The Australian politics thread

[Jono]

****ing hell, lost respect for you Howard. Fair enough have your views, but to actually label that scumbag Bolt a hero of yours.

[Johnners]

Have only ever read bits and pieces of Bolts blog (and therefore may have missed something...), but have never understood what exactly it was he wrote that makes people on here hate him so much.

[James]

Cough up $20 for pack of cigarettes | News.com.au

Fantastic news - hope it happens!

The taskforce believes such a hefty rise would reduce the number of smokers by one million within a decade, helping the Government save some of the $31 billion which smoking costs the community each year.

Make them $30 a packet!

[morgieb]

Originally Posted by James

Cough up $20 for pack of cigarettes | News.com.au

Fantastic news - hope it happens!



Make them $30 a packet!

Good. Serves them right for them choosing to die.

[Son Of Coco]

Originally Posted by Clapo

Have only ever read bits and pieces of Bolts blog (and therefore may have missed something...), but have never understood what exactly it was he wrote that makes people on here hate him so much.

That might be because he generally endorses your side of politics.

Think the bloke's a bit of a tool myself, a lot of bluster and bravado that includes elements of truth mixed in with a right-wing agenda.

[morgieb]

Originally Posted by Clapo

Have only ever read bits and pieces of Bolts blog (and therefore may have missed something...), but have never understood what exactly it was he wrote that makes people on here hate him so much.

Probably because it's right-wing crap which misses the point.

[morgieb]

Originally Posted by howardj

Andrew Bolt's My Hero

Could not have written a better piece myself.

Dire.

[Dasa]

Originally Posted by Son Of Coco

That might be because he generally endorses your side of politics.

Think the bloke's a bit of a tool myself, a lot of bluster and bravado that includes elements of truth mixed in with a right-wing agenda.

He's worse than a bit of a tool, the man is a liar who engages in race baiting and is highly offensive. Hardly the type of person I'd think should be anyones hero.

Although this'll probably be decried as lefty, biased, etc etc. - http://blogs.crikey.com.au/purepoiso...y/andrew-bolt/

[howardj]

Originally Posted by Dasa

He's worse than a bit of a tool, the man is a liar who engages in race baiting and is highly offensive. Hardly the type of person I'd think should be anyones hero.

You could say the same about a PM who just last week shuts the door on asylum seekers...but only if you're from Sri Lanka or Afghanistan.

Racist much?

[Dasa]

Haha, I love how you assume I must be in love with Rudd if I disagree with the likes of Bolt. Wrong assumption unfortunately, I'm not wedded to any political party or politician and willing to support them blindly.

[age_master]

Originally Posted by James

Cough up $20 for pack of cigarettes | News.com.au

Fantastic news - hope it happens!



Make them $30 a packet!

Def hope it happens. They certainly should be paying for their future healthcare for mine.

[Ausage]

Some random political musings I've been having in the last week or so.

The destruction of a large part of a coral reef by a coal carrier has me patriotically angry in a way I'm not entirely comfortable with. That place is a national treasure, get those damn coal ships the **** away from it Absolutely disgraceful that these ships aren't monitored, **** the right of passage bull****.

The political state in Tasmania is absolutely facinating. Easily the most interesting political episode in years for me. A bit of a road test to what political life might be like in mainstream politics if the environment goes downhill, and the Greens take a much higher proportion of the national vote.

[morgieb]

Who's won in Tassie? Hodgman or Bartlett?

EDIT: Seems like Bartlett.

[Johnners]

Originally Posted by Ausage

Some random political musings I've been having in the last week or so.

The destruction of a large part of a coral reef by a coal carrier has me patriotically angry in a way I'm not entirely comfortable with. That place is a national treasure, get those damn coal ships the **** away from it Absolutely disgraceful that these ships aren't monitored, **** the right of passage bull****.

The political state in Tasmania is absolutely facinating. Easily the most interesting political episode in years for me. A bit of a road test to what political life might be like in mainstream politics if the environment goes downhill, and the Greens take a much higher proportion of the national vote.

Coal/Gas/Mining in general always takes precedence over the environment, it's quite simply amazing how much of a blind eye the governments turns towards the mining industry when it comes to the whole environment argument. So hypocritical and farcical it isn't funny

[Ausage]

Originally Posted by morgieb

Who's won in Tassie? Hodgman or Bartlett?

EDIT: Seems like Bartlett.

The Liberals won 10 seats, Labor won 10 seats and the Greens won 5. Both major political parties had an agreement that whoever won the most votes would become premier if the amount of seats was split down the middle, and the Liberals ended up with 2% more votes than Labor.

However (and anyone more knowledgeable on the issue is free to correct me on this) it's actually the Governor who makes the final decision on who becomes premier in instances such as these. While Bartlett stuck to his promise of advising the govenor that Hodgeman should be premier, he also didn't rule out the possibility of moving a no confidence motion against a Liberal government if he felt it necessary. Fearing for the stability of the government in an environment like this, the governor decided to reinstate Bartlett to test his power on the floor of the parliament.

Basically you have 3 parties with no love for each other, but any combination of the parties will be able to get votes passed through parliament. It will either be a right royal mess, with an impotent government being unable to weild any sort of power in the parliament, or the parties will in some form work together to devise solutions that are acceptable to 2 or more of the parties.

In other words, it will be interesting. Well, interesting for the political tragics anyway