And then theres just plain old carping and sledging Shadow Minister, just for the sake of it.
Even if someone from the Labor side in the 1940's was purportedly worse.

Doesn't make as much difference to me about the then as it does the now SM.

I'm not seeing any light on the hill, nor at the end of the tunnel,
on either side of politics, and that is a very concerning thing.

At least the Govt seems to have future vision with the NBN etc,
hopefully the independents will keep em honest and provide
accountability and value for money.

They should be given a go in a changed paradigm that we have all forgotten,
the new balance of power with Greens and Independents as part of the
decision making process.

So far I like it SM.

Shadow Minister Sir! I forgive you ,yes truly, your insults are like rain on an iron roof.
Comforting.
You charge me with your sins.
That bleating comment, rather wonderful coming from you.
In any debate is a sign of weakness , and inflicted pain.
Little man Abbott would be proud of you.
He/you/ we all must know understand, this confrontation stuff is now, unfortunately forever part of out country's politics.
I believe this, FIRMLY, my party like yours is not performing well.
It without leadership change, [a view not yet openly shared but there]it will have difficulty in being returned.
And NO TAUNTING YOU, I think our best asset is,,,, Abbott and those closed fixed minds like yours who have forgotten words are not enough policy's and working to lift public perceptions of politicians is better than this.
My regards, however know I am far from your only opponent here, your self confidence is sadly miss placed mate.

I feel the same repugnance for the politics of both sides...seems it's just a dud time for inspiration of the political kind in Australia of late.

...but I liked this little snippet that I came across last night.
Seems Mr Abbott has been emailing people for support - and a donation....not for the flood victims, but for the Liberal Party to fight the levy.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/02/02/3128336.htm

I think you are all forgeting the real issue here.

Tony Abbot has nothing to prove, Julia Gillar however has everything to prove.

It is very simple, if she fails, labor will go.

Remeber, polotics is not about who has the better chance of winning, it's about who has the better chance of loosing, as few elections are won, they are mostly lost.

Take the last election, labor lost a huge majority, only the loss was not quite large enough, thanks only to the lick, suck, grobble from our leader.

As usual, it's a race to the bottom.

"From my perspective the ALP is a collection of well intentioned clowns, who whilst believing passionately in their policies probably shouldn't be allowed to drive unsupervised."

Shadow Minister I do not generally waste my time answering comments such as yours. I do not believe these types of comments add to the quality of the debate. They tell me more about the intelligence of the writer.

They may be well intentioned clowns, that is in the eye of the beholder. My concern is that Mr.Abbott is not an well intentioned clown, but a clown he is.

"Either you cannot refute my statements because they are correct (which is what I suspect) or you do not have the mental horse power to develop a cogent argument or rebuttal."

What is the use of rebutting the statements of yours and others of a similar ilk. You either say that we are wrong, or ignore what is said and continue with your beliefs. Beliefs is only what you are promoting, because you believe, does not make it true.

As for Nauru, Mr. Howard set that up in his belief the refugees would be denied access to our courts. The High Court has declared this is not true, they have access to legal system. There is no longer any advantage to putting the refugees off shore. In my eyes, which is just a belief like yours, Mr. Abbott attempted to set up a cruel system that denied people their rights which was despicable.

What PM Gillard is attempting to do is set up an offshore camp under the auspices of the UN, entirely different concept.