Dear Bazz,

BTW - No. I am not blaming Mr Abbott.
I am quoting Mark Kenny - who is saying
that Mr Shorten's learned behaviour is
very effective judging from the paralysis
occuring in the Senate. He's learned a great
deal from Mr Abbott and is giving Mr Abbott's previous
behaviour back to him. I would have thought that
this was quite clear from my post.

Also what exactly is the "Turing Prize?"
That's something I'm not familiar with.
Is it anything like the awards given to government
strategists and spin doctors -
who sit around and brainstorm tactics -
that will catch out the opposition of the day during
question time (with the help of the "unbiased"
Speaker of the House, of course).

<<However the flattery directed at Penny Wong>> "Who in the Labor Party do I admire Penny Wong" Hardly flattery.

<<I was recently critical of ABC journalist Virginia Trioli>> I'm sure Ms Trioli didn't lose any sleep over your criticism Beach.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kf4nlIEHfaU

I keep checking the faces to make sure it's not Clarke and Dawe skit, it plays almost exactly like one of their skits.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-30/clarke-and-dawe-selections-for-the-canberra-hack/5854392

R0bert

Dear Paul,

Talking about Senator Penny Wong...

Chris Graham explains -

Sometimes thinking on your feet is a really good
thing and sometimes not. One of the most well
worn strategies in opposition politics is
to sit around and brainstorm questions that will
catch out the government of the day. That's balanced
out of course by government spin doctors who also
sit around in rooms and try to pre-empt those
questions then prepare corresponding answers for
ministers and bureaucrats.

Well, unfortunately as Chris relates government spinners
either didn't find time to sit with Senator Eric Abetz...
or more likely they just never saw this question coming -

From Senator Penny Wong who began grilling the
Minister for Employment (and Leader of the Government in
the Senate) during Senate Estimates ...

WONG: ... Senator Abetz,... the Prime Minister in his
press conference on the 9th February, ...said a number of
things and one of the things he said was 'I've listened
I've learnt and I've changed and the government will change
with me'
Can you tell me how the Prime Minister has changed?

Senator Abetz could have said a lot of things. Unfortunately
he said this -

ABETZ: Look, er, the Prime Minister is an exceptionally, er,
capable and, er, good individual and, erm, you know,
sometimes the good even gets better, and that is what, er, the
Prime Minister has, er, committed himself, er, to doing, to er,
be more, as he said publicly, more communicative, er, with the
backbench, erm, and with the community.

WONG: So is the "I've changed," ...being more consultative with
with the backbenchers and the community?"

It is important at this time to remember that Senator
Abetz has the annoying habit of over-enunciating his words -
so much so that he sounds like an overly-officious school
teacher for very young children.

On this occasion however, Senator Abetz decided to add a
smug expression to his over-enunciation by sporting a sly
grin and stalled for time.

Senator Wong gave him one of her
best withering stares for which she's become famous.

Politics can be fun.

If he wins we will have another member for the group https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0ja7Vv_4Vc

R0bert

Dear RObert,

Thanks for that.

According to Mark Kenny, Chief Political Correspondent
for Fairfax Media - "Shorten is in a good place for an
Opposition leader. That's not to say he'll win the
election in 2016 ...but his supporters in the Labor
caucus (and that means about everyone) are not complaining."

Kenny tells us that - "Nothing sells like success and
Shorten offers some chance of that. This is a remarkable
outcome given the depths of the fall. Labor's primary
vote had slumped to just 33 per cent at the September 2013
election - it had not been lower in three quarters of a
century."

Which according to Kenny "makes Shorten's path out of the
morass ... all the more Phoenix-like". In fact Kenny says
that "it was the fastest transition from an election loss to
a poll lead over a new government in the history of the
Fairfax-Nielsen poll series."

Kenny also tells us that "the story of that rise is also
the story of the Abbott government's failure via the
political gift that keeps on giving, Treasurer Joe Hockey's
first budget..."

There's more to read at:

http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/how-bill-shorten-lifted-labors-fortunes-20141010-1141ra.html