me by ALP friends without such info, there is a good chance, I'll do some searching and let you know!

Edit: Rudd is arrogant (48%), intolerant (39%), narrow-minded (46%) and aggressive (45%).

(So pretty similar, certainly not good by any means, but a noticeable difference)

Do we have the figures for selfish, weak, pig-headed, vengeful, obsessive and two-faced?

 

[Mak404matt]

Do we have the figures for selfish, weak, pig-headed, vengeful, obsessive and two-faced?

Might have to run your own poll for that one mate

 

[Hvr]

Do we have the figures for selfish, weak, pig-headed, vengeful, obsessive and two-faced?

I'm sure someone will release Abbott's figures soon enough.

 

[drron]

Likely now the election is going to be October 12th or later.Mr.Rudd cant attend the G20 meeting in early September if he is only the caretaker PM.if he calls the election immediately he comes back the earliest election day is October 12th.
I cant see him not wanting to be at the G20 meeting.

 

[Hvr]

Wouldn't it be funny if it was a hung parliament?

Who would be able to negotiate with the independents to form a government?