So what has John Howard done to deserve a swing in his favour? Or is it just the idiotic One Nation supporters returning to their natural home? At least the Green vote is up, and their preferences might give Richmond to the ALP.
I’m glad I’m not living in Australia, though I might not be so happy in Bush wins again next month.
It’s the Australian federal election which was held today. The governing Liberal-National (i.e. conservative) coalition won the election with a slightly increased majority.
It’s not the 46.6% that voted for the coalition that need pitting. It’s the fucking idiots that ran Labor’s campaign. Fucking useless assholes. Who the fuck had the idea of bringing Beazley in as foreign policy spokesman? The fucker thought he was some kind of elder statesman, instead of a fucking proven fucking loser. Probably going to lose his own seat as well. Jesus H. How hard would it have been to get stuck into Downer? A fucking trained fucking monkey could have done it.
I was going to add “bitterly” in front of “disappointed”, but I thought it might make me seem too much like an angry, bourbon-guzzling Labour voter.
My division gave Liberal the seat by a huge margin.
All the polls and pundits were predicting a Liberal win, with only one bucking the trend. The people I know who voted for Liberal did it “because Liberal is better for the economy”. I don’t know much about the economy, but I’m pretty sure a lot of the people saying it don’t know much about the economy either.
I’m a Labor supporter, and I’m not really sure whether Labor or Liberal are better for the economy. What Howard deserved to lose over was his obnoxious treatment of refugees, and his participation in the US invasion of Iraq. The trouble is that apparently a lot of people don’t like refugees, and also want a repeat play of the Vietnam War.
Bigoty Little Bastard Howard? It’s a good thing his family were not checked geneticaly when his family bacame Australians!
Yes I know our PM will not win any beauty comps but she doesn’t woof woof on certain international issues. I can’t believe you lot voted that fucking wanker in again!
So the economy is good? Tampa was such a good image for Aus. Iraq was even better.
It’s true you don’t need much in the way of personality, but it helps if you’re dishonest, zenophobic, racist and willing to pitch an appeal to the worst of people. If you’re also arrogant, willing to sacrifice the have-nots in order make the haves even richer and don’t mind keeping children in detention camps for years and years, hell, you too could be the Australian Prime Minister.
And who knows what you might achieve if you’re willing to invade a foreign country for no better reason than you think George Bush is a big spunk.
I’m not really a patriotic, “rah rah my country” sort of person, but in the past I’ve thought Australia, on the whole, was a decent sort of place, and I’ve been proud of our egalitariansim and “fair go” sort of approach. Sadly, that sense of a willingness to care for each other and look our for the underdog seems a thing of the past.
Maybe it never was anymore than just a cultural fantasy, but it wasn’t a bad fantasy to have. But no more, thanks to little Johnny, that kind of thinking is now unAustralian. The ANZAC spirit now lives on in the detention centres and private schools, and underfunded hospitals and old people who can’t afford to live.
It’s a strange thing, but all I heard from people who were outspoken about who they were voting for was that they would vote for Latham.
And yet, in the end he actually lost ground!
But as the analysts are saying, it’s not so much a positive vote for Howard as a negative vote for Latham’s lack of experience. He’s only been leader of the Opposition a short time, and his repuation before that certainly wasn’t a positive spin, so that’s almost definitely what did him in.
But I think he’d be a great guy to continue as leader of Labor and still go into thenext election. By then Howard is sure to have decided to step down for re-election, and his potential replacement will have the disadvantage.
NSW: Liberal/National ticket up 2.10%, One Nation down 3.73%
VIC: Liberal National ticket up 4.44%, One Nation down 1.78%
QLD: Liberals up 3.55%, Nationals down 2.67%, One Nation down 6.86%
SA: Liberals up 1.84%, One Nation down 3.47%
WA: Liberals up 9.44%, Nationals down 1.56%, One Nation down 4.67%
TAS: Liberals up 7.77%, unable to determine One Nation downturn (They didn’t run candidates).
In short, it seems to be independent of One Nation, as the percentages are either considerably larger or smaller than the One Nation losses.
Fuck every cunt in Australia who voted for that measly slimebucket arsehole and his bunch of festering pustule cronies. I can’t fucking believe that you are all that fucking stupid.
Then again, maybe i can.
A friend of mine emailed me the other day telling me about a news story he saw:
That’s the sort of mindset we’re dealing with here, folks. The stupid are easily led by fearmongers.
Although i have to agree with Desmo about the poorly-run Labor campaign.
I thought it would have been closer but I’m not suprised Howard one.
I dont like Howard but I voted for him for one reason - my job was on the line. I work for a Department that would have been axed by Labor if it had won (this was stated repeatedly by Latham and the shadow minister responsible, so there are no doubts about it).
With a family to support and a mortgage to pay - frankly they could have had film of Johnny personally throwing kids off a ship & then chucking rocks at them - I still would have voted for the little prick.
We’re not out there blowing up Parliament House, so short of direct taking up guerilla activities in the gardens, there’s nothing else for us to do but suck it up.
On the other hand, I think we are allowed some time to grieve for what has been lost, which Margot Kingston in the Sydney Morning Herald said so well,
.
It’s not just John Howard, much as I despise him, it’s that half the Australian electorate saw clearly the human rights abuses of Howard’s government, his willingness to lie about the big things, his complete lack of concern for those in need, his “back to the fifties” approach to social needs, and they said, “we don’t give a fuck about any of that”. That’s what breaks my heart.
Oh, and Vagus, I don’t know how long you’ve been in the public service, but even if they had axed your Dept, you’d have had to be very unlucky to find yourself out of a job. It took Lyn Kosky in Victoria a year to get rid of 300 public servants in the Deptartment of Education’s debacle of a restructure. You’d have been absorbed into one of the new Departments which would have emerged.
but she doesn’t woof woof on certain international issues. I can’t believe you lot voted that fucking wanker in again!