It is not funny anymore when i read of all these talks that our PM will be booted from his position by his comrades

is he THAT BAD?

other than his silly captain's picks and very rude wagging fingers, i think he is as good as any other PM ... definitely not one of our greater PMs

is the nation going to be subject to another round of circus which kevin-julia clowns put us through?

no wonder our neighbours laugh at us

followers of poirotism will say... see how democratic and responsive our political system is

i would have preferred 2 full terms for LNP to do what they promised to do and then have a reformed ALP coming in to offer us a better alternative in 5-6 years time

WTF?
Australians do not directly vote for the leader of any political party.
The prime minister is appointed from within his or her own party.

In the recent QLD election the voters in the seat of Ashgrove did not want representation from then premier Newman.

He could not have been premier even if the LNP had retained government.

Even if I use a magnifying glass I can't see any talent on either side of the political fence..........Shorton, give me a break.

Abbott is in demand by from circuses who consider his backflips of world class.

I have many issues with the liar Abbott, but his backflips on clamping down on multinational companies who shift profits to avoid paying taxes in Australia while taking from the poorest in our community is number one.

Another one that grates and vividly displays the future Abbott has for Australia is the scrapping of payments to apprentices under Support for Adult Australian Apprenticeships program and his cuts in funding for the National Trade Cadetships programme.

Abbott and Hockey lost the electorate with their first "punish the most vulnerable" budget. Even with the residual vile after taste of Labor still in their mouths, Abbnott has lost them....deeservedly so.

Turnbull or Bishop..........as the Richrd Clapton song goes "looking for leaders on our hands and knees".....we got no one in the whole country....no one.

This is weird "I would have preferred 2 full terms for LNP to do what they promised to do and then have a reformed ALP coming in to offer us a better alternative in 5-6 years time." I don't think that's too smart.

Better alternative?

In other words let the Coalition Government fix up the economy, possibly rebuild a budget surplus, resolve the illegal boat people issue, and then hand it over to Labor to blow the money and throw open the doors to all comers. We've been there, done that, and now live with the consequences.

Maybe the discontent from Abbott’s team are telling you something that you can’t see. Abbott is a goose, simple as that. You can’t explain away his shortsightedness, or lie telling, it’s in his DNA.

Keating new what Abbott was like years ago. But no lib was ever going to take the opinion of a Labor PM. Howard had serious thoughts about Abbott’s ability to be PM. Still no message got through.

Abbott is now destroying the reasonableness of the liberal brand. It’s all in Labor’s favor Abbott being there, but labor can’t support the damage being done to this nation and Abbott must go. He can quietly resign, or he can cause one gigantic mess, by sticking to his untruths and not sparing a thought for his political party.

He was elected on a bucket full of lies and deception, it makes you wonder of the integrity of the governor general’s office. We would like to think the GG was equal to both sides of politics, but I am not so sure.
When there is a nation to be run, it is in the country’s interest that the respect of the community is with the PM. From day one respect for our PM fell away, to greater depths and for such a period of time, recovery of respect is not ever going to happen.

The first budget was so far away from realism, it was never going to happen. All because of a radical politician hijacking parliament for his own secret agenda.

We can only hope this fiasco of a parliamentary 16 months comes to an end sooner rather than later.
Vote 1 Turnbull

platypus1900,

It is the 24hour news cycle that does that. The twits of the Twitterati and other social media tragics feed off it and probably believe it is all real.

An example could be the recent jealous trashing of John Travolta for an alleged unwanted, 'creepy' kiss to congratulate. Even the recipient coming forth to say that they kiss was welcome and criticism was unwarranted, that the photo had obviously been selected to convey a negative, has not routed the pack.

A well known example is the monstrous, cruel treatment of Lindy Chamberlain by the Australian media pack. I will not add more, the case is well known.

What is concerning is the number of politicians who go along with it. If the Parliament was a company delivering services to Australia no self-respecting CEO would countenance continuing the employment of the gutless, egocentric dolts who occupy the seats in both houses.

As some would be aware from my previous postings, I reckon that the rise in number of career politicians is the much of the problem. Most of them are not worth feeding, but they will all be living off us in retirement even if they do squat for their time in Canberra.

The present govt can only blame themselves for the tragic happenings going on in parliament. Abbott’s delisting of Tasmania’s forest has got laughed out of contention. Another disaster for the honorable PM.

Abbott and his law man who are the first persons to know the rules have blundered big time, with a pending AFP investigation and a five year jail term for perpetrators of assaulting a commissioner.

Will never learn and not interested in facts.

@WTF

yes, i am aware we voted for the party and not the pm

but you will agree that is the face we see when we voted 2 years back
i might have voted for LNP if it had been malcom but i would have considered very hard if it was julie

all said and done, at that time, the ALP was so bad i would have voted for a kangaroo and that goes to the 2 ladies sitting near him in the parliament house

@snfg

i agree with you, not a chance i would vote for shorten as the leader of even a circus troupe

but i do not agree on the budget comment

australians are so used to soft options
so used to spending without earning it
worst, spending money we do not have
now, doesnt that sound so much like the ALP?

@ hippie
what i meant by better alternative is hopefully ALP get reformed
the form it was before they lost the elcctions and the form it is now as the Opposition, NO WAY i will vote for them

@otb

social media is one of the plague of modern times
you get faceless minute minority hogging prime time space as if that is the opinion of the nation
that to me is the scary thing
and we do have plenty of people who are so lazy to think..they just eat the fast food that social media spews out

@579

so what is wrong with the delisting of some forest in tasmania?
tasmanians are such perculiar group of people
last year i was there with my family
we saw millions of acres of land protected so the "black button grass" can be preserved in its pristine state?
get real
i am not against conservation and nature
but millions of acres closed up while the rest of the country feed those poor tasmanians (they sure will be extinct soon like their tigers)

In card games, when the opponent places a '2' on the table, the best practice is to drop a '3', rather than waste a king, ace or a joker.

Therefore, when Labor presented Julia or Rudd, it only made sense for the Liberals to present Tony. It would be a tactical mistake for them to select anyone better before Labor makes their next move.

In July 2014, the Unesco committee took just 10 minutes to reject the Abbott Government's subsequent proposal for delisting.

The unlocking of Tas forest is only another bully tactic from Abbott. Some things should not change.
Abbott also wants ocean reserves made available to the pillagers, Newman and Abbott wanted to put a coal passage through the barrier reef.

No wonder these radical politicians get their ase burnt. Abbott thinks the world revolves around him, and that is the way he is running govt;.

Turnbull will tilt the LNP back to a middle of the road govt; and be sensible in it’s dealings with the public. Abbott’s way has failed, it will not suite everybody, there are some that thrive in the Abbottisms for self gratification. I think Abbott will come to some realism and resign his post for the betterment of his regime.

If he does not have his party at heart there will be a blood-bath, and very damaging to whoever his successor is

"The country didn't vote for Malcom or Julie to be our PM"

As you've conceded, Australians don't vote directly for a PM, so the whole premise of this thread is flawed.

Having said that, it's now well established that Abbott is a scintillating sledger - which explains why he was such an effective Opposition leader.

Who would've suspected that skill wouldn't translate into being a competent PM? (sarc)

But when all is said and done, Tony should stay as PM...think how many more debacles await us if he stays put!

Great for Labor....a disaster for the LNP.

......Great for Labor....a disaster for the LNP.

So Poitor, your happy to see the libs self district, just so labor can get back in. Meanwhile, may I suggest you spare a thought for where that would put us.

Consider this.
When Rudd came to power he dethroned the best PM we had since Bob. He then got toppled by Julia, who then in herself got toppled by Abbott, a mere mortal in comparison to Howard.

So what you are now suggesting is that Shoreten, who is even less popular than Gillard, will be the man to replace Abbott when Abbott is a shocker.

Talk about a race to the bottom.

If Turnbul gets the nod, he will most likely steal some of the labor vote as he is the closest thing to labor you can get, without belonging to the party. Sorry, but the labor party's only hope is to perform a 'Bradbry' at the next election.god help us.

579, if you speak to anyone who knows timber they will tell you the best thing you can do for a Forrest is to harvest the dominant trees as the sub dominant will then experience rapid growth rates. Locking loggers out is not the way to manage any Forrest. Controlled harvesting, every 15 to 40 years, depending on the species and climatic conditions is the best option for a healthy Forrest.

"So Poitor, your happy to see the libs self district, just so labor can get back in. Meanwhile, may I suggest you spare a thought for where that would put us."

Ahem....come now, rehctub, you must know how much I'm enjoying seeing our lying tricky excuse for a PM getting his comeuppance....it's quite something to behold.

As I've mentioned elsewhere, I can't help surmising what would be the best move for the LNP electorally - and all my solutions don't include the clown who is presently leader.

Obviously, it would be better for Labor if Abbott remains as leader - as the govt is spending all its time putting out the fires that their silly leader starts.

And even when they're caught out, they just lie harder....it's amazing!

There's Jules last week admitting a role "had" been discussed/offered/ intimated to Triggs - and there's Jules saying in the same breath that a role/offer/job "hadn't" happened.

And Tones was running around grabbing Military leaders - who "weren't" at the meeting where he suggested a unilateral foray into Iraq - and they said they couldn't recall it being said...(coz they weren't there:)

But he did broach that idea - in the presence of top brass from the US at a dinner.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/features/abbott-discussed-using-ground-troops-in-iraq-at-dinner/story-e6frg6z6-1227242122539

He's a dolt.

(the name is Poirot, by the way)

@poirot

you are really good at missing the forest for the tree

@579

really, the issue is not about abbott or shorten
the issue is the way our politicians conduct their affairs
i spoke to most of my mates here in this small fruit town of ours
EVERYONE hates australian politics

when a party is voted in under one leader , we want that leader to lead the team and govern
that was the team that was presented to us
i voted that team and that leader

there should be a new leader only when the current leader of the party is

a. dead or terminally ill
b. so sick he cannot lead
c. so mentally incapable (i know poirot will say that is the case for tony)
d. convicted of corruption or any crime

if not, australians would like him to stay there till his term is up
the only exception is when he decide on his own volition to step down for private reasons and then, he should nominate a new leader

we DO NOT want another Julia&Kevin circus

"@poirot

you are really good at missing the forest for the tree"

And you are really good at insulting all of us by not employing capitals and full stops in your post.

What is it that encourages you to "not bother"

I've noted you include capitals when stating someone's name - and when you wish to highlight a word, but for some reason you think your lazy juvenile style is appropriate for a grown-up forum.

How about a little respect?

Telling lies is the name of the game for Abbott. He doesn’t know which one was his latest.

Butch old boy your faithfulness to a lame duck is astounding, you are convinced that the Libs need Abbott. We are doing you and your party a favour for advocating change. Turnbull will get popularity, and that means the electorate are willing to give him a chance and wish him well. I don’t know what abbott’s popularity earns for him, we can only guess.

Get on board and get ready to welcome a new leader for the Libs. Dead horses stay dead. Abbott has proven he can’t run a govt; he is a one man band and dangerous. As with the Trigs fiasco, they aren’t up with the very rules that makes the commissioner above politics. Trigs along with the Tas forestry were two very no no ways of going about politics. Both of those scenario’s went around the world in no time flat, and a for all the wrong reasons.

I don’t know what Shorten could have done to you to hold him in such a high esteem. Unless you are a Chrystal ball gazer, you can only be guessing

"we DO NOT want another Julia&Kevin circus"

And "that" is the sole reason it's taken the party so long to boot their "glorious leader" to Kingdom come.

If they hadn't have been so sensitive of being branded hypocrites, he would've been jettisoned yonks ago.

@poirot

"..." and "CAPS" offends you?

poor little girl

ok...i do apologise if little pebbles offend you
you have the dubious honor of being the first :)

ps...are smilies ok?

I would go for D in that lot. The trigs fiasco goes with a five year jail term, which the Fed; police are looking at.

Platypus: Is wrong on all fronts. Your Abbott worshipping is commendable as long as you are of stable mind. There aren’t many of you left to pick up the bits and wash down. When it’s all over I’me sure you will come around. Turnbull will be outstanding and a refreshing change, a team-leader which has been so prominently missing from the libs; policy making and decisions.

It is hard to take when the opposition has to make choices for you, but when you are incapable of doing it your-self, we have to help. So just sit tight and enjoy the ride, you will be greatly benefited

platypus1900,

Lol!

I couldn't give a stuff if you luxuriate in the poor presentation of your views.

And you obviously couldn't give a stuff about your audience.

It's a pretty basic courtesy...after all.

@poirot

you demand good behaviour but you behave badly in the first place

ah.. typical of a 60 year old young girl

foxy has her views but she behaves much better

stay on the topic spoilt girl ...

Sorry, to disappoint you, platypus...but I'm not "60" for a fair while yet : )

Love the sexist put down!

"you demand good behaviour but you behave badly in the first place

ah.. typical of a 60 year old young girl

foxy has her views but she behaves much better

stay on the topic spoilt girl ..."

(Says the "bloke" [?] who refuses to punctuate)

I'm sure Foxy will be thrilled that she has your tick of approval!

She "behaves" herself - and platypus condones that sort of behaviour from the girlies around here.

What a joke....

And apparently it's "bad behaviour" to point out the bleedin' obvious...as would be expected around here.

There are quite a few hard right fanatics on this forum...who I imagine are quite put out that this govt has turned their tenure into a slow train-wreck of a debacle.

Where's Shadow Minister these days? - not on the political threads.

Poirot, I've never seen you so rattled. Take a deep breath and let it go. Bad punctuation isn't worth spoiling your afternoon.

@579

i assure you i am not an abbott worshipper

remember, when we were aghast with the kevin-julia circus, THE NATION voted LNP into power, lead by Tony Abbott

try to respect the wishes of tho nation

we can then change our mind the next GE

@poirot

another wasted post
stay on the topic young girl
what is the angst?
...... more punctuation to get your young heart pumping

".... THE NATION voted LNP into power, lead by Tony Abbott

try to respect the wishes of tho nation"

So?

What's that got to do with them realising that Abbott is set to secure them a one term tenure?

I mean, tell us, what you would do with a leader who turns out to be hopeless?

You stick with him beause he was at the helm when your party was elected?

You'd stick with him even if it was pretty much guaranteed you were going to find yourself back in Opposition after one term?

...because he was the guy who was good at sledging...but can't govern for quids?

Dumb....

.............

CH,

Lol!...I'm not rattled. I'm spending most of my time on twitter - where the conversation is a cut above threads like this.

But I drop back once in while to read the blather on here and make a comment. Doesn't take long - this comment has taken me approximately 2 minutes to type.(even with adding capitals and full stops!)

"I'm spending most of my time on twitter" That's sad.

@poirot

let others decide if your level of conversation is above theirs

twitter?
chirp chirp...

you are still young and have years to learn

btw, i am sure members here arent interested in our tender quibbling

so, please dont bore them

.... hehehe

Yeah, CH...it's dreadful isn't it - although I've managed to clean the house, take Mr13 to a friends house, hang out the washing, talk to my mum and my daughter on the phone, change the chook's water and make a lasagne....but twitter's a bit addictive, so I keep peaking.

Oh well...

.......

http://www.canberratimes.com.au/comment/exit-abbott-pursued-by-a-bear-20150227-13odxi.html

"He's had it all, in spades, not least friends, patrons and luck. But now the man can't take a trick. Even the diminishing ranks of people who wish him personally no ill cannot bear to look. He's brought most of it on himself. He has not been brought down by Labor. Nor by his ideological enemies inside his own party.

He had, a fortnight ago, what he himself called a near-death experience, of realising what had for some time seemed obvious to nearly everyone else, that most of his team had lost confidence in his record and his judgment. Only a fear of the appearances of an execution, or the uncertainties of what might follow, was enough to hold a bare majority back from summary dismissal.

He begged for a further chance to regain their confidence and to restore his, and their, political fortunes. He was grudgingly given it, the positive last of many last chances. He promised he would change. He promised more consultation, and less reliance on his own demonstrably appalling instinct and judgment. He promised a shift of focus, and less occasion for voters to hate him.

He was given time by people who doubted that he could, or would, change his style or his personality. Who doubted he would suddenly begin listening to people he had always ignored, or stop listening to people whose personality they disliked, and whose instincts they trusted even less than they trusted Abbott's. His last chance came against all judgment because his colleagues feared that change could make things worse, and accentuate (or continue) public impressions of the Liberal Party being a shambles."

The fact is that Tony Abbott was not chosen
by the people of Australia but by the Liberal
Party. He won the leadership by merely one vote.
And as on senior minister said at that time,
"What have we done?"

Still, the Party did not want to go through the
same disunity that Labor went through so Mr
Abbott has been given lots of chances for a
"fair go." But the fact is as political commentator
Barrie Cassidy writing for The Drum points out -
that ever since the
spill motion Mr Abbott has made it too easy for
his detractors. Those on his own team as well as
those in opposition.

Cassidy tellus us that -
By going in so hard against the Human Rights Commission
President Gillian Triggs Mr Abbott has ended up embarrasing
his own party. Malcolm Turnbull stepped in with a
much calmer approach and stressed that it should be
about the children. Then Mr Abbott followed the lead of
the right-wing shock jocks and chastised Muslim leaders for
not doing enough to condemn terrorists. The Foreign Affairs
Minister Julie Bishop delivered a totally different message.
She said that the government was working very closely with
the mosques and Muslim communities around the country.

The latest newspolls imply that the leader of the party has
lost the respect of the vast majority of voters.

It's tough for the Liberal Party. They're now faced with
making the decision of whether its worth the risk to keep
a man - who's shown that he's not capable of changing, and
risk losing the next election - or replace him with someone
who just may restore the Liberal brand.

The choice now rests with the Liberal Party in which
direction they want to go.

Abbott was apparently the best of a bad lot when a messy Labor gifted the election prize to the Liberals at the last election.
They certainly didn't win the election because Abbott was at the helm!
Anyone who thinks they did is a naive fool.

" The day the Abbott government handed down its first budget in May last year was the day it sealed its own fate.....It's the Muslims. It's refugees. It's Labor. Or maybe, it's just Tony Abbott."

https://newmatilda.com/2015/03/01/tony-abbott%E2%80%99s-failing-search-scapegoats

Abbott and his cohorts are blaming everyone except where the real problem lies....with the PM.

None of the Liberal supporters seemed to have a problem with Rudd being thrown out of the top job after they were 'elected' by the people did they?
Abbott makes Rudd (and Gillard) seem almost 'normal'.....

;It's tough for the Liberal Party. They're now faced with
making the decision of whether its worth the risk to keep
a man - who's shown that he's not capable of changing, and
risk losing the next election - or replace him with someone
who just may restore the Liberal brand.'

come on Foxy you know as well I do that putting Turnbull in will be a bigger risk for the Liberals to lose the next election. Anyone not sucked in by the regressive abc/sbs know that Turnbull has swallowed the gw myth. Who do you suggest would elimate the 'risk'that you feel Abbott poses. Personally I think Cory Bernadi would be great or even Scott Morison. Just keep in mind the regressives have been totally wrong every time about Abbott for the last 5 years. Their hatred has intensified but their judgement just as bad. Could you imagine the lefty sisterhood turning on Bishop if she was given a run.

Dear runner,

I won't say anything more on Mr Abbott.
It's all been said - and now its up to the
party to decide what happens next. Under the
current political system all we can do is
sit back and watch - that is until the next
election. Then each voter can decide for
themselves who they want governing this country.

As we've seen, voters are growing tired of the
incessant spin. They're turning away from slogans,
and they don't like mean and tricky leaders and they
hate liars. One of the biggest bug-bears appears to be
governments lead by zealots who divide and are perceived
as bullies.

Foxy,

Take note of runner's diatribe....it was pretty good by his standards - in that he actually got past three lines and managed to include.

"regressive abc/sbs"

"the gw myth"

"the lefty sisterhood"

"Their hatred"

The only things he left out were "Muslims" - and "killing of the unborn".

But I reckon we'll let him off with a B+ in any case.

@poirot

oh come on

'unknown babies' ?
i thought you always advocated for a woman's right over her own body
i am amazed you call them babies and not fetuses

btw, how many abortions did you have in your child bearing age?

platypus,

My, my...aren't you the gutter trawler!

We've have some rather loathsome characters around here - and I see we've scored one more.

Why did you place "unknown babies" in inverted commas - I didn't say that.

"i thought you always advocated for a woman's right over her own body"

While I don't disagree with that statement, could you please post a link to where "I've always advocated" it?

"btw, how many abortions did you have in your child bearing age?"

As it happens, none...but what sort of a low-down unscrupulous, ill-mannered, sexist cretin asks that sort of question?

I do sometimes wonder why I continue around here....with creeps like you loitering around every thread.

we can choose to leave?

I've just come back again to this discussion
and goodness me - it looks like its turning
into a blood sport. Which is awful.

Lets not forget that there are actual human
beings reading what we post - and we should
not use internet anonymity to shed our veneer
of decency and show our ugly selves.

Platy - you owe Poirot an apology.
That remark about abortion directed at her was
totally uncalled for. Think before you post
next time - please.

Remarks like that are very hurtful - and can
even encourage a person to leave. If Poirot
did that - it would be a big loss to this forum.
Be a gentleman and apologise.

i will apologise if the millions of murdered babies agrees that abortion is an accepted way for family planning

foxy... it is ok... i will leave
the room can continue to have poirot

bb

Thanks Foxy,

I used to enjoy a bit of good honest debate around here, but I draw the line at characters like platypus, whose posts are lazy, inarticulate, slap-dash and witless - and who hasn't even got the manners to punctuate his drivel.

I'll take a break until he oozes off somewhere else.

Cheers

Poirot, do not be perturbed by comments from a senseless poster, you only pander to a bottom feeder by answering that rubbish of a question (a very personal question at that).
I was in Auckland NZ last Friday watching the news on telly, and who should step off a plane at Auckland Airport, none other than our very own Tony Baloney, see crap follows you everywhere.

usual hyprocritical diarrhea on Q&A last night with Abbott being called a tit by some old feminist who would scream sexism had any male called her a --. The outlet for the leftist abbott hating propaganda should be closed down. If Abbott has failed in anything it is allowing this rubbish to fund huge salaries for the likes of Jones.

Dear Poirot,

I understand very well how you feel.
I've had to go away many times - and
simply take a break from this forum
in the past. But remember you are
appreciated greatly - so do come back
as you will be missed.

Dear Paul,

Good to have you back and posting again.

Dear runner,

And how are you this beautiful morning?
Feeling good about life in general?
Great. Keep that feeling. It's a magnet
for attracting people to you.

'Dear runner,

And how are you this beautiful morning?
Feeling good about life in general?
Great. Keep that feeling. It's a magnet
for attracting people to you.'

Hi Foxy

I am very happy this morning and thankful to our Creator for His mercy and grace for another day on His planet. I take great comfort that He knows the beginning from the end and that His mercies are new every morning.

thanks for asking and have a great day.

Dear runner,

Wonderful to hear.

Best to stay positive - it's better for
your health.