I can't believe how stupid the Coalition have been regards to IR reform.Keating gave them many blue and white collar workers and the Coalition dished up an absolute shambles of IR that alienated a very important portion of their supporters.

I don't think that these voters will come back that easily since it took a lot of pain from Keating for them to desert Labor and now they feel betrayed by the Coalition.

Kevin Rudd will keep a slightly watered down version of IR for 3 yrs and keep the most obscene portion of unfair dismissal whereby lawyers and unscrupulous employees can destroy small business.

My gut feeling is that Labor will be a disaster and the best the Coalition can do is to minimise the loss of seats so we can turf them out at the next election when they stuff up.

Labor has to claw back a huge number of seats, especially in Queensland.

Yes. Their polling indicates they can do it. It's still a huge task. They know that.

As for the election material, you said it yourself, there's no name. It could be anyone dumping it.

There's a certain level of cockiness that always goes on. Think Peter 'captain smirk' Costello.

It's pretty irrelevant to the whole situation however.

I again think the thread is evidence of the mud hole conservatives are wallowing in.
Some policy's could reverse the polling not fear and lies.
If old John Howard today said ok we got it wrong sorry about workchoices, signed Kyoto, questioned America about how we can win in Iraq.
Came up with a real plan for climate change, even a national plan for health ,not a propaganda policy.
They could turn it around given the polling they must.

The last politician to get cocky before the election was Jeff Kennett and look what happened to him.

If Labor wins I'll be looking to see how long Rudd's sugar coated talking style continues. When he's faced with running the country he might find life's not such a holiday as it is for him at the moment.

Can someone tell me what this bloke has been in charge of before now?

Labour
Have a policy we are told not to inform the public who their advisors are.?
Can anybody believe that.!
Thats not cocky thats shear arrogance. Half the time I suspect they dont know themselves.
Look we have been at war with the Howard Government for years over the cruel live Animal trade and probably I hope annoyed the Howard Government on more than one occassion.
However you can call them and speak with the advisors and argue whenever you like.
There has never ever been a problem knowing who the advisors are in any of the officers.
There is for sure a arrogance in mark Vailes office and Downers
However there is NO WAY they would ever refuse to tell the public who their advisors are.
Labour say they have a policy not to speak to anybody by phone to answer the most simply questions.
If you want to know anything you must write but even then they wont give you the name of the advisor to write to?

They go to water when asked the most simply of questions and become very defensive even rude.
They sound scared to answer questions.
Also under State Labour Government Animals are allowed to be slaughtered without pre stunning which at present is not the case with the export standards of AQIS.
Clearly Animals MUST be pre stunned at all times.
In answer to the question what has Rudd ran before?
Nothing.
Not even a city council.
Scarey isnt it considering todays world.
We are not pro Howard- Anything but.

I was not aware that Labor had any policies...just plans for inquiries into this, that and something else - and a much increased bureaucracy to handle those inquiries. This is perhaps what one would expect from a bureaucrat but it is not going to help him run the country.