Serious Australian Election 2013: Liberals win

[Trax]

that sucks but show some class people please. I'll admit Abbett isn't the great speaker or politician to ever enter our lives but you vote the party not the person (even if you did, it was a choice of the prove smelly turd or the could be smelly turd). Labor was ripping itself apart from the inside. Needed a change.

Labor may have been swapping leaders faster than a new parent changes nappies, but it's entirely irrelevant if they're performing ok in other aspects -- that was what pissed me off about the whole election debate, the sheer irrelevance of what people were talking about.

But give the Libs a bloody chance.

No. We know the policies they ran on; they were shit, they are the shits at state level (where most of us have them in action right now) and the federal arm is the same bullshit with more fucking up national infrastructure, selling off any asset of value, and making us look like a nation of hicks on the international level.

 

[jumpluff]

Well, we sort of knew the policies they ran on

But, yea, even though I pay less attention to state politics, state Liberals are a pretty good indication of what you get. Sell off everything they can, slash what they can't. I feel sorta sorry for QLD.

Life will continue probably as normal, but policy measures do make a real difference to people's lives, for example WorkChoices, Medicare Locals, spending on education, cutting jobs, etc.

I do wish someone would sort out the NSW Labor Party quick smart so we can get rid of the NSW Libs in two years, they're pretty disgraceful in themselves.

 

[Brammi]

Well, the media here is largely controlled by Rupert Murdoch, and it was incredibly biased.

I agree that Labor spent too much time being publicly petty though. It became a debate of personality and as usual populist rhetoric won out over informed policies. They're not mutually exclusive, it's just that that rhetoric is what generally wins elections like this. We don't have a presidential political system, but most people I believe do vote based on who is at the head of the party. And why shouldn't they? Most people's local representatives are terrible and who the Prime Minister is actually does matter. New England was blessed with Tony Windsor up until now =/

Labor were really terrible at selling the good job they'd done and allowed the idea that Liberals are superior economic managers etc. to prevail largely unchallenged.

Ironically the right wing economists were backing Labor as the more economically savvy party going into the election, something I only knew because it was brought to my attention by economics students at my uni.

 

[Crux]

Right wing economics is a manifestation of a political view that favours small government because that is broadly beneficial to corporate interests that the right is generally comprise of moreso than actual economics based on any kind of modelling or scientific principle. This bullshit drove the shift to the right in this election and I'm of the opinion that right wing economist can fuck off...

 

[Trax]

Right wing economics is a manifestation of a political view that favours small government because that is broadly beneficial to corporate interests that the right is generally comprise of moreso than actual economics based on any kind of modelling or scientific principle. This bullshit drove the shift to the right in this election and I'm of the opinion that right wing economist can fuck off...

Labor had a number of problems -- but I don't think economics was one of them; yes some right wingers bleated about it a bit, but I didn't hear too much.

What lost them this election was a chronic inability to look like they were organised and knew what they were doing coupled with a news media all too willing to highlight it.

 

[jumpluff]

Yeah, I almost never heard surplus rhetoric except in the media during the federal budget time. I do think there is a general public impression that Labor are wasteful while the party of middle class welfare is 'necessary' for being canny savers. I have heard that general line of argument made many times. I guess it had a strong subtle influence though in that I feel like there's a kind of shift towards conservative thinking where governments actually spending money on anything but voter bribes is arrant waste, and people associate the Liberals with being wise with money. Meanwhile the rest of the world is in or has been in austerity and is mindboggled by the thought that Australians were complaining about their relatively unchanged position post-crisis.

It was also of course 'carbon tax', asylum seekers (unemployment etc.), Julia Gillard is a literal misandry and stabbed Kevin in the back and keeps playing the 'gender card' so you can expect men lined up for the firing squad tomorrow, the ALP are a trainwreck but that Tony bloke seems alright, etc.

 

[Trax]

It was also of course 'carbon tax', asylum seekers (unemployment etc.), Julia Gillard is a literal misandry and stabbed Kevin in the back and keeps playing the 'gender card' so you can expect men lined up for the firing squad tomorrow, the ALP are a trainwreck but that Tony bloke seems alright, etc.

In fairness, Gillard's second misogyny rant was a bit much -- she made the point with the first one, and most sensible people went "fair enough", but her repeating it just came across as insulting (which is why after the second effort her position in the polls tumbled).

Abbott also did a decent job of not appearing like a lunatic for a few years, which realistically was all he needed to do; Labor did half the work (entirely through irrelevant things, but I digress) and Murdoch did the rest.

 

[jumpluff]

Well yea he hid his lunacy reasonably well as far as the greater public is concerned, never went on Q&A and everyone who wasn't aware of his history / actual lunatic beliefs just thought he was just a bit awkward, kind of like eating your own earwax on camera. He did make a number of extreme gaffes in Opposition though, there was a list somewhere that's actually pretty funny, I'll see if I can dig it up. Hell, he made them in the last two weeks leading up to the election, but it was mostly a done deal at that point.

His minders did well to keep him silent, like you said, that's all he had to do. They reenacted the policy with other candidates too.

Speaking of lunatic conservatives, I was listening to the radio news on the way back home today and apparently people around here are already hesitant about Barnaby Joyce because Gina Rinehart (his noted bff) was there for the party and now he's sort of backtracking on his previous strong statements on landowners and mining... lol... you think so, New England?

eta: http://www.scribd.com/doc/133134121/Tony-Abbott-Gaffes here we go, not trying to make any serious political point, this is for comedic enjoyment as no further evidence was needed to prove he's a buffoon anyway lol

 

[Brammi]

Apparently the deficit is the reason why we have a Minister for Anzac Day and no Minister for Science.