BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 26 Nov 07 - 09:02 PM

Precious few are putting their hands up for the leadership of the Liberal Party; thank goodness Alexander Downer of the fishnet tights and silver spoon has decided to keep out of it. And the Nationals are looking for a new leader, one who can represent a generational change.

For the benefit of the nonaussies, in the Oz system, the govt is formed in the lower house (House of Reps) which means the Prime Minister and Deputy PM must be MHRs and not Senators. When in coalition the Nationals (always a small party but large enough to avoid being regarded as a minor party) have had their leader take the Deputy PM office. The only National younger than antediluvian is Barnaby Joyce; he's in the Senate and already on record as supportive of the ALP's intentions about WorkChoices legislation. Not the preferred attitude of a party that, when named the "Country Party", was known for advocating the socialisation of farmers' losses and privatising their profits while demonising workers and their unions.

It will be interesting to see how the Liberals deal with their "reactionary Right" elements and whether the Nationals can take all of Pauline's followers into their fold. And how the ALP shapes up to the task of delivering on their promises.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 03:56 AM

by-the-by, the Spooky Man link above is not the Spookies, it's "just" another marvellous choir organised by their choirmaster

signed
picky pedant

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:38 AM

Also now eating their innards is the Queensland State Liberal Party - State parties are totally separate organisations from the national ones. There has been a call for a leadership spill.

They have 2 irreconcilable factions, and 8 seats... that's right - exactly 4 in each...

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: GUEST,DK
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 07:59 AM

I am as pleased as anyone to see the back of Howard but I regard Rudd - apart from Industrial
Relations laws - as being more 'Liberal Lite' than Labor. I hope I'm wrong, only time wil tell.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 10:49 AM

I haven't found anything to indicate where Rudd is on immigration. Has he said anything to give any indication?

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 04:28 PM

Riginslinger, as you're probably aware from your research, "immigration" in the context of an Oz election (these days) covers two major issues;
1   how many we let in from countries where the majority are "not like us" (shades of the White Australia Policy) and
2   how we treat asylum seekers and other refugees, all demonised by the Coalition as "illegals".

The most recent comment I've been able to attribute to Rudd is his response to what he intends to do about the "Pacific Solution", a method used by the Caolition to declare some parts of Australia as not being parts of Australia for some purposes (particularly claiming asylum) and sending the claimants to special concentration camps on Manus Island (part of PNG, who need the money) and Nauru (who need the money even more); we have our own concentration camp on Christmas Island but that island is still part of Oz sometimes while the other two aren't at all. Rudd said he'd "take advice" on the matter.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 05:07 PM

He also said that 'the Pacific Solution' seemed to be a huge waste of money, but that he may not be able to shut Naaru et al down immediately due to contractual arrangements.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:15 PM

I've become amused by the current proximity of this thread title to the "Daily Chimp Webcam" one...

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:19 PM

As an outsider, reading what's available in the states, one gets the impression that if they just threw the doors open, there'd be standing-room-only in a matter of weeks.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 06:24 PM

You mean that all the US chimps would wanna come here? I thought they did already... except George, no wait, he spoke in our parliament house, and his SS* 'minders' US tried to throw Aussies out of the chamber and tried to stop Aussie pollies asking George questions....

Bloody Yanks!

:-P

* Unfortunate that abbreviation really...

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 09:30 PM

Yes, well naturally we'd love to get rid of George. But the story line is all about boat people from Indonesia and all points east. It might just be hearsay.

                   Of course, like the man said, "I only know what I read in the newspapers."

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 27 Nov 07 - 09:38 PM

Lucky that I can't afford to buy them anymore then Riginslinger ... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: goatfell
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 08:24 AM

I was in Australia the first time Howard got when they got rid of that 'human being' called Keating, but now when Howard got invovled with Iraq I didn't like him at all, But like his Ilk the new Prime Minster will be another arsehole, Australia should be like Britain, DON'T VOTE OR A DICKHEAD WILL BE PRIME MINISTER.

GORDON BROWN FOR ONE.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 04:40 PM

Unfortunately Arran, it's still the case that, whether you (or I) vote or not, a politician will still get in. If everyone abstained from voting, then us hoi polloi would have even less influence over the self-appointed.

And, back on the topic at hand, we still don't know whether the seat of Bennelong has actually changed hands. But we'll find out today who will replace John Howard as the leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party and thus Leader of the Opposition.

Thanks for posting the song, JennyO!

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 07:43 PM

Bugger another one vanished - well I'm not going to retype it

1) The liberals party farce continues...

20 Rudd will announce his government today.


Joe
This one just died - the thread was NOT updated when the new display list came back - and was not present, so, as I guessed, the DB is not taking the added message. Check the error logs just prior to this message time.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 28 Nov 07 - 10:05 PM

Brendan Nelson and Julia Bishop replace John Howard and Peter Costello as Leader and Deputy Leader (respectively) of the Liberal Party.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: John O'L
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 01:27 AM

I like the look of the new Liberal leadership. Dare we hope for a new era of responsible government with effective opposition?

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 04:55 AM

latest from ABC News Radio

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: GUEST,Arran
Date: 29 Nov 07 - 07:45 AM

well over in Scotland we have four elections, the Genaral election (the government of Britain) who gets in there, the Scottish Election ( for the Government of Scotland) who gets in there and the Europeiean one lastly the council one, so you see we here in Scotland are very busy indeed oh I vote in everyone.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 05:31 AM

we only have 3 elections - Federal, State & council & voting is compulsory in all (well, attending the Polling place & getting ballot papers after name is crossed off list is compulsory!)

sandra

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 08:01 PM

McKew claims victory in Bennelong
http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,22852311-29277,00.html?from=public_rss

December 01, 2007 09:36am
Article from: AAP

A WEEK after voters went to the polls, Labor star recruit Maxine McKew has officially claimed the Sydney seat of Bennelong, making history as the person who knocked off prime minister John Howard in his own electorate.

Despite leading Mr Howard from the outset, Ms McKew has been reluctant to claim Bennelong, saying it was too close to call.

Today in Sydney the former ABC journalist and now parliamentary secretary to the Prime Minister and Cabinet finally claimed Bennelong as a Labor seat - the first time it has been out of Liberal hands since it was established in 1949.

"One week after the polls opened I can now say that in Bennelong we are 2100 votes ahead, we have 51.25 per cent of the two party vote, so we are comfortably ahead," Ms McKew said at Gladesville Public School.

"I can formally say that Bennelong is now a Labor seat for the first time."

Mr Howard is only the second sitting prime minister to have lost his seat, after Stanley Bruce was defeated in 1929.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 08:19 PM

Icing on the cake!

Will Kerry O'Brien ever be allowede to forget his comment, made during the ABC's televised commentary on the polling results last Saturday and when the broadcast crossed to Maxine McKew's Campaign HQ, about "a swing to the ABC"?

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 08:35 PM

The Chaser boys didn't, Rowan... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Charley Noble
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:12 PM

Congratulations!

So when can we immigrate?

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: JennyO
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 09:55 PM

Soon please, Charlie. Now THAT would be the icing on the cake!

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 30 Nov 07 - 10:03 PM

Thanks Robin,
I was at the local Netball Assocn AGM while the Chaser was broadcast and missed them. The AGM decided to encourage starting a Men's Division; the Australian Netball governing body got around the AntiDiscrimination Act by declaring "Netball is a single sex sport" so, although more girls/women play netball in Oz than men play most football codes combined, it's not confined to them.

There you go Charley! You can learn a whole new aspect of Oz culture by coming and playing netball!

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 03:49 AM

"Netball is a single sex sport"

They didn't call it 'netball' when I was a teenager.... :-P

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Don(Wyziwyg)T
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 06:33 PM

Lovely to hear some good news!

Now if we could only shove LURCH north of the border and lock the gate in Hadrian's Wall.......Ho Hum!

Can't win 'em all.

Don T.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 07:23 PM

This morning Aus TV played a little prophetic animation that was first out in July apparently

Johnny Howard singing 'Yesterday'...

Anybody found it on the net? I don't have broadband, so don't look for such stuff...

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 01 Dec 07 - 09:21 PM

Now Brendan (oooo what a luverly name!), the new leader of The Liberal Party, has decided to go against one of Little Fascist Johnny's basic policies, and support Rights for Gay Couples... (some US readers may not be able to cope with that, with their ideas of what 'Liberals' are...)

BTW, Brendan has been getting a lot of air time lately - seems someone discovered old film of him in his younger days, in a Labour Party organised protest march, screaming his head off "I'll never vote Liberal"... when confronted on camera recently before the election, he smilingly replied "I can absolutely assure you that there is one Liberal candidate that I WILL be voting for..."

There was a certain member of parliament who when asked at Question time, why he had been a member of every party except the Country Party replied "a man has to have SOME standards!".

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: John O'L
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 12:19 AM

I saw Costello on Lateline saying that if he had led the Libs into this election they might've won. Incredible. No grasp on reality at all.
He didn't rule out a future tilt for the leadership either.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 07:36 AM

Well, actually, if Johnny had either run the election last november, he might have walked in, or if he retired, he would have done so as a successfuk leader and costello could have lost the election all on his own.... :-)


I saw the typo, and left it.... :-)

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 08:09 AM

check out par 3 of this comment by an ABC NEWS reader commenting on Howard's resignation speech. Was she serious, or tongue in cheek??? Or was it a case of type in haste & not check spelling or sense.


Sheilah:

24 Nov 2007 11:07:48pm

Many are probably so busy celebrating at the moment that they haven't thought about what Mr Howard actually did in this campaign.

It seemed obvious for the last year that the Liberals' time was up. Had Mr Howard stepped down before the elections and let Mr Costelloe take over, the party would still have been defeated. Then the usual bloodletting and internal leadership struggles (such that the Labor Party has only recently thrown off) would have ensued.

In the party's interests, Mr Howard has gone to the election willing to take the defeat and risk a less than glorious end to his personal career for the benefit of the party. It was a case of eschewing self interest - so rare in a politician.

John Howard has done a marvellous job and should be congratulated. Now we must wait and see whether someone who has never even held a ministry can steer our country's economy through the difficult financial times ahead.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 08:46 AM

Yes Sandra, I am surprised - usually the Labour Party has managed in the past to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory...

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 09:09 AM

maybe they took lessons from the Labour Party ...

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 10:59 AM

"Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election..."


                      It sounds like he lost his ass. Is anybody looking for it?

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 04:34 PM

It sounds like he lost his ass.

Riginslinger, even the donkey vote couldn't save John Howard.

And with his pension entitlements, I doubt he'll ever be bare arsed for lack of the readies.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 05:31 PM

Sad, very sad!

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Stewie
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 06:17 PM

Foolestroupe, can you stop putting a 'u' in the spelling of Australian Labor Party - you are leading the poms and yanks astray. :-)

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 09:11 PM

The poms?

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: John O'L
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 10:02 PM

Poms.
Well, when the convicts were transported here, they had Store High In Transit printed on their...No no no, wrong bullshit, sorry.

A story goes that the convicts had POHM on their shirts for Prisoner Of His/Her Majesty.
Another story goes that a train of rhyming slang goes along the lines of - immigrant, Jimmy Grant, pomegranate, pommygrant, pommy.

Suffice to say that for some reason lost to us now, Australians call all English "Poms" or "Pommies".

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Sandra in Sydney
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 11:04 PM

Fools is also leading me astray, oops (perhaps I can say it was a typo!

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 02 Dec 07 - 11:47 PM

Okay! I can understand how things perculiar to Australia could lead yanks astray, but I don't see how they lead Poms astray, given they've been there for a while.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 12:07 AM

There was a time, Riginslinger, when there were more Septic tanks here than Poms; ~62 years ago, from memory. But a few things have changed since then.

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Little Hawk
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 12:13 AM

I've heard that it's Poms, Pommies... or Pommie Bastards for short!

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Stewie
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 12:24 AM

Ringinslinger, I referring only to the spelling - from F's posts, the poms might think we spell our Labor Party like their Labour Party.

--Stewie.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 02:25 AM

Now I'm bloody confused!

Johnny's seat - The "L" party - I'm NOT gonna bloody well spell it any more! got 28% primary vote in 2004, and 45% in 2007.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Riginslinger
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 07:28 AM

That's interesting. I wonder when the POMS quit coming.

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 04:50 PM

Riginslinger, the Poms have never really stopped coming; it's just that 62 yearts ago Australia was at the tail end of being the American launchpad for the military push to defeat Japan and the Poms here were a bit outnumbered.

And in the thread's title comments, Warren Truss is now the Leader of the National Party. With any luck, John Who? will fade into oblivion. Although I'll be interested to see how a little tradition gets played out.

Traditionally, ex Prime Ministers were offered a knighthood until the Labor Govt got rid of imperial honours and replaced them with the serried ranks of the Order of Australia. When the Coalition defeated the ALP in 1996, Paul Keating was offered one by John Howard but declined, on the grounds that as an elected representative he was only doing what was required of any such person and thus was not deserving of special reward for duty. He then went to ground and played no public part in politics apart from some defense against politically motivated attempts at calumny.

After polling day but while he thaought he still had a chance at retaining his seat, John Howard commented that he'd ultimately reture and not make any public contribution to politics "unlike previous ex Prime Ministers"; he may well have had Malcolm Fraser in mind rather than Paul Keating, though.

Given that comment, will Rudd offer Howard an AO? Will Howard accept, if offered it?

Cheers, Rowan

Subject: RE: BS: Oz Prime Minister loses seat in election
From: Rowan
Date: 03 Dec 07 - 05:14 PM

And, within an hour of being sworn in as PM, Rudd had the paperwork for ratification of the Kyoto stff signed off by the GG.

Swift work!

Cheers, Rowan