Elections down under?

[Mike]

Can someone on the bottom side of this globe tell me what's going on with another election? Didn't Ms. Julia just GET elected? Why in the world would you want to go through another campaign and election circus, or is it more 'routine' down there than it is up here? Where does all the $$$ come from to do this?

On that subject, the Labor Party is Dem. Socialist (O.K., that makes some kind of sense), but the Liberal Party is Conservative? Can someone please define what a Liberal Conservative is? Evidently, Liberal means something else in Oz. Who are the progressives?
I'm confused.

 

[Doug S.]

Be careful challenging those Aussies to make anything of this sort clear.....they might get on with an explanation of cricket.....I guess you're born knowing about that, I can't imagine being able to figure it out in one lifetime, for sure!

Doug

 

[Jac Mac]

Julia Gillard was/is from the same Political party as the previous PM ( Kevin Rudd), it was an internal party issue, not a by- election etc. From what I've read she felt they had to do the deal now to have any hope of winning the next elections

Much the same as if Hillary went round all the other party members & got enough numbers to tell Obama to take a back seat & took over the Presidency until your next election...is that what you want??

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Jac is correct, Julia Gillard (Labour Party left wing socialist) is in the same party as the previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The back room power brokers thought Rudd had alienated the electorate, (they were right) and they, along with Julia knifed him in the back. Julia was elected by the party not the people.
The people will decide who they want as Prime Minister at the election to be held in a few weeks.
Julia Gillard, or Tony Abbot leader of the Liberal Party. (Right wing conservative)
Hope that helps and watch out for Drop Bears.

 

[roaldin]

Some choice...

I predict strengthening of the Green party vote - not because they've done anything but because they aren't LibLab.

Labour had to do something, Rudd was a disaster. Is Gillard any better...? :shrug: but she definitely has a better chance that Rudd.
Lib's have a serious problem with Abbott. Putting Downer in front of the cameras again is tactical suicide as well. Turnbull would walk it in IMO.


Gillard seems to do an almost constant chicken impression which nicely counters the Rudd Lizard.
Abbott, seems to be working on a drop-bear impression, he's certainly gone out on a few shaky limbs. We'll have to wait and see for that one.


Tim.

 

[Doug S.]

Jac is correct, Julia Gillard (Labour Party left wing socialist) is in the same party as the previous Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. The back room power brokers thought Rudd had alienated the electorate, (they were right) and they, along with Julia knifed him in the back. Julia was elected by the party not the people.
The people will decide who they want as Prime Minister at the election to be held in a few weeks.
Julia Gillard, or Tony Abbot leader of the Liberal Party. (Right wing conservative)

Geez.....we Americans could take a lesson from you Aussies. It seems that you elect a party, not a person, so the person who is "in charge" (and I use that term loosely b/c of the current political situation here in the U.S.) can be changed at the will of the ruling party......is that an accurate perception?

I could see Nancy Pelosi engineering a coup that would topple Bee-OH :idea: --oh, wait, maybe that's not such a good thing after all :shocked: !

Cheers from Doug

 

[roaldin]

Geez.....we Americans could take a lesson from you Aussies. It seems that you elect a party, not a person, so the person who is "in charge" (and I use that term loosely b/c of the current political situation here in the U.S.) can be changed at the will of the ruling party......is that an accurate perception?

I could see Nancy Pelosi engineering a coup that would topple Bee-OH :idea: --oh, wait, maybe that's not such a good thing after all :shocked: !

Cheers from Doug

Yes.
Obviously a PM is not the same as a President though, we have a queen for that...


Tim.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Yes.
Obviously a PM is not the same as a President though, we have a queen for that...


Tim.

I thought Kev was a bit of a Queen.

 

[Dalton Veitch]

Tim is on the money. Often neither of the major parties (Liberal and Labour here in Oz) looks promising for all the electorate, so one wins by a small majority. Then in the Senate, without a clear majority, the party in power has to gain the (voting) support of independants or the Green Party to get bills passed. This skews the democratic process as you may have to give an independant member, or a minority party (the Greens) some of what they want, to get any of your legislation through. So the party that won the majority of votes can still have to pander to minority interest groups. The Liberals are a coalition anyway, consisting of Liberals and Nationals. We vote for a Party, and the Party decides who is most likely to keep them in power by winning elections, and that person is internally decided/elected.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

All of which proves how weird our system is. I'm an advocate for first past the post rather than preferential voting, particularly for the senate.

FREE KITTENS!​

A little girl named Suzy was standing on the sidewalk in front of her home.

Next to her was a basket containing a number of tiny creatures; in her hand was a sign announcing FREE KITTENS.

​

Suddenly a line of big black cars pulled up beside her. Out of the lead​

ing car stepped a tall, grinning woman.

"Hi there little girl, I'm Prime Minister Gillard. What do you have in the basket?" she asked.​

"Kittens," little Suzy said.​

"How old are they?" asked ​

​

Ms Gillard.

Suzy replied, "They're so young, their eyes aren't even open yet."​

"And what kind of kittens are they?"​

​

​

​

" Labor supporters," answered Suzy with a smile.

Julia GILLARD was delighted. As soon as she returned to her car, she called her PR chief and told him about the little girl and the kittens.​

Recognizing the perfect photo op, it was agreed that the prime minister should return the next day; and in front of the assembled media, have the girl talk about her discerning kittens.​

So the next day, Suzy was again standing on the sidewalk with her basket of "FREE KITTENS," when another motorcade pulled up, this time followed by vans from ABC,Channel 7, SBS, Ten & Nine.​

Cameras and audio equipment were quickly set up, then Gillard got out of her limo and walked over to little Suzy.​

"Hello, again," she said, "I'd love it if you would tell all my friends out there what kind of kittens you're giving away."​

"Yes mam," Suzy said. "They're Liberals."​

Taken by surprise, the prime minister stammered, "But... But... Yesterday, you told me they were Labor supporters​

​

."........


(SCROLL)








​

Little Suzy smiled and said, "I know. But today, they have their eyes open."​