The party needs to get its shit together. IMO the instability is far more damaging to the country than any particular leader. Rudd was voted in as leader of the country and should have been allowed to continue until he was voted out (by the people) likewise Gillard was voted and the party should be presenting a united front until she resigns or is voted out by the people. This has nothing to do with my personal politics, I’d be saying the same if it was the other guys in power, the government’s inability to concentrate on the job we are paying them to do is fucking juvenile.
What a circus. The PM calls a spill, and the Labor Party gets to vote on senior positions. Except there are no challengers. PM and Deputy PM returned unopposed.
If ever there was a way to look ridiculous this Govt would find it.
If they ran the country efficiently and effectively like they are supposed to, the popularity contest they are always so obsessed about would be a no-brainer guaranteed win every time. People vote in the party that gets shit done, not the party that looks prettiest, or lies the best, on election day.
As said Prince Richard in The Lion in Winter “When the fall is all that’s left it matters a great deal”
So the whistle blower Crean is the day’s only scalp, which begs the question.
Was it an act of total political, dumb as a box of hammers, self-immolation, or was it a stalking horse strategy knowing that Julia would win if Rudd stood and if he didn’t have the bottle then she could cauterise a significant part of the destabilisation?
Well, from where I stand, I think they have been getting shit done. National Disability Insurance Scheme is creeping towards reality. Carbon tax got passed (that’s a plus in my books, and now it’s in I can’t see Abbot actually repealing it if/when he gets in - much more fun to use it as a stick to beat the Labor party with the next four years). Mining tax, ditto.
The only thing they really really suck at, is getting popular approval.
Must say I struggle to see from the outside as to why Julia Gillard is so unpopular but then, I’m not an Australian voter.
As for the complaints about the government, are Australians living in a different universe?? Your nation has not only survived but also thrived right through a Global Financial Crisis which has many of the wealthy nations on their knees. Even Denmark is facing an overpriced housing crisis.
You guys are so lucky. In fact I’ve told my teenage children to work in Oz and come back to NZ for holidays: they will be much better off.
I agree completely.
Personally, I think that the resignation/deposition of the Prime Minister should trigger an immediate by-election in which all voters (as in, citizens) pick from the party’s candidates for their preferred Prime Minister.
It is, IMHO, absolute bullshit that a political party can go to the polls with Leader A, and get voted in on the understanding that Leader A will be Prime Minister, then mid-way through the term decide Leader A is being silly and arbitrarily replace them with Leader B, who is now the Prime Minister despite the fact they weren’t voted in by the country’s voters and may not be someone they want at all.
I am still trying to work some sanity into today’s proceedings. I have always had a lot of respect for Simon Crean.
However, this morning (as a senior member of Labor) he calls for a spill. He says the disunity etc are crippling the party. This is about correct.
PM Gillard accommodates him.
Gets to the vote and Kevin Rudd, ten minutes before, realises he doesn’t have the numbers, so declines to challenge. This is all good for him as he appears to be confirming that he wouldn’t challenge.
So Crean is sacked as a Minister. He has gained nothing- perhaps he was going to retire come election time anyway.
However, the question is, why did he do it?
- He truly had enough of disunity and wanted to clear the decks, or
- He was the fall guy for a Rudd push to see how the numbers would stack up. Rudd was able to keep his nose clean and perhaps challenge a little later when the numbers are better for him, or
- He was a fall guy for Gillard- wanted to clear the air and remove speculation for the time being.
None of them make much sense to me. And it was interesting Bob Carr being overseas at the time.
Dem’s the breaks with a parliamentary democracy.
In contrast say to a presidential system when the voters find they have elected a certifiable loon and can’t do anything about it for four years?
You can have your Richard Nixon, Baby Doc Duvalier, or Bashar al-Assad. I like the idea we can turf them out at 2 hours notice without requiring bloody insurrection.
I reckon this warm & fuzzy notion that the greater electorate can know enough about candidate from 30sec sound grabs on “A Current Affair” to want them as national leader, let alone judge their capability to perform the role has hairs all over it. I’d prefer to trust the judgement of those who have worked closely with with the candidate on a daily basis over several years. YMMV.
Edmund Burke really knew his onions.
Hate to admit it, but I agree with the Thule here. (You have no idea how much that pains me). 
The people don’t elect the PM, and nor should they. They vote for the PARTY, and the PARTY votes in their preferred leader.
As he said, YMMV, but I like our system. Yeah, it means a bit of a soft shoe shuffle occasionally, and a few bruised egos, but better that than the alternative/
I didn’t understand a lot of what was written in this thread but the Aussie system still sounds head and shoulders superior to our own. Really interesting perspectives here.
Translation for non Aussies, please!
Means the newspaper that was praising the person is now being used to wrap take away (out) fish and chips.
I agree with the pentultimate thule view that we are supposedly voting for a party and their values rather than a specific leader. As such, that party is able to dispose of a leader and put in a new one.
Unfortunately, it has become less of a party adhering to any principles but doing whatever they can to maintain all the luxuries of power and the capacity to reward those who largely put them there (the NSW State Labor revelations are hardly a surprise with the evidence supporting wholesale corruption being made public). I mean, you have to reflect- Rudd beat the long term Howard Govt, the party after a while thought he was on the nose and replaced him with Gillard who they thought was more appealing. Now she is a liability and a lot want Rudd back- not because he was any great shakes as a PM but because he is their best chance of remaining in power.
And I will hasten to say the other mob are no better at all. At the moment, the Govt has just made their machinations a great soap opera.
Side-bar, please.
What’s a “spill”? It sounds like an instant caucus vote on the leadership - is that right?
Why’s it called a “spill”?
(bolding mine) That is so cute. Pardon my cynicism, but if this were true anywhere I would seriously consider moving there. Or perhaps the question should be: which shit are they getting done, good shit or bad shit?
Not an Aussie, me. Parliamentary D has its benefits and its down sides. I’m not fond of voting for parties myself. Too much of a broad brush.
Roddy
Wiki says it better than I could.
I would also suggest plenty of drinks get spilled in the Parliamentary Bar afterwards.
Well, this was my point. Not many countries has a Government that ignores the popularity contest and knuckles down to get stuff done, so it’s hard to know why people vote for whoever they go for.
But I think in the olden days Politicians were reasonably good at pulling the wool over people’s eyes surreptitiously, but those days are long since over and now the Emperor’s absence of clothes is glaring - however the Politicians don’t seem to realise this; they think they’re still being cleverly cunning with their corruption and self-serving.
So nobody wants to vote for these morons anymore, as they’re embarrassing jokes, but they’re all we have. Plus in Australia voting is compulsory, so we can’t even opt out in protest (without incurring a fine) so that means the least qualified repeatedly get voted in, which they think validates their clever cunning corrupt behaviour, and it is a neverending cycle of childish bullshit.
It is just a fucking joke from top to bottom.
Aspidistra gave you a list - in it’s current term the ALP has passed a carbon tax, a tax on mining profits and made progress on a National Disability Insurance Scheme. Personally I think carbon taxes are a bit of a rort and won’t do much if anything to reduce emmissions.
The beauty (or horror depending on your inclination) of a Parliamentary Democracy is that the Prime Minister, almost by definition, commands a majority in the Legislature and can push through a legislative agenda. The bizarre gridlocks that seem to occur so often in the US between the President and Congress about budgets and the like don’t happen. The downside is all sorts of crap legislation gets pushed through form time to time.
“It is just a fucking joke from top to bottom”
Well I’m at the bottom and don’t consider myself as a joke. YMMV.
And of course you can opt out in protest. Your voting requirement is to get your name marked off the electoral roll. Deface to paper if that provides your jollies. If you don’t want the exercise of walking to your local school hall on polling day, apply for a postal vote and send it in after your kids have decorated it. Doesn’t even need postage.
Doesn’t take much effort to be apathetic. 