The Australian politics thread

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Mr Casson

It's all well and good to say we should have a shinkansen but if you look at Japan, it's hardly going to be a cheap alternative - not to mention it would take longer.

And by the way, anyone who says Japan's public transport is better than Korea's needs a haymaker to the throat.

Which is sort of what I hinted at in my post. I can't speak of Korea though, seeing as though I have never been there!

[howardj]

Labor's Double Standards

It's like Labor is saying that women are so hopeless, so sensitive, so fragile, so vulnerable that they should be treated with kid gloves.

They're saying that oh, good lord, they just can't handle what blokes have to put up with.

It's 1950s stuff.

[Top_Cat]

Geez Labour have just brough this on themselves though, haven't they? I mean it was a dumbarse thing to say (here's what a friend of mine had to say on the matter) but Gillard would have been better served, when Libs brought up the 'mincing poodle' thing in response to Labour's manufactured ****storm, to question why the whole thing is still in the news or to publically humiliate the dick size of anyone who asked about it. Saying she didn't use those words in that exact order has all the political nous of Bill Clinton questioning what the meaning of 'is', is. Labour have been goosed on this one and it's totally their fault.

Wong's actually pretty cool in person, definitely no wuss so I'm not surprised she didn't back down which makes the response of her party even more breath-taking in its stupidity.

[Jono]

Yeah should have just left it after Wong laid the smackdown.

Come to expect this **** from Labor lately. Their tactics are woeful.

[stephen]

Originally Posted by Jono

Yeah should have just left it after Wong laid the smackdown.

Come to expect this **** from Labor lately. Their tactics are woeful.

It's almost as though the ALP have forgotten how to govern. They're acting like they're in opposition and are giving the real opposition more and more credibility with each political blunder.

[Spark]

I wasn't aware that the NSW Senate had no time limits on speaking... **** me. Filibusters have already annoyed me enough in the US Senate, but I didn't know we had this malaise down here too.

At least the material has to be relevant, which means you can't just recite pi or the phone book, although based on the length of the speeches (six hours!) they're not finding that an insurmountable challenge.

[Son Of Coco]

Originally Posted by Craig

Which is sort of what I hinted at in my post. I can't speak of Korea though, seeing as though I have never been there!

Korea's public transport is very good, except for the part where in winter the bus drivers are seemingly unaware that there's a midway point between cool and ****ing sweltering on the heating control. You come in from -9 and find out it's 45 degrees on the bus and the dopey bastard driving it has his window wide open while the rest of us get a free sauna. On local buses you can just open the window if you're lucky enough to jag a seat, but on intercity buses there are only 4 windows in the back 2 rows...and if these rows are inhabited by Koreans they don't ****ing open them! It's a nightmare.

Add to that the fact they whack on the heating as soon as it's past the official date for winter to start if there's anything resembling a cloud in the sky, regardless of the actual temperature, and it's a recipe for irate foreigners.

The buses, trains etc do arrive on time however.

[Craig]

Bob Katter launches the Australian Party to take on the big boys | Courier Mail

[howardj]

So, we're now deporting unaccompanied, assylum seeking minors to non UN-signatory countries.

And yet sending folk to Nauru was such an atrocity...

[Redbacks]

Perhaps its a lesser of two bad policies but in the end, outside of the partisan battles of the Libs and ALP, there's nothing to be inspired or proud about about.

Perhaps part of the problem is we don't listen to or hold to the spirit of the second verse of our anthem:

Beneath our radiant Southern Cross
We'll toil with hearts and hands;
To make this Commonwealth of ours
Renowned of all the lands;
For those who've come across the seas
We've boundless plains to share;
With courage let us all combine
To Advance Australia Fair.
In joyful strains then let us sing,
Advance Australia Fair.

[Burgey]

That's why no one sings it..

[Prince EWS]

Originally Posted by Burgey

That's why no one sings it..

Haha I used to have to sing it every day in primary school. I still know it word for word because of it but pretty much never hear or read it mentioned anywhere.

[iamdavid]

Why hasn't Labor been publicising that 2009 video of Abbott advocating the CT like there's no tomorrow, that'd be dynamite in the current political climate. Get a commercial featuring that clip on TV asap.

[morgieb]

Originally Posted by Prince EWS

Haha I used to have to sing it every day in primary school. I still know it word for word because of it but pretty much never hear or read it mentioned anywhere.

Yeah same.

Also, iamdavid, I dunno. Labor's performance in the media has been shocking. I guess they'd be seen as hypocrits, but it'll show Abbott as a flip-flopper.

[iamdavid]

He succinctly explained the merits of just implementing a carbon tax as opposed to other means of addressing climate change, took him about 30 seconds, as one Q&A tweeter said he explained it a lot better than Labor is managing to do at the moment.

Get an ad featuring the clip and then contrasting it with his current position and you'll be simultaneously explaining the virtues of the CT and making Abbott look like a complete ****.