It appears based on the new Gillard Medicare Flood Levy, that Tony Abbott is the real PM of the Country.

The irrefutable logic is thus...

Tony runs an election based on shaming Labor's spending and economic credentials.

Labor doesn't have the guts to defend its stimulus or the talent to explain their policies.

Gillard/Labor promise to have the budget back in surplus by 2012/13.

Floods in QLD.

Sensible thing to do is to go into deficit.

Gillard/ALP again too gutless to do this politically, scared of the Abbott boogie man 'stop the boats' style electioneering.

Gillard starts new Levy as she just hasn't the guts to have a deficit.

Who's running the country?

One Tony Abbott.

The result?

Bad policy.

If he's going to run the country anyway, I'm going to vote for him so he can do it in a more constructive way. I blame the ALP not him.

Be right up your ally to have a debt over the floods . Hence the flood levy.

Houellebecq, your logic pans out, certainly some of it influenced the by now gun shy Julia.

But Speaking of Abbott I am afraid to say that he has not improved in the statesman stakes since the election. Every time I hear him being interviewed by a sympathetic journo on radio he has to be force fed the issues to discuss and directed to the appropriate answer. A non partisan journo tears him apart easily. He is stumbling and unconvincing as an orator, but that is unimportant, as long as he knows what issues to address and have some strategy outline to convey. He was lacking in those then and they have not appeared on the horizon since. Something has to change, but I don't want that elitist alien Turnbull back.

Worth the laugh and welcome back, but hear ye hear ye Tony will never be our PM.

I'm with Belly on this one.

It would be a truly worrying thing if Tony Abbott were PM.

It would also be a travesty to vote for such a person Houllebecq, just out of spite, but I concede your point about a gun shy Govt.

Hopefully this will change when the senate changes midyear, giving the Labor/Ind/Green Alliance Govt a chance for some air. It would certainly be good for Australia to refocus on the positives and the future rather than a son of Howard Govt led by Abbott and the past.

It would be good for Australia if the opposition stopped using emotive language, like today for instance straight out of TA's mouth.
The budget has "plenty of fat" to use instead of a levy. Before the election we had a" Labor created debt crisis". I'm not talking about the content, I'm talking about the language, its consistently emotive and comprises of talking down the accomplishments and talking up the negatives. Purely for political purposes, and only time did we get a respite from this tactic was during their Christmas break.

Not only is it a powerful political tactic , it is damaging, counterproductive, and disgraceful
that a political bunch could stoop so low, purely driven by their own self interest.

Abbott for Pm ? No thanks.

Abbott makes a good

Attack dog, but too nasty

For most electors