,Dear SM,

I can see that no matter what is said - or how
people argue - you've got your own agenda,
and you're out to follow it through.

The clue should have been that this is the second
attempt by you to
discredit Rob Oakeshott. You tried earlier, when
you thought the man would accept the front-bench
position offered by the PM - which Oakeshott turned
down - and when he did - you had nothing more to say
on the subject.

It hasn't occurred to you has it, that as a key Independent -
the advantage of being speaker would be the day-to-day
relationship he would have with the two party leaders?

That as a person who's interested in parliamentary reform,
this gives him the opportunity to achieve something
worthwhile? That whoever fills this role will have a
great chance to drive the changes for a better parliament?

That when it ends up being an equal vote - and that's
going to happen in this parliament, the speaker's
position will have a casting vote. And that could be
crucial to an Independent to ensure that the proposed
programs for his constituents do get through.

However, you keep on with your negativity - Sadly,
it reflects the party politics
of the one-eyed conservatives.

It is actually the third attempt by Rob Oakeshott to weasel himself into a high paying high profile position. His first attempt was for NSW Labor which he kept quite, the second was the regional affairs minister, which after having requested, was pressured (his own admission) to reject, and finally asking for the speaker's position thinking he could pretend to be independent.

He doesn't need me to discredit him, as he does it well enough for himself.

As for my bias, Foxy you are no better, as I have yet to see a balanced post from you.

What is wrong with a man wanting to earn more money? Is this not why we go down a career path. The man would also be aware because of the decision he made, this could be his last term in Federal Parliament. Of course Mr. Abbott is not seeking to be PM, to earn more money to pay off his large mortgage he took out to live the lifestyle he became accustom to when Mr. Howard was thrown out. Why should anyone do the job for the love of it?

Dear Shadow Minister

I do understand how difficult it must be to have people disagree with you. People who have watched all the sweet talk about cooperation and collaboration go down the sewer, because Rob Oakeshott had the utter gall to apply for Speaker - my god, next thing we'll have Bob Katter trying out for Opposition Leader and then Tony Abbott will call for Alter boys to wear chastity belts.

Some people just don't know their place in the scheme of things.

Take Labor (please), trying to pull together a scheme that will provide an information technology that will see Australia through the next 50 or more years - what are they thinking?

And wanting to set a tax from mining Australia's resources for the benefit of Australians, last time I heard anything so absurd was when Whitlam implemented equal wages for equal work.

We're going to hell in a natural fibre hand-basket, that's for sure.

The only shameful thing is SM's continued circus antics in the face of a sour grapes loss at the election.

Severin's concerns about the Coalition are well founded. Extremely worrying for anyone who believes in democracy and better government.

Come now why do you expect anything different from Shadow Minister?
At the time I first came to this forum politicians openly posted here,some under their own names.
Read SM,Post history, find a time when his posts did not sound like Julie Bishop on steroids.
But note these two things.
His posts are pure conservative spin and policy, no issue is too small not to be twisted and turned into a weapon.
Second this is our short term future in Australian politics.
No matter what Abbott promised with his plastic smile during negotiations he never intended anything but confrontation if he was not to govern.
We are about to see conservatives knife themselves repeatedly.
And destroy an old and faithful weapon ,one that is being exposed by over use, spin confrontation even bald faced lies , thank you for your continuing posts high lighting this Shadow Minister non conservatives prosper by you lifting the rug exposing the dirt on your side.