Deat ttbn,

We're all expressing opinions here
and yours is not any more valid than
mine. And, labeling me for my opinion
is not an appropriate way to argue.

Many commentators have stated that
Bill Shorten has little incentive to change his
tactic of lying low and letting the government muck
things up. Especially while the opposition is ahead
of the government in the polls.

Also Mr Shorten is not in danger of losing his job -
the new party rules changes between elections made
during Kevin Rudd's second term as Prime Minister
has made that extremely unlikely.

I read somewhere that -
Australia's politics is always a two-horse race and
in a two-horse race the winner just has to be ahead of
its only opponent. If one horse stumbles the other
horse can canter to the finishing post under very little
pressure. That is the position we have at the moment.

True Foxy, my opinion is no more valid than yours; but it is your perception, not your opinions, that I am questioning. I've never heard anyone, including rusted on Laborites, say anything positive about Shorten's struggles in front of the media. I feel sorry for the man, but his ineptitude in responding to and (not) answering questions is just another indication that he is unsuited for leadership. He's so bad at handling the media that he makes Abbott look like a real smoothy. How much worse could he be, Abbott being pretty hopeless and only listened to because he is PM.

You don't name your 'commentators', but don't give them too much credence. Following the abysmal performance of the Rudd/Gillard/Rudd government, no body advising Shorten would tell him to do what he is doing and just wait for Abbott to 'muck up'. That isn't going to happen. There's nothing the Coalition can do between the now and the next election that will wipe away the horrors of the last Labor government

The way the unions have monopolies and don't have to open their books guarantees that unscrupulous men such as Shorten will exploit those they are supposed to represent to enrich themselves.

Foxy,

I love the way you assume left whingers are innocent until they are jailed but instantly assume that coalition MPs are guilty of imaginary crimes.

Dear ttbn,

People tend to see things from a viewpoint
of subjectivity. They can adopt varying
perspectives on the same subject.

If the
world consisted simply of some self-evident
reality that everyone perceived in exactly
the same way, there might be no
disagreement among observers. But the truth of
the matter is that what we see is shaped by what our
past experience has prepared us to see and by what
we consciously or unconsciously want to see.

Inevitably, then, we like anyone else, will be
guilty of some measure of bias - the tendency, often
unconscious, to interpret things according to one's
own values.

It is perfectly legitimate to give as
objective an account as possible of what one is perceiving
(as in the case of Mr Shorten) and then to add a
subjective judgement - making it clear that the
judgement was presented as a matter of personal opinion.

In my personal opinion therefore - based on my perceptions
of the man and the fact that as opposition leader he not
only united the Labor Party but he has
kept Labor in a competitive position for almost the
whole term of the Abbott government. Labor's ascendancy in the
polls means that Mr Shorten's political strategy must
be working. He has made himself a small target and done
an extra-ordinary job as opposition leader considering
that he's only been in the job for shuch a short time.
He appears to be determined not to make the same mistakes
that occurred in the past. And who can blame him.

Mr Abbott heeps shooting himself in the foot. There's no
need to compete with that.

http://www.afr.com/opinion/columnists/laura-tingle/being-governed-by-fools-is-not-funny-20150319-1m2wd1

Dear Shadow Minister,

I don't assume anything.

Sooner or later the evidence appears
and as has been the case in the past -
the Coalition's history is nothing to be
proud of regarding corruption and playing
dirty. Why even our Prime Minister's
catch-phrase of late is - "Whatever-it-takes!"

Pot/kettle black!

Hi Foxy,

I agree Shorten was painted in a very positive light by the media during the Tasmanian mine disaster, and deservedly so, however I think that is mostly irrelevant when it comes to today's contemporary judgment of him. What I am questioning here is his qualities and his commitment as a political leader, and a potential PM to truly represent the aspirations of those that would vote him into that position, and again I am not comparing him to Abbott and his dismal performance and policies on a range of issues.
Clearly I am not a Shorten fan, and I was not a fan before he entered politics, because of his industrial behavior, or lack of, and in his political life I find him to be much the same, just another right winger masquerading as a friend of the people. It might be skeptical of me, but I find him to be more a friend of Bill Shorten and his political ambition that anyone else, not that ambition is a bad thing, a most common trait in politicians, particularly those that aspire to the top job, and that is the majority.
My Green friends are always telling me, we have to accept the lesser of two evils, we have to be pragmatic and not create divisions with Labor, for the sake of the cause, we must accept ever who and what ever Labor throws up, as it has to be better than the conservative alternative. I am a supporter of a truly progressive government for Australia, as are most of my friends, but they see the road to that goal somewhat differently to me at times, they see the need to divert down the Labor path to fight the conservative enemy in the short term. i do not agree.