SM,

"TA has a clear mandate to remove the carbon tax....."

Here's what Tony said in 2007:

"The Opposition is no less entitled than the elected Government to exercise its political judgement and try to keep its election commitments."

P,

I have never claimed that the opposition has to abide by the mandate the coalition received, just that it would be very foolish to do so. Given that Juliar cooked Labor's goose by promising no carbon tax and then imposing it on an unwilling public, and Dudd went to the election promising to get rid of the carbon tax, blocking in conjunction with the greens would be a gift to the coalition.

Further too, Shall, if you want to get your teeth into something the really might help to prosecute your case and that should be easy to find, where was the derision/attack/shock/horror/disaster/calamity in the Murdoch media when Abbott tried to pass off an 80% rise in a pensioners electricity bill as the result of carbon-pricing?

With astonishing audacity, he did this in parliament and still there was no Murdoch attack on his credibility or repudiation for such a brazen attempt to deceive the public. Where was Piers Ackerman going ape$*&% ? All Murdoch media did was to report parliamentary proceedings without the usual triumphal "Gotcha!" front page attack reserved for Labor.

You are a poor deluded Shallow Minister if you think Murdoch media is/was balanced, which is why you accuse anybody who has an opinion differing from yours a lier, which I think it's time GY looked into. Call me whatever you like, I accept you as you are, but your MO must be a great dissuader to newbies venturing an opinion here.

Luciferase,

I think that deserves a reprise....since it was one of Tony's A1 botch-ups:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-10-10/abbott-caught-out-on-use-of-pensioner27s-power-bill/4305908

Calling people "liars" is an old favourite here - it's what people do when they're attempting to portray themselves as holier-than-thou, and who have run out of argument and/or creative expression.

.......

SM,

I'm calling Abbott a hypocrite, not you.

Here's what he said after winning:

"In the end they all need to respect the Government of our nation has a mandate and the Parliament should work with the government of the day to implement its mandate."

Dear Luciferase,

In the interview on Ten Gillard said, "There will be no
carbon tax under the government I lead." But that's not
all she said. She ended by stating clearly that she
would, "...lead our national debate to reach a consensus
about putting a cap on carbon pollution."

Also, the day prior to the 2010 election in an interview
with The Australian Gillard stated again quite clearly that
"I don't rule out the possibility of legislating a
Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme, a market-based mechanism.
I rule out a carbon tax."

There was no lie. However Gillard and her ministers unwisely
chose to refer to the legislation as a "carbon tax."
They unfortunately didn't think carefully about the language
they were using.

Rob Oakeshott on the other hand understood what the Labor
government didn't. A week prior to the legislation
coming into effect he said, "Well this is where I got a
point of difference on the language from the government.
I do think an emissions trading scheme is coming in
in a week's time and we've got a fixed price period for the
first 3 years. You can't tell me if you fix the price of milk
for 3 years that you've suddenly got a milk tax.
You are fixing the price within a market."

A mandate was given to the Gillard government in 2010 to
govern, in a minority government.
The government worked with the Independents
and the Greens to pass the Clean Energy Act.

cont'd ...

cont'd ...

As for Mr Abbott's claim in having a "mandate to repeal
the carbon tax?"

As one political commentator has stated:

"This was an election not a referendum."

"Governments are not given mandates on specific issues.
The Members of Parliament who are elected have a mandate to
represent their electorate and work for the good of the
country. In liberal democracies the electorate holds
governments accountable for what they do after the fact
in regular elections, rather than providing referendums
on particular policies."

"Gaining government means a mandate to govern.
Certainly governments should attempt to honour their promises,
but they also need to acknowledge they don't hold a
monopoly on ideas. That means negotiating with and engaging
the parliament and the community."

We're told that, "There are cautionary tales
for those who mistake their mandate to govern as a mandate
for any one policy in their platform."

"John Howard learned this lesson when he took full advantage
of the control he had in both houses of parliament. The
result was "WorkChoices" that effectively ended his
political career. He over-reached and paid the price."

We're also told, "The election does
not give Abbott a mandate to do whatever he pleases.
He can try to repeal the Clean Energy Act. He's the next PM
and that's his prerogative. The Senate has a mandate to
review any changes to the legislation. It just may decide
to keep the Act. That's its prerogative."

"Victory is not a rubber stamp for carte blanche
repeal and reform. It is a mandate to do what is in the
interests of the Australian people."