"While history will record that Julia Gillard was the nation's first female prime minister, it should also record that she was the first quota PM. Gillard will never escape how she came to her job. Labor's 40 per cent gender quota system put Gillard in parliament and her gender helped elevate her to the position of Prime Minister. Alas, her male backers could not have been more wrong to assume that gender would be an ace card with voters in a contest against Tony Abbott. Voters don't give a toss about gender. And when the PM plays the gender card, she reminds voters that merit took a back seat in her career trajectory."

The question for Labor in the future is whether the next leaders will be appointed on merit and not on gender or factional loyalty. The pre selection battle in Batman is not a good indicator.

Well *Shadow* you must be getting excited at the thought of more people and children Asylum Seekers to lock up ey? It seems clear that your kind take perverse pleasure in such actions.

And, I think that in the absence of reasonable and rationale debate on this issue generally, there are a few corrections which need to be made.

1. Asylum Seekers may come howsoever they are able. In that regard, it is an international crime to impede their attempts to do so, as it was when Australians voted via referendum to settle the Jews in W.A. pre during the early stages of WWII but which was subsequently overturned by the genocidal crown. Do you know your history or indeed are you little more than a propaganda parrot?

2. Individuals who assist Asylum Seekers in an appropriate way are not people smugglers.

4. What the majority of Australians appear to want is for the slime in Canberra to withdraw us as a nation, like Indonesia and Malaysia, from being a signatory to the convention.

Then you can do as you please by making appropriate repugnant legislation to turn around the boats and lock up people without charge or trial for indefinite periods in circumstances known to produce adverse medical outcomes in a "lawful" manner (or at least lawful pursuant to the tin pot law of the ill begotten spawn of the transplanted genocidal pom)just as has been done in the past when it came to stealing children from the Original Australians or having Rock Spider Church nuns steal babies from unwed mothers in the hospitals.

But of course, we all know that your kinds duplicity knows no bounds and that you are too gutless to have the courage of your convictions.

Thatcher proved that promoting people on merit works very well. The Emily's listers have proved to be absolutely atrocious.

Otherwise:

1. ChristMass island is clearly in Indonesian territory so why not just give it back? It would make for good relations in the "Asian Century" would it not?

And do anyone spare me the party line about historical claims made by genocidal slavers. What exactly did Gonski say about teaching the factual history of this country and not just the perverted lies of the military victors? I don't know as I haven't wasted my time reading it as yet.

2. Instead of allowing AUSAID funds to be pillaged by corruption (by our standards at least) why not use them to teach the Indos how to make their vessels more sea worthy?

As for Gillard, by all means metaphorically bury the hag, and then we'll start on the left overs from the pedophile church.

Whilst I am still fond of some Greens their weakness has become sickening. They should consent to a no confidence motion on any guvment who predicates national security on the need to abuse people, let alone children.

In that regard, the military brass should be stood before the honored dead for summary judgment and execution. Wars of Freedom were not fought to allow scum like those in the majority in Canberra to harm children.

How the Taliban must tremble in their boots. Here come the guys who abuse little children. Still, we are going to give them what they want aren't "we?" A war without end, fuelled by their own hatred, just as they have in Iraq and Syria. It attracts the fighters doesn't it, both mercenary and fundamentalist alike, and as long as the Muslims are fighting each other, they are less of a threat to "us" aren't they? And of course, "we'll" be keeping a close "eye" on things wont "we" just to make sure no side gets too on top of the other, and to ensure that nothing too nasty in the way of military hardware gets into the "wrong" hands.

Dreamon,

While I applaud your attempt to divert the thread, and while I would like to compare the 4 inmates under Howard in 2007 to the thousands now under Labor, the issue is about Juliar Gillard being promoted beyond her competence.

I hope this convinces Labor to promote on merit rather than factional allegiance or gender. (even if labor is very thin on the ground)

Kevin 07 was an incompetent administrator and the ALP was losing ground fast when he was replaced.

I doubt is anyone in either party could have done a significantly better job than Julia Gillard in the hung parliament situation.

While the economy appears to be teetering at the moment the main reason for that is the idiotic idea of aiming for a budget surplus, a idea promoted by Abbott and Hockey to wedge the Gillard Government.

Few of those who comment on OLO appear to understand the real constraints on a government that is in control of a fiat currency. That governments first task is to ensure demand is adequate to utilise the available resources efficiently.

We might as a community decide that we need to consume less and have more holidays away from the village pump but what resources are available should be employed. If the economy is growing it needs more money to operate and the only sensible way to put that money into circulation is for the government to spend it, either on better infrastructure or more social payments. The alternative is more private debt; the Costello way, a sure-fire way of causing private problems, particularly for the coming generation.

A budget surplus for a sovereign (currency issuing ) government should only occur when the economy is booming and therefore tax collections are also booming and social security outlays are at a minimum. The surplus is then largely an accident which will slow the boom.

With Abbott and Hockey, austerity policies will bring on a recession or a collapse as Howard's ignoring of the need for better financial regulation did not long after the Rudd government came to power.

In the second half of 1998, the then Governor of the Reserve Bank, Ian Macfarlane, started to warn Howard and world finance authorities of the need for stronger regulation. On 18 February 2000, despite the comments by the G7, Howard stated he was, "Not for turning" to use a phrase from another neo-liberal.