Do not underestimate Bill Shorten as the Leader of
the Labor Party. It is a role that he has been
aiming for quite a long time and according to
John Hewson - he will make an excellent Prime Minister.
He certainly could not be any worse than the dud we
currently have.

Mr Shorten - knows exactly what he is doing. As Hewson
pointed out recently - Mr Shorten is waiting for an
election announcement from the PM - then we will see
Mr Shorten change his tactics of "lying low," which is
what he is currently doing - and allowing the PM and
his Party to mess things up. Mr Shorten doesn't need to do
much at the moment. Mr Abbott's doing it all for him -
and he's doing it beautifully - as is the rest of his team.

I simply can't understand why 'The Wicked Witch of the West' can't just use her broomstick to get around on. Why does she need a helicopter?

I would mot describe Bronnie as the "discerning executive" type unless of course it comes to her penchant for riding around in $1000 a day luxury limousines, naturally at taxpayers expense, something she refers to as her "taxi"! Not even on government business, rather to attend the opera no less. Not once did she do this but on 17 separate occasions. I am sure Bronnie must be a VIP customer down at Royale Limousines.
Managed to snap a video of Bronnie stepping out for a quick kebab and a pint of milk, naturally at taxpayers expence.

The short trip;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irnNyiOW80s

The long trip;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8Y8rhLirRw

Fox, "Mr Shorten doesn't need to do much at the moment"

Say what?! Shorten and his slack crew -most left over from the failed Rudd and Gillard governments- damned well OUGHT to be producing and publicising alternative policies that DESERVE the Senior Executive remunerations they take from the exasperated taxpayer.

Politicians got their massive increases in pay from claiming not only that they as 'bosses' should be taking home better pay and conditions than their 'servants' and 'employees' (federal public servants), but that they were entitled to compare themselves with the senior management cream of the federal public service, the Senior Executive Service (SES).

Having done that, they set up an 'independent' remuneration tribunal to deliver same through the hugely self-complimentary, highly advantageous comparisons with the highly educated and skilled SES. Some even have the considerable hide to demand comparison with the remuneration and other benefits of the CEOs of major companies.

There should be no surprise when politicians interpret their entitlements, especially travel entitlements, according to their view of what SOME, usually unprincipled, senior executive and Board members get away with in private enterprise.

I don't mind that politicians are paid so well, but I would like to see them earn their money like the SES and CEOs they like to be compared with when getting those 30 and 40% pay rises and othet entitlements.

On travel and other entitlements:

- BOTH sides of the federal Parliament, including the griping Greens, have demonstrated they have a vested interest in hazy, complex (guess why!) 'rules', and they very much like the 'referee' to be a public servant (again, guess why!); and

- ALL of the Parliament is aware or should be of the repetitive observations, diplomatic criticisms frequently made, by the government's own auditor, the ANAO, of the slack rules and soft requirements.

The new discovered morality of Shorten and his crew is complete BS. Why didn't Shorten and his mob -who would have seen relevant ANAO reports tabled in the parliament during the terms of Rudd and Gillard+Greens- ever make the conditions more stringent?

Mark Kenny, in an article in the Sydney Morning Herald
explains:

"Self evidently, Bill Shorten's practice of
giving as little ground to the government as possible while
keeping his own powder dry is learned behaviour. It worked for
Mr Abbott, who now in government is having it done back to him
and again it is proving devastatingly effective.
Just look at the government's paralysis in the Senate."

"Both men know that when there's a perception of chaos in politics,
the government of the day is blamed."

"It will become clearer when Bill Shorten explains what he
will do on emissions trading, on a revised resources rent tax,
on other contentious tax policies and of course how he intends
to get the deficit down."

I agree with John Hewson - who knows Bill Shorten quite well.
Hewson tells us that Bill Shorten will make a good, consultative
Prime Minister - steering the country in the right direction.

What a pleasant change that will be !

Foxy,

You can also bet that Abbott is keeping his powder dry with respect to Shorten and the unions. I can imagine the posters in Labor areas detailing the huge amounts that the AWU ripped off their workers under Bill. This combined with the new ridiculously high RET that will nearly double electricity prices again, and a new carbon tax.

BS is a dead man walking.

PS, I see that BS has accepted boat turn backs as the most humane method of dealing with illegal boats.

Dear Shadow Minister,

The next election will certainly be an interesting one
that's for sure.

And I think the outcome it not going to be an easy one
to predict.