Helen hi,

'The hard lesson here is that those who have recourse to the narrative of ‘broken promises’ are more likely to be ignorant of politics and of the actual record of politicians and their parties. The popularity of this narrative is itself an indication of a troubling wide ignorance about democracy and its workings'

That Helen is entirely correct and accurately describes the Australian media political commentators.

To me it is re-inforced by the fact only one commentator, Denis Atkins, actually came close to predicting the ALP seat losses. Atkins predicted between 7 and 15 to be returned.

I, as a complete amateur, having no inside knowledge nor contacts, after reviewing all the pre-election poling, observing the activities of the parties, after handing out htv cards at pre-poling went on the public record poling eve and predicted Labor to hold only 6-9 seats, Newman to win Ashgrove easily, The Greens and Katter to get no seats. I said Bulimba could be lost, a seat held continueously by the ALP for 80 years, and would definately go to preferences for the first time ever.

I have asked others and myself why I was almost 100% accurate yet the experts were so wrong.

One nedia jock told me, 'it wasn't about me and that I had 'tickets' on myself'.

I pointed out my 'tickets' were blue and winning ones and asked what colour were his losing ones? He hung up.

The media commentators, in my opinion, seldom are in touch with the realities on the ground and seem incessently intent on talking with each other and seem to form judgements after that limited exposure.

I have a view of what has gone 'wrong' with labor in Queensland. It is complex and involves much more than broken promises and federal issues.

In my opinion at it's heart is the spin, the competence and the unrepresentative nature of Labor Leaders and Labor Politicians as well as the emphasis on policies of little import to the aspirations of traditional Labor voters.

It extends across all Australian States and Federally.

Yes there is and was a lot of spin pre and post the Queensland election! None more so than the incumbent Federal politicians up here and displaying their profound ignorance or endless, we'll all be ruined spin.
Boiled down, it was a state result that displayed the voters' displeasure, with the attempted centralisation of a largely decentralised state; the urbanisation of Koala habitat, the millions wasted on the Traveston travesty; the incredible arrogance on display, which would brook no public opposition; the privatisation of income earning state assets, particularly when there were other options; and the massive empire building bureaucratisation of a formerly lean and mean govt, which handed on good surpluses and a public health system the envy of virtually every other state!
Are there lessons for Federal Labour? Yes, but given the patent spin and dialogue; they're are not listening. But then that's nothing new; given they believe that all they need is a better salesman to sell their message, when what they really need is to start to really actually listen; not so they can debate and or dismiss the objections; but rather, so they can understand and actually act on them. Rhrosty.

Don't you just love it when some academic presumes to tell you what you think, & why you think it, & why you took the actions you did. That it is a hobby of Labor leaders & academics, tells us something about both of them, & their arrogance.

Come off it Helen love, just because you have a muddled thought process doesn't mean we all have. You're even further from the facts & the thoughts of the population, than the Labor party have proved to be.

Perhaps to put you on track here's my thinking.

I did not care about asset sales, but do care about lying, & incompetence.

Therefor some of the swings pf my baseball bat were for Anna, for lying,& trying to con us.

Some were for Beattie, because we missed him last time.

Some were practice shots for another lier, Julie. Boy am I going to enjoy the real thing.

Some were for academia & the ABC, for being part of the con job.

I really have to doubt your academic ability, or your sincerity, when you spend much of your article talking about the US, & Obama. There is only a very vague similarity between their system & ours, so why go there.

We have none of this presidents policy put out to the public, then the president trying to win the necessary vote from a rather independent house. Here the vote is behind closed party doors, & the result known long before the public hear of anything.

To then suggest we could only have voted as we did, because we are ignorant, shows someone who is supremely ignorant, & it sure ain't us.

Get off that high horse love, before you fall & hurt yourself, you're out of your depth.

Do you think you could hide this bit of rubbish, before it destroys your reputation, even amongst academics?

I'm surprised hardcore Labor supporters - all dozen or so of them - are even acknowledging that the ALP in Queensland lost the election, such is the level of fingers-in-ears denial over the last few days.

" If candidates say in the electoral campaign that they are going to do something, then that is very very likely what they will try to do. ... Those politicians who will do anything to keep their promises can sometimes turn out to be more dangerous than those who do not."

The claim made in the first sentence certainly does not apply in respect of Julia Gillard who blatantly and unapologetically broke her election promise not to introduce a carbon tax.

Indeed, the claim in the second sentence applies in respect of federal ministers who have taken extreme steps so as to keep their promise of a budget surplus. As confirmed during the recent public argument between the Rudd and Gillard camps, the primary motive for legislating the carbon tax to apply from 1 July 2012 was not to reduce man-caused carbon dioxide emissions, but to raise billions and billions of dollars of new tax revenue, so as to achieve a 2012-13 budget surplus. As a result of being penalised with the world's highest carbon tax by far, thousands and thousands of Australian businesses will lose their comparative advantage, and millions and millions of Australians will have their standard of living reduced. Should one expect that those afflicted would be comforted by the thought that their suffering is in aid of achieving that rare goal (for federal Labor) of a budget surplus?

I'm just so sick & tired of these academic experts waffling on about why Labor lost the Qld election.
It just proves that academics aren't that intelligent at all. Even our average local village idiot will tell us that Labor lost because they're just too incompetent.
Broken promises ? My lilly white butt. You had to be a moron of the highest order to take them serious in the first place. Thank goodness everyone except the academics have come to see that, hence the outcome.