“The manifest failures of the Coalition, such as its disinterest in environmental or Indigenous affairs, were passed over by the voters who only took account of its apparent economic management credentials”.
Where’s the failure? They keep being re-elected, and that’s all politicians are interested in.
Of course voters “only took into account … economic management”. What’s the big deal about that? Rightly or wrongly, voters are more interested in their hip pockets than they are in anything else; especially in indigenous affairs – where too much of their money is going, to no avail. At elections times, money is the only thing that matters for most voters – including the moaning Millies of the left who are always making pronouncements on social issues at other times.
As for interest rates, we still remember the 17% rates of the Labor era, and people are becoming convinced that governments have no say in interest rates. Howard might have been stupid in claiming that the Coalition would be a better bet on interests rates than Labor, and he deserves everything he gets for that; but now that it is clear to all but the dopiest voter that politicians have no say in interest rates, they are not going to trust the ALP any more than they trust the Coalition.
Interest rates, as well as indigenous affairs and the environment, and IR laws will be non-events at the next election.
However, the author’s opinion of the ALP is spot on, and it’s interesting that Julia Gillard is named before that insufferable bore, Kevin Rudd. Beazley should be sitting on a verandah somewhere with a rug over his knees, but Rudd is not a suitable replacement.
Australians have to face the fact that we will never get a decent government from either major party as they now are. Worse, we have yet to see anything to replace either of them

Beazley does seem to be steering the ALP ship towards the rocks but who in his hand picked crew has the credentials to assume the role of Captain? His first mate (has he told you he can speak Mandarin?) still buys his pirate’s clobber in the boys department. The ship’s treasurer has a history of squirreling money away in brown paper bags. The ship’s cook, a feisty redhead (she still dyes her hair in the bath) speaks in a hard to understand language so she may have to work on that. The ALP ship’s navigator is a messianic ACTU heavy who is being packaged as our savior (Hawke was packaged the same way). Even the ship’s minstrel has been approached to lead the motley crew but he prefers life in his bark hut. Red Pete, the ship’s doctor, is not too popular after it was discovered that people from his village were subjected to quackery. We have the usual array of old pirates who each own a treasure map. The ‘X’ on the map reveals the location of the taxpayers’ treasure. Just who on board the creaking old tub 'Disaster' will assume the role of Captain?

Why not make the parrot captain

NOT ALP but AUSTRALIAN POPULAR IGNORANCE which is defunct.

I watched in total bewonderment, how thousands and thousands of gullable Australian workers, unionists gathered in Federation Square (I missed the MCG event.. too late) and actually seemed to believe that getting rid of Howard and replacing him with a Labor man will suddenly give them the job security they want.

AJAX and IR LAWS. So, lets ask a telling question. "What connected does the 200 lost jobs at Ajax (an iconic company) have to do with 'HOWARD IR LAWS' ? If you are having trouble coming up with a connection...thats because there ISN'T one.
Ajax had contracts with vehicle manufacturers, but clearly their original pricing was based on costings which for AJAX increased, but, not being able to increase their contracted price to GMH and FORD etc, they started to make a loss rather than a profit.

RESCUE DEAL, when the car companies were sqealing like stuck pigs (that is a squeel to run from.. I worked one day in an Abbotoir.. yuk)
about desperation for on going supply, they worked out a 'deal' with AJAX. But what was the deal ?
1/ From Ajax point of view: Car companies will pay more for product, and re-assess the pricing of fasteners in their costing (Most likely)and this will lead to on going work and job security.

2/ From Car companies point of view: "We will bail them out for the shortest possible time, while we secure other sources from China and other places at lower prices. As soon as we have those sources, we will cut Ajax loose and they can go jump."

We now all know which view prevailed and 200 people are jobless.

...continued.

HENCE MY SIGN at the protest "BLAME CHINA". But..is that the full story ? There are 2 actions which WILL give more job security in manufacturing and IT, Sales,Customer service and back office type work.

1/ Tax at customs on goods manufactured under SLAVE like employment conditions, where the level of tax is determined by the country of origin.
2/ OUTSOURCED OVERSEAS LABOR would be a separate field on business tax returns, and would NOT be allowed a 100% deductability as a business expense.

WOULD BEASLEY DO THIS ? I'm sure HOWARD will not, and no one else has the clout.

So, if TRUE job security in many fields where we are losing out to overseas interests is found in something no politician of note is willing to do, then....

THE OBVIOUS QUESTION arises..'what' the heck was this protest really about ?

Clearly, the majority of Unionists who attended have been sucked in by the false idea of 'better conditions/protected conditions/secure employment' under LABOR who will not actually deliver. So, the rally was purely about UNION POWER and attempt at relevance.

If the Unions were serious about worker interests, they would advocate my two points above. Most passers by agreed with my position at the rally. The 2 who did not....one was a communist woman and the other a chinese youth (probably the son of a 'New Capitalist' chinese)
I'm crushed :)

WILL HOWARD DELIVER ? yes..for the miners and graziers and big petro-business but for 'workers' (Ajax)? dubious.

WILL BEASLEY DELIVER ? yep.. short term gains for unionists until all their jobs (except those impossible to outsource like cutting grass) are gone, with no real fundamental change.

SOLUTION ? yes.. see my 2 points.....or, (like me), buy some acres and be prepared to grow your own food, but don't...repeat DON'T hope there is such an animal as 'job security' lurking out their in the economic jungle.

There is a simple saying in politics made by a successful political leader, "If you cannot govern yourself, you cannot govern the country." Beazley, Crean, Latham, Rudd...who needs to watch a US soap opera when you have the real deal.

Yes. Peter, many of us more radical ones having left the local University of the 3rd Age, because it has pretty well in its politics become a short-arm of government, have been phoning up each other that Julie Gillard is the one to go for.

If historical portraits mean anything Julia looks very much like a young Queen Lizzie the First. Maybe she has inherited something. And even though a female, let's go for her, because our politics, including the US politics, should benefit, as history has often proven, from a change to the feminine gender.

Couldn't possibly do any worse, anyhow.