Written By:
Mike Smith - Date published:
7:41 pm, June 1st, 2012 - 7 comments
Categories: australian politics, john key, leadership, Parliament, vote smart -
Tags:
Tony Abbott fled from the Australian Parliament on Wednesday. He was trying to avoid his vote against a closure motion being recorded if newly independent Craig Thompson supported the Coalition. Watch it here – not a good look for a PM in waiting.
Australian politics have always been interesting and they are starting to get more interesting. Commentators are just starting to back away from calling the next election a lay-down misere for the Coalition. The widely-followed Newspoll has Labor coming back in the two-party preferred from 18 to 8 behind in one month. Julia Gillard has edged ahead of Abbott in the preferred Prime Minister, and Abbott’s for and against numbers are dreadful – negatives at record highs of 60%.
Running away won’t help Abbott. So instead of a leadership spill in Labor we could see one in the Coalition. Then it gets interesting.
Mind you, the same thing could happen here too if our money market dealer reads the signs out of Europe, decides the brighter future’s over and its time to also do a runner and bail out to Hawaii or wherever.
The current rise of populism challenges the way we think about people’s relationship to the economy.We seem to be entering an era of populism, in which leadership in a democracy is based on preferences of the population which do not seem entirely rational nor serving their longer interests. ...
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Abbott comes across as a total nutcase. He should do a Forrest Gump and just keep running.
Your only comment regarding Australian politics and Craig Thompson is having a crack at tony Abbott for leaving the debating chamber for a principled notion? Guess your ok with spending half a mill of union dues on booze and hookers? Your as bad as the abc.
Last time I look, Thompson was disowned by the ALP and the Australian trade union movement. I think the ACTU even kicked his union out.
Heh Abbot, the well known “budgie smuggler” wearer, mostly smuggle minimal budgie if published photographs are to be believed.
“not a good look for a PM in waiting” ??
What are you talking about?
Abbott leaping out of his seat to avoid Thompson’s vote will be very popular in Australia.
And while some of the Point Piper and Toorak financial elite in the Liberal Party want to replace Abbott with Turnbull (mostly because of vowel sounds) you are way out of touch with Australian politics if you think that is more likely than Gillard being replaced.
Watch the polls, Matt. Point Piper is Malcolm’s electorate. The last I heard, he has a house there.
Kicking aborigines off their land and tasering them is also very popular in Australia. Thinking that global warming is a fraud and mining magnates are philanthropists is also hugely popular. Many people in the Liberal Party see Abbott as an embarassment, and it’s not because of his vowel sounds, but he’ll probably be the next PM anyway. But hey, rightytighty and Matthew, feel free to comment on stuff that nobody here has said. After all, for thinking Abbott is a deranged idiot, I must think spending union money on hookers is ok, right? Whatever fits your world view, I suppose.