How terrible a politician finding and opportunity to put the boot in!

It is just politics Julie - as you know. It doesn't really mean anything nor does it really have to make sense.

To be fair to Tony Abbott he has a long history of engaging in personal fitness.He critics try to portray this a new trendy vote facilitator. This however, does not necessarily make him a good leader.Health should be a preventative in terms exercise and diet.

Both the major parties have over the last 40yrs sold this country out.We are all just slaves to corporate avarice.

Full marks to Tony Abbott for keeping himself fit, however I hope he isn't like some leaders who don't suffer stress themselves but cause it in everyone around them.

Wouldn't it be nice to have leaders who model good leadership, inherent to which is respecting the people who work for them and in Tony's case, for the population he serves (not the other way around).

It was disappointing to read that while Tony Abbott was strutting his stuff and demanding to be worshipped as an iron man, he was using his remaining time to sledge people on disability pensions. All disability pensioners want to work and be successful too, although heredity, misfortune and fate have dealt them a lesser hand to you, Tony Abbott. It is cowardly to make vulnerable disability pensioners your whipping boys to appeal to bigots and play wedge politics.

Fit for office? That sure enough depends on how 'fit' is defined. Tony has many good qualities such as intelligence and tenacity but the capacity to understand and empathise with those who are worse off than him isn't one of his long suits.

Hang on, I want a politician who shows good judgement, not
a chest thumping one who is seemingly trying to emulate
Putin.

If Julie is really interested in healthier Australians, she
should go right back to the manufactured food industry
and the little schemes they use, to stuff more sugar, salt
and fat into everyday food ingredients.

She only needs to walk down her supermarket isle and have
a look at breakfast cereals. All those healthy claims
on the front, then in many cases in writing so small that
one is barely able to read it, sugar levels of 25%!

I've even contacted Nestle, who own Uncle Toby's. They simply
don't care and shut consumers up by sending them 10 bucks.

It is well within Julie's power to do something about these
rorts, which are fattening up Australians in one way or another.
Is she doing anything?

I think it's a bit rich, for the Member for Curtin, to criticize Rudd and his cohorts for replicating her ! One time Barrister and Harvard grad, she should by now, be used to the duplicity, chicanery and hypocrisy, that is the hall mark of that monolithic Taz Mahal, euphemistically called Parliament.

Never, in the field of human conflict , was so much owed by so many to so few ( who have debased our National heritage, sacrosanct values and children's futures )

Ubiquitous Don Chipp"s " keep the Bastards honest " ( Hansard 104:557 ) still resonates 33 years after his absolute disenchantment with party Politics, back room pressure groups, lobbyist, point scoring, gutter tactics, fraudulence, and betrayal.

The image makers in Canberra, are working assiduously to characterize the macho impression of Abbott ( triathlon champion ) to that of puny, effeminate, mother's boy Kevin, the narcissist sissy. Comparisons count in any debate, especially among the female electorate. OMG !

Then, they portrayed the disparity between a Rhodes scholar and a minor echelon DFAT public servant, who exaggerated his status, but created a make-belief intimacy with World leaders i.e Deng Xioping, Hu Jintao, Bambang Yudhoyono, Kouichiro Tsujino, Barack Obama etc.

Next, they lampooned Abbott for dereliction of duty, and his fitness for Office. Conveniently forgetting Kevin spent his Easter break plagiarize Harry Potter, Sarah Ferguson etc children's books to publicize his own literary manifesto, which flopped dismally. Instead of pulping, was distributed freely under Gillard's Educational revamp.

The power struggles within the Liberal / National Coalition has turned most voters off. In retrospect, the shenanigans and double-dealings have left a bitter taste for all who aspire to Ozzie Politics. Anyone with gumption/integrity would seek honest work elsewhere. At the very least, they will sleep soundly. Their conscience, and altar-ego's would endure less stress.

The Stern Hu debacle is a glaring reminder Corporate Governance is in urgent need of reform. I attended Paul Kelly's Center of Independent Studies Forum, where Dr John Lee. Phd.MA. espoused a factual account relating to Rio Tinto's deplorable sellout of one of it's chief
cont..

Asian negotiators. Recapping, it seems the giant Anglo-Australian, BHP and Vale have been renegotiating commodity prices with China for some time. Iron Ore prices are set annually, but the rules were changed when they opted for spot pricing ( open market bidding ) which commands a higher return, and is pivotal to the whole dilemma. At one stage ore reached $ 145.5 / tonne. Up 71.5 % from $ 20.62 ( Mar,2008 ) Meantime Chinalco sought a 18 % stake @ $ 19.5 B for Riuo Tinto, which was grossly in debt $ 40 B and overdue. BHP then entered the fray with a bid for RT with an offer 3:1 script, which was absurdly low, and was subsequently rejected by the shareholders. The trio, then argued over Quarterly Price Adjustments, which according to a formula, was f.o.b inclusive.Transport cost was now halved, as it cost more from Brazil. The Foreign Investment Review Board was deliberating the consequence i.e National security/ Aust interest, when the deal collapsed. Rio made $ 195 M " breakup fees " payments to Chinalco for aborting the transaction !

Stern Ho was summarily charged with bribery, stealing commercial secrets, and other subversive acts in Shanghai.

CEO Tom Albanese immediately distanced Rio of any culpability. Evidently SH, and his mates, acted on their own, without the knowledge of their employer. Business as usual.

It isn't the first time the Big Australian was enmeshed in convoluted conspiracies which have cast a shadow over it's Corporate squeaky clean image. The Oil for Food fiasco. 1993/2003 which led to the Cole Inquiry, and the resignation of prominent members of the Aust Wheat Board. Kick backs amounting to $ 350 M, changed hands, even as ADF diggers advanced on Baghdad. It was a scandal that involved Ministry's. Govt Officials and BHP. No one was ever prosecuted. BHP was said to act as an intermediary, with it's Middle East connections, to lubricate transactions, in which claims were made to the ATO for expenses !

What a schmozzle !