It's interesting to see the accusations and arguments getting a little more shrill and desperate now there's a chance of the Rodent being forced into early retirement.

Just a hint of panic in the ranks?

At least he'll find out first-hand how it feels to have some job insecurity for the next six weeks.

Of course, he will have a much softer landing than most.

Television news on the evening of Sunday 14 October 2007 was that the Prime Minister had called upon the Governor-General to advise that the House of Representatives be dissolved and writs be issued for general Federal elections.

Commonwealth Government Gazette, Special edition, Number S204 dated Monday 15 October 2007, contains a proclamation by the Governor-General proroguing the Parliament. The Proclamation was sealed and dated 14 October 2007. See: http://www.ag.gov.au/portal/govgazonline.nsf/a51e77a0661e155cca256cf4001d02d9/c2592ab524e7b3a0ca2573750007f345!OpenDocument , and click to download a PDF copy of the Proclamation.

The Australian Electoral Commission announcement regarding the calling of Federal elections, see: http://www.aec.gov.au/About_AEC/Media_releases/10_14.htm , states that Wednesday 17 October 2007 is the date of issue of the writs. With respect, such a claim could only have been correctly made on Sunday 14 October 2007 by the AEC, as one was, if the writs had already been signed (as the law requires) by the Governor-General. A telephone enquiry on Tuesday 16 October 2007 to the number given for the AEC Director Media and Communication Strategy as to whether the AEC had already received the writs was answered by an AEC spokesperson "yes, I believe so".

If the AEC spokesperson was answering correctly as to the Commission already being in receipt of the writs, then it is apparent that the Governor-General must have been advised by the Prime Minister to post-date them Wednesday 17 October 2007. The existence of such a circumstance would not reflect badly upon the Governor-General. It would, however, appear as a demeaning of that office by the Prime Minister, if such was in fact advised.

An ABC news item "Australians urged to enrol to vote" by Chris Uhlmann, posted on Sat Oct 6, 2007, see: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/10/06/2052631.htm?section=australia , contained a claim by AEC Director Media and Communication Strategy, Phil Diak, that writs were not necessarily issued on the day an election was called.

What, of all this, is nonsense?

I am annoyed by Howard's claims of "booming economy". Of course its booming, it's booming because as a country we are trading in tomorrow for today. We are borrowing the prosperity and this continuing borrowing will have to end at some time. When this time comes we will be required to "pay the piper". The reason, "free trade"
zealotry, and doctored unemployment statistics. The lefty righty argument has no relevance now the real argument is free trade versus protection. If we spent only what we earned all would be fine.

Consider this. The current account deficit was 16 billion for the first quarter of 2007. We have run straight deficits for 32 years. The deficit amounts to $54 per person per week, and we are now borrowing to cover this because we do not have many assets left to sell. $54 is the weekly wage of a skilled Chinese worker. This means that our current marvelous prosperity and "boom" is derived not because of a "minerals boom" but because we each have a Chinese slave working for us and we put the slave rental charges on the credit card.

What happens when the Chinese slaves are emancipated. What happens when our creditors finally come to a realisation that they will have to whistle Dixie for their money. This almost happened in August.

Both Liberal and Labor governments bear responsibility for this egregious situation but at present only Howard wants the credit. This claim of a never better economy is simply hubris.

Dear Brightspark,

The foreign debt situation is only the result of the aggregate borrowing of individuals and non-Government organisations, particularly firms.

Firms that borrow usually do for for economically sensible reasons, whilst I hope that most people are able to finance their own personal debts. Often credit is only extended when security is provided. Ultimately, these are the concerns of private citizens, and generally do not concern us.

Australia has always had high levels of foreign debt. Provided they are not massive, they are little burden to the long term health of the economy.

A copy of Commonwealth Government Gazette, Special edition, Number S 358 dated Monday 30 August 2004, containing a Proclamation by the Governor-General relating to the calling of the Federal elections of 2004, can be viewed here: http://www.ag.gov.au/portal/govgazonline.nsf/(custom-spcnot-pub-view)!OpenView&Start=887

Gazette S 363, dated Tuesday, 31 August 2004, was issued the very next day. It contained a notice by the then Special Minister of State, Eric Abetz, that the Governor-General had issued writs that same day for the 2004 Federal elections. Viewers will note the minimal delay between the Proclamation and the issue of writs in 2004, contrary to the expectation of a significant delay of as much as four days engendered with respect to the 2007 elections by Phil Diak of the AEC in the ABC news item linked in my previous post.

A comparison with the Proclamation in S 204, dated Monday 15 October 2007, will reveal an important difference between the two Proclamations. That of Monday 15 October 2007 does not dissolve the House of Representatives, only prorogues it until Saturday 24 November 2007, whereas that of S 358 dated 30 August 2004 both prorogued the Parliament AND dissolved the House of Representatives!

At this point the public had every right to wonder what on earth was going on!

Subsequently, Gazette S 208 has been published, dated Wednesday, 17 October 2007, containing a Proclamation by the Governor-General dissolving the House of Representatives at 12 noon on Wednesday 17 October 2007. This Proclamation was also signed and sealed on Sunday 14 October 2007.

Given that the prorogation proclamation specified the date of Saturday 24 November as the end of the period of prorogation, whilst the dissolution proclamation specified 12 noon on Wednesday 17 October 2007 as the time of dissolution of the House of Representatives, yet both Proclamations were signed and sealed on Sunday 14 October 2007, it is difficult to see why gazettal of the dissolution proclamation was delayed, and why different dates for prorogation and dissolution were specified in the first place.

I've got to agree with AJFA insofar as the Iraq war isn't really a big issue in this election. Our role has been a token one.

As far as economic supremacy goes, I think Labor have made a grave mistake in relinquishing this ground to the Liberals.
Whilst Howard loves to wax lyrical on the high interest rates under Labor, he always neglects to mention the high levels that were present when he was treasurer. Labor has failed to make this point, or capitalise on the market reforms for which past Labor governments, not the Liberals were responsible.
Besides, senior reserve bank figures have said the role government plays in the economy tends to be overstated.

Now and then Keating pops up to claim this, but nobody listens to him. Rudd really should be spruiking these things a little more.

I also think that Rudd really needs to hit the government on their conservative credentials. Why is it that Rudd hasn't made it more obvious to the punters, that despite falls in the percentage of tax as part of income tax, when you factor in items such as the GST, this government is among the highest taxing in Australian history?
What about the fact that ideals of the small 'l' liberals have been dumped in favour of a conservative agenda and how in practice, despite the rhetoric, the ideal of small government went out the window some time ago?

Cont'd-