australian politics

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Kevin Rudd and the boat people

Written By: - Date published: 2:10 pm, July 20th, 2013 - 165 comments

kevin_rudd-cryKevin Rudd announced yesterday that boat people will not be allowed to apply for refugee status in Australia and instead will be shipped to Papua New Guinea and they will have to try their luck there.  Tony Abbott thinks that the proposal is promising, Greens leader Christine Milne thinks it is ruthless and repugnant.  It seems that Rudd will do and promise anything for power.

Rudd ousts Gillard

Written By: - Date published: 9:57 pm, June 26th, 2013 - 76 comments

Kevin Rudd is PM of Australia again after defeating Julia Gillard 57 votes to 45.

A poorer world

Written By: - Date published: 4:50 pm, May 5th, 2013 - 59 comments

The Great Barrier Reef is dying. We are leaving the next generations a poorer world.

Fletcher GCSB Change manager – and QLD

Written By: - Date published: 10:38 am, April 5th, 2013 - 87 comments

Key & a government source responded to Ferguson’s criticisms by attacking Labour & Ferguson.  They claimed Fletcher was the best person to “change manage” the GCSB. Yet, in Queensland Fletcher was publicly criticised for the management of his department. [Updated]

Crays and Aussie Carrots

Written By: - Date published: 12:58 pm, November 22nd, 2012 - 51 comments

Damn, a kiwi recently moved to aussie explains what the attraction is and isn’t.  Basically there is work there, the pay is better, and you can afford to eat out. But kiwi’s can take comfort that the food is crap – unless you go to a restaurant of course. Perhaps their politicians are better than their farmers.

Don’t panic

Written By: - Date published: 10:30 pm, November 11th, 2012 - 77 comments

Twice this year we have seen Labour leaders  turn around perceptions of them and their party with one speech; Ed Miliband at the UK Party conference in November and Julia Gillard  in the Australian parliament in October. I think that calling for David Shearer’s head in the week before the Labour party conference is a sign of panic.

‘The Asian Century’: Aus, NZ

Written By: - Date published: 10:50 am, October 29th, 2012 - 22 comments

Gillard’s ‘Asian Century’ white paper, and negotiations of the ASEAN trade agreement (RCEP) are significant developments in US-China struggle for dominance in the region. Aussie wants to be a major player. How should NZ respond?

Backwards to the future?

Written By: - Date published: 8:30 am, October 20th, 2012 - 50 comments

Labour Day celebrates, what was at the time, a cutting edge victory for working people – the 8 hour working day.  But the struggles continue for men and women. Now is not the time to be going backwards on issues that impact on workers, people struggling on low incomes, or beneficiaries. Updated.

Tony Abbot: misogynist and hypocrite

Written By: - Date published: 7:17 am, October 10th, 2012 - 160 comments

It really was a pleasure last night watching the most obnoxious weasel in aussie politics, Tony Abbott, getting done over by a fired up Julia Gillard. She was pointing out that his sudden calls against sexism and misogyny could be better applied to himself. Then she spent glorious minutes detailing exactly why Tony Abbott was the last politician in Austrailia who could throw dirt using these charges.

Joyce floundering on manufacturing

Written By: - Date published: 11:27 am, September 11th, 2012 - 15 comments

Talk fast, shoot the messenger, and spin like a top. That’s Joyce’s style, trying to defend the indefensible; National’s neglect of New Zealand’s manufacturing industry.

Replying to cancer-mongers

Written By: - Date published: 10:34 am, August 16th, 2012 - 23 comments

The Australian Government has won a Supreme Court case on its plain packaging law. The tobacco companies are now planning to take it to the WTO. I hope Gillard responds to the law suit with a letter along the lines of: “Dear Cancer-mongers, Consider yourselves lucky we don’t nationalise your assets and pass a law to have you arrested for corporate homicide. Go fuck yourselves. Regards, Julia.”

Labor Right v Greens

Written By: - Date published: 5:29 pm, July 13th, 2012 - 37 comments

This weekend the NSW ALP Conference and the New Zealand Labour Party Council will both debate and decide proposals for reform. Prospects look decidedly better on this side of the Tasman for internal reform as well as for relations with the Greens.

Australia’s sweatshop

Written By: - Date published: 10:29 am, July 7th, 2012 - 69 comments

The Nats have given up on catching up with Australia, and are content for us to become their low wage sweatshop instead. Their cheerleaders think it’s a great idea.

I beg to differ.

Abbott does a runner

Written By: - Date published: 7:41 pm, June 1st, 2012 - 7 comments

Tony Abbott fled from the Australian Parliament on Wednesday. He was trying to avoid his vote being recorded if newly independent Craig Thompson supported the Coalition on a closure motion. Running away won’t help Abbott whose numbers are at record lows as Labor improves. Instead of a leadership spill in Labor we could see one in the Coalition.

Key on leadership ballots

Written By: - Date published: 7:44 pm, February 27th, 2012 - 6 comments

“I’ve been around these votes before when at the last moment they change” John Key said today about the ALP leadership ballot. He certainly has; in 2003 he promised Bill English his vote then shifted at the last minute to Don Brash who won narrowly. Key talks about Labor needing a repair job; but I think the next challenge may be in the Coalition.

34 hours to help Australians save their oceans

Written By: - Date published: 1:59 pm, February 23rd, 2012 - 12 comments

In 48 hours, Australia could save one million square kms of ocean forever — setting up the largest marine reserve in the world and preserving thousands of delicate species. But they will need an global outcry to beat out commercial fishing and mining companies hoping to destroy the plan.

Go Gillard!

Written By: - Date published: 7:54 am, July 16th, 2011 - 30 comments

I’ve been impressed with Labour on both sides of the ditch lately.  Here of course Phil Goff’s Labour party has moved very boldly on the CGT.  But across the ditch in Oz, Labor leader and PM Julia Gillard is fighting an even tougher battle on carbon pricing.  Go Gillard!

Assange voluntarily goes to British court on extradition

Written By: - Date published: 9:15 am, December 8th, 2010 - 50 comments

Now that the Swedish prosecutors have finally given the British police a document that they can work with, Assange turned himself in, and has gone before a British court on the extradition request from Sweden. The court has remanded him without bail. I have already commented on exactly what I think of the charges – […]

Electoral finance reform in NSW Parliament

Written By: - Date published: 7:00 pm, November 18th, 2010 - 9 comments

The NSW Parliament has just passed passed the Election Funding and Disclosures Amendment Bill 2010. It includes donations capped at $5,000 for parties and $2,000 for candidates and third parties, all donations over $1,000 declared, caps on expenditure for parties, candidates and third parties, reimbursement of election spending up to a reasonable limit, and provision of funding for policy development.

It’s Gillard

Written By: - Date published: 5:24 pm, September 7th, 2010 - 36 comments

Independent MP Tony Windsor has decided to support the Labor Party into government, with fellow independent Rob Oakeschott expected to follow suit. The country independents say the best bet for rural regions is to remain independent and stick up for themselves – lessons for NZ?

Aussie election: Gillard holds the advantage

Written By: - Date published: 10:26 am, August 28th, 2010 - 31 comments

A week after Australia went to the polls the outcome is still unclear. However, with the last seat (Brisbane) pretty much decided, I’d put my money on Julia Gillard remaining Prime Minister and Labor retaining power. Take a look at the numbers…

An interesting result

Written By: - Date published: 9:20 am, August 22nd, 2010 - 37 comments

Australia is about to enter a new era in politics. They appear to have a hung parliament this morning according to the Sydney Morning Herald. There are a number of marginal seats in the balance. The single Green MP in the lower house and a number of independents will determine which major party forms a government.

Australian election

Written By: - Date published: 3:26 pm, August 21st, 2010 - 23 comments

Our cousins on the West Island are winding up their election day soon, culminating a dramatic couple of months for Australian politics. It may be that Kevin Rudd gets the last laugh…

Rorts in the age of internet advertising.

Written By: - Date published: 7:57 pm, August 11th, 2010 - 15 comments

The Australian Liberal party has been posting sponsored links on Google websites pushing voters seeking information on  independent candidates and candidates from other parties through to Liberal websites. The Sydney Morning Herald says: This week, a Google search by the Herald of the names of about 200 Labor, independent, Greens, Democrats and other minor party […]

MFAT leak too convenient

Written By: - Date published: 10:16 am, July 23rd, 2010 - 16 comments

Why would someone in MFAT feel the need to interfere in the Australian election by leaking to the Australian media? I’ve been accused of conspiracy theories in the past but this leak seems all too convenient when National’s old mates Crosby Textor are up against it in Aussie.

Private Prison Profile

Written By: - Date published: 11:41 am, June 29th, 2010 - 74 comments

When National get their ideological wish to get a prison privately run here, the most likely candidate will be Australian/UK prison company G4S. In the ‘care’ of these crime profiteers, an Aboriginal man died in a Western Australian prison van, during a four hour ride without ventilation in 50 degree plus temperatures that gave him 3rd degree burns. And that’s far from the only abuse.

Beware the young advisers – they reflect their masters

Written By: - Date published: 7:30 am, June 27th, 2010 - 25 comments

An interesting parallel between Kevin Rudd  and the Key government’s leadership style surfaced in our papers this weekend. On Saturday, Tracy Watkins had this to say in the DomPost: Dislike of the Australian leader seems to have reached legendary proportions in the three years since he won the election a dislike surpassed only by the […]

Congratulations Julia Gillard

Written By: - Date published: 9:05 pm, June 24th, 2010 - 14 comments

It’s been a big day for Julia Gillard. Up late last night with Kevin Rudd and John Faulkner, the ALP’s elder spokesman, doing one of the hardest things in politics which is to front up and tell someone that you have worked with closely that it is time for them to go. Rudd’s subsequent late-night […]

New Australian PM

Written By: - Date published: 11:55 am, June 24th, 2010 - 39 comments

Kevin Rudd is gone, and Australia has its first female PM.

It’s been a dramatic fall for Rudd, who was so incredibly popular for his first two years in office.

Rudd for the chop, Gillard to take the reins

Written By: - Date published: 1:13 am, June 24th, 2010 - 16 comments

Kevin Rudd has lost the support of the powerful Australian Workers’ Union and an array of the ALP’s factions to Julia Gillard. It’s been a dramatic fall for Rudd, who was so incredibly popular for his first two year’s as PM (if it can happen there…). Gillard will make a stark contrast to the strange conservative leader of the Liberals, Tony Abbott, but has a lot of work to do.

Buyer’s remorse on both sides of the Tasman

Written By: - Date published: 11:17 am, June 8th, 2010 - 30 comments

Aussies are looking more and more likely to elect Abbott. Terrible. Guy’s a chauvinistic prick who admitted you can’t trust a word he says. Shows how poorly Rudd has done some things. People are thinking the Liberals weren’t so bad after all. Likewise, Goff is in with a decent sniff in 2011. Solely because of […]