Well no one right now it would seem, no one but one lady of course, & no one wants her.

The back room Labor heavies are wandering with the anointing challis, but can't tempt anyone to drink. Those brave Labor boys recognise it for the potent poison it is. They are all running for cover, just as quickly as their little legs can carry them.

Like Costello before them, no one wants a short gig, with assured failure at the end. Ironically Costello would be PM now, if he'd had the guts to try. No one could have imagined how quickly Ruddy could stuff up, but after that catastrophe, voters would have scuttled for a known safe haven.

They are right this time however, it will take years for not only Oz in general, but Labor in particular to recover from this fool woman. After her the ladies have no chance, even Margaret Thatcher could not get a run at PM ship in Oz, in the next decade.

One thing I found interesting today. When asked about the leadership, unlike Howard who always said he would stay as long as his party wanted him, our little lady was very quick. Quick to tell us that she is the best we have, & she was staying.

Well Julia, I'm afraid you are in a majority of one in this vote. I doubt any other person in Oz believes you are any sort of leader, now or ever.

Labor is not looking good
Gillard is not.
The court took the wind out of her.
She as we know bought on the GFC, fires, north queens land storm, Brisbane floods.
She bought the Japan Nuclear crisis on.
Is behind the news of the world scandal.
But her greatest crime.
One she should be imprisoned for?
She gave the media, press, shock jocks, and hasbeen, an excuse.
Not to look at Tony Abbott.
Without you Julia we would be able to see clearly the most infamous opposition leader this country ever had!

I have to agree about Peter Costello.He had the intellect but no guts.

Your funny Hasbeen, and I mean that affectionately.

I am a red head believer labour is good you go through it when you have possums with two pen is

Just give the job to me! I'll put smokes at $30 dollars, petrol at 90 cents, tax the rich at 75 cents in the dollar, so I can pay for all the stuff Iam going to change, ban all boat people, all religious people must have their heads shaved, so we can ID them from a distance, all over-time payed/given three times a week, greens in power and Gillard can help, John Howards name must never be spoken again, Tony Abbots ears MUST be super-glued to his skull for safety reasons, all fat politicians must be taken to Jenny Craigs or face a on the spot fine, all Senators must ride a bike to work, Mormons to be totally out-lawed and all owners can set the dogs on to them if seen, Free medical for works only, a $120.00 a week pay rise for only people that break a sweat, full employment for centrelink people, by making them clean up all the highways for twice the fortnightly rate, Turn tassy into a off-shore jail, free dental for pensioners, Fire all the directors at blue-scope and put real Australians in charge, reduce all new Australians and only let the rich ones, Put casino in the middle of Australian and only let the Aboriginals run it for profit, ban and fine all that don't go to the footy on the weekends, 35 hour a week working for the same rate as a 40 hour a week.....And I can go on all night for what needs to be changed....and after reading all that.....maybe its a good job that Iam not:)

Have a great weekend:)

Cactus:)

It's not for sale, you will just have to be patient, this must be cruel for some . How can a high court decision be blamed on Gillard, the decision is not in the best interests of AU. Why not blame the lawyers who bought this on.

Labor Leadership, who wants it?

I didn't realise that the position was vacant -
despite the bleating for an early election by
the Opposition and their cheerleaders.

There's two more years to go until the next
election and we do have a Prime Minister -
despite what the conservatives try to tell us.

Two years is a long time in politics - and who knows
what may or may not happen in that time.
The Opposition may have a change of leadership as well
by then - heaven knows they need it!

Belly>>
She as we know bought on the GFC, fires, north queens land storm, Brisbane floods, Japan Nuclear crisis on. Is behind the news of the world scandal.
But her greatest crime. Without you Julia we would be able to see clearly the most infamous opposition leader this country ever had!<<

Belly your reasoning makes me smile, you are a true believer, so sad, but not sad that you are a believer, but rather the current lot are just hopelessly incompetent so you must reason in comedic tangents such as Julia deflecting from the "most infamous opposition leader" being Abbott.....What happened to that pathetic character of a human Malcolm Fraser, he walks all over Abbott in my appraisal as historical nemeses to your Party. Don't overstate things it makes your arguments look like straw clutching. You give Abbott too much credit with your descriptive.

Belly it does not matter what Abbott is or is not, right now Gillard is the enemy of the people and your beloved party, perhaps Abbott or his replacement tomorrow, but the Gillard government now.

I don’t know where you live Belly but where I live pensioners can’t pay bills, kids can’t get apprenticeships, young couples can’t afford to buy houses, and every day living costs now are at the top of the first world, and almost exclusively the fixed costs and mismanagement and lack of foresight has come from the State Labor governments that ruled Australia for over a decade followed by the sham Federal Labor mob in power now. Yes Belly its Labors lucky country.

My ordinary Aussie teens are smarter than the Gillard government. Gillard and co are patently pathetic and any rhetoric defending this sham is reprehensible ideologue driven by the need to self validate as an individual. Governments are not about individuals they are about representing the majority, not themselves and that is all they are thinking of. No honesty no honour....honour what a joke, the Australian government what a joke. Circus clowns run by Miss Judy and Mr Puch.

Dear SOG,

Yes, we've heard it all before - especially
from the Opposition. Labor's to blame for
all the country's woes - including the John
Howard Government - after all Paul Keating
let Howard win - out of kindness because
Howard wanted so desperately to be PM.
Perhaps Gillard will do the same for Tony Abbott.
We can only hope. Then with Abbott's "Direct
Action Plan," you'll be able to sit back
and with his 10 billion dollars in spending cuts -
(to pay for his carbon policies), watch the country
go down the gurgler. You'll get what you beg for,
and then some.

SOG I am reminded in your examination of me, and my party, of your belief in the 9/11 matter.
It greatly heartens me.
I solidly and honestly believe every word that follows.
Gillard, is showing great guts, and bravery.
She however can not win an election, maybe understands that, but stays still for the party's benefit.
While Rudd let me down, so too did Julia, her supporters, and a couple of idiots from NSW.
Policy's? I truly think Labors achievements so far, and planned policy's are far the better.
Yes delivery is poor, very poor in pink bats BER the $900 to dead people.
But even the most rabid opponent, unless willing to deliberately lie, knows 10% not 100% was badly delivered.
I lived in this time before 1975.
We have our fools now, within the party, the left wing leader is one.
But like that year, an even worse fate awaits us.
Tony Abbott, both Bishops, Pyne, 4 more are night mares, even in their own ranks true fear exists.
A basic OF POLITICS, WATCH AND LEARN, as a party starts to self district [ALP ] Policy's that you intend to carry out and not silly promises should be aired.
If today the conservatives again be came a Liberal party dumped every one of those I mention Labor would remain out of power for 20 years.
Tony Abbott, his inner circle, are conservatives own opposition.
They, no one else will reinstall Labor

Lexi and Belly the Labor party that fought for social justice, the one that implimented EVERY social welfare reform that enabled us the most equitable welfare system in the world are welcome back any time, but I do not see it in the gen X Labor poiticians that rule our destiny today.

My daughter said to me the other day after hearing the High Court result "dad, you told me Julia was a bright girl", my reply was "she used to be".

Belly is like a Titanic lover.It could never sink.It was infallable.Just keep shuffling Labors deck chairs Belly,and find a good band to play your last tune.

Dear SOG,

I would rather have a "used to be," than
a "never was," which is the alternative choice
you've got with Abbott and Co.

In the real world, there are only two kinds of leaders: those who lead from in front, and those who lead from behind. Australia has only ever had the latter, and these are summarized in the song Us and Them:

"Forward!" he cried from the rear, and the front rank died.
The General sat, and the lines on the map
Moved from side to side.
— Pink Floyd – The Dark Side of the Moon

Why is this? The answer is simple, if unpalatable to Australians.

A man (and in the real world, a social leader is a man, not a woman) who ventures to lead his fellows must first state his claim.

If this is agreed, he must then make a critical, decisive, and potentially fatal move. No Australian knows what this move is, since none understand true leadership. It is, however, very simple, plainly obvious to all who have ever exercized leadership, and the fact of its mystery to all Australians is proof of their inability to find or promote true leaders. See here to learn why Australians will never find leaders:

http://52midnight.com/au/

What I do admire about our current Prime Minister
is her ability to remain calm, composed and
steadfast to the main purpose that she's set.
Storms, emotions, and crises come and go in politics,
a good leader takes these as part of the journey
and keeps a cool head. Which our PM has done time and
time again. She functions in an orderly and
purposeful manner in situations of uncertainty. She's
able to think analytically - she views the situation
as a whole, yet is able to break it down into manageable
steps and make progress towards it.

She's had a lot thrown at her - yet at least she is trying
to achieve something positive despite the hiccups. She is
committed to achieving her goals and she is persistent
and determined to do just that.

She should be given that chance.

i just cant believe how you labor puppets can still support these fools.

my prediction is that this credit card scandle will hand power to the libs, then, abbott will find a trigger for a DD election so we can throw the whole lot out and start from scratch.

May i suggest you lot suck it in for all its worth because chances are this will be your last chance to support you incompitent party in power, at least in my life time.

Just remember, here we were sitting pretty some four odd years ago, then for some unknown reason, the people decided they wanted a change.

Put simply, they were sucked in by the rud factor.

Thanks for ruining my life as well.

I have more time for Gillard than the rest of you here do. She was dealt an extraordinarily difficult set of cards.

- Many found the way she rose to power distasteful.

- Rudd left her with a whole pile of contentious unresolved issues just before an election.

- She didn't win the election, and had for form a coalition with some of the most radical in parliament.

- She was forced to go back on one promise - no carbon tax.

- She has at least one lame duck college, who she can't just abandon.

- She has inherited difficult to handle 2 speed economy, with industries supplying jobs to her support base in a tail spin.

And yet despite it all, she seems to be able to get people in a room, achieve a consensus, and get things done. A lot of things. Carbon Tax, budget returning to surplus, NBN, heath reform to name a few. Even the live export ban - which I thought was a mistake, was nonetheless defused within a few weeks.

I don't always agree with what she does, but she has earned my grudging respect as a leader.

Dear rstuart,

Thank You.

Gillard's negotiating skills are one of her
strengths. As I keep stating - since the
election her government has steered 130 bills
through Parliament. She is determined to push on with
the agenda, and so much more will be achieved before
the next election. We shall see what the voters
will decide once positive outcomes start appearing
amongst all the current criticisms and negativity
of the Opposition.

Lexi:"130 bills"

Is this the new mantra to be chanted ad nauseum in response to any kind of post, Lexi?

Keep repeating it if you like, but since most of those bills were not for things that anyone outside the ALP/Greens supports, then they are hardly a recommendation. I recall John Howard was pretty good at getting stuff though as well. I'm sure you didn't regard that as a positive aspect of his ascendancy...

Dear Anti,

No. it's simply a statement of fact.
Still, I suppose that to some people 22
million people in this country don't reall matter
and things like - health, disability, education,
transport, infrastructure, aren't important.
Cutting spending on essential services is more
important.

As for Mr Howard's "ascendancy?" Funny about that -
Mr Howard was encouraged to step down by his own party
and eventually was kicked out of his own electorate.
Describing it as an "ascendancy" is a bit of a stretch -
even for you.

you lot amaze me.

No matter how bad she is, or was, you just cant bring yourselves to admit she is yet another dud.

And remember, she was number 2 when all these previous messes were leftbthat you say she inherited.

You just cant see the forrest for the trees, can you!

Spare a thought for us if you dont mind, cause its our lives as well that you,re helping to stuff up.

Lexi, howard held the reins for 10 years straight. I'd call that an "ascendancy". gillard hasn't held the reins since day one. I'd call her period as PM a "descendancy", or perhaps a "farce".

I didn't like Howard and I never voted for the Libnats whilst he was in power, always for the ALP, however, I've not been able to bring myself to vote at all since Rudd was gven the boot. I simply don't have any respect for the Gillard/Brown (hasn't Bob been quiet lately) rabble and I am very suspicious of the Abbot-lead Libnats. However, next election they're getting my vote, because there is no chance they could do a worse job.

The only possible way is up after this debacle of a government.

On refelction, I guess that's one thing Gillard has achieved...