Pelican, "I would have thought it was obvious that companies should advertise first in Australia before going to 457 Visas"

Yet Julia Gillard did not do that when she brought in John McTiernan, her chief spinmaster from overseas. Mc Tiernan is known as the polarising influence behind Julia Gillard, not that she needed any encouragement.

Here they are,
http://www.afr.com/p/national/gillard_chief_spinner_mcternan_quits_B5C9MfW08B5w4IgTdAaF5L

onthebeach
Yes Gillard was wrong to take on an outsider for that role. There is certainly enough spin meisters in Australia to choose from.

runner
I doubt the attacks on Abbott will be as vitriolic and as personal as the attacks on Julia Gillard. I note you did not protest at any of the appalling behaviour towards the previous PM. High principles and standards about behaviour are a good thing but not if they only apply to protect your side of politics.

It's interesting, runner, how asking for further detail regarding Mr Abbott's vision for Australia, is construed as an "attack" on him - by you.

The fact is that the media and the electorate have been so caught up in their disdain for Gillard, that Mr Abbott hasn't had to bother with the detail of the mere trivialities concerning his, and his governments, plans and intentions.

Nothing but negativity and sloganeering serves the purpose to some extent, but its hardly a substitute for a comprehensive and sincere program held dear and clearly articulated to the voting public by those who seek the highest office in the land.

When is Mr Abbott going wax lyrical on his vision?

The only idiots that are confused about what Abbott stands for are those that form their opinion from only the left wing blogs and polemics. It must be especially confusing for them when Abbott steadily over took Juliar as preferred PM. The party without functional and costed policies is the Labor party, who has never produced a budget that it met by a country mile.

Anyone with an IQ greater than a squirrel knows clearly what Abbott stands for.

Pelican,

The class war and gender war are two of a number of very divisive campaigns that are attributed to McTiernan.

Recruiting him was Julia Gillard's greatest blunder. The PM has high ground by virtue of the position. Ministers are the same. But we have seen the PM and Ministers of the Crown tell porkies where they should have kept to the high ground or not spoken at all. Worse, they indulged in the really grotty stuff such as the denunciation of Rudd, their own PM. Any wonder Rudd's head kept bobbing up like the arm in Deliverance (the movie).

Julia Gillard was foolish. She didn't have to react at all at any time. Her judgement failed her (and lack of breeding, sorry to say).

Watching Kevin Rudd today your assessment (if I read it right from elsewhere) may be proved earlier than imagined. Because in some of his replies to Abbott, Rudd's large ego was back on display. That continuing flaw in his make-up must be apparent to the Opposition (and his colleagues).