The next election may prove to be quite interesting.

According to Fairfax Media - Dick Smith may run
as an Independent against Bronwyn Bishop in her
electorate of Mackellar and he just may romp in.

Apparently Dick Smith has been approached by
seniors in the Aviation Industry. Dick Smith is
concerned that the Aviation Industry is being
destroyed by the Coalition.

Of course I imagine that the Liberal Party will support
Bronwyn Bishop - although a few of them are upset that
she withdrew her support from Tony Abbott in September
and voted for Malcolm Turnbull. This after Tony Abbott
supported her over the "Chopper" affair in Geelong.

It should be interesting to see what happens during
the coming election. Do you think Ms Bishop will win
her seat?

Dick Smith would divide the conservative vote, and with Labor and The Greens holding over 30%, L&G preferences would see Smith elected. Go for it Dicky you couldn't pick a better target. Tony could jump the fence and campaign for Brony, now that would be a bonus for Dick.

Good on ya Dick, you will be a good independant for Australia.

Well, I would vote for Tricky Dicky, as radio people affectionately
call him, if I were in that electorate.
I have met Dick two or three times and what you see is what you get.
I just hope politics does not spoil him.
I had a few words with him one time when he was flying his helicopter
between Japan and the Aleutian Islands and was looking for the ship he
had to land on to refuel.
A friend of mine was on the ship trying to talk him in.

Dick Smith as we know is a well known businessman
and philanthropist. Apparently he's interested to push
through aviation reform. Ms Bishop we're told has been
tarnished by the "choppergate" scandal that shook the
then Abbott Government. So it is possible that Dick
Smith may just romp in.

However, on the other side of the coin - Mackellar is
a conservative electorate that has always voted Liberal
and unless the Liberals stop supporting Ms Bishop - I
can't see her not winning.

Interesting times ahead.

I suppose what needs to be asked is whether
the Liberal Party should support Bronwyn Bishop
at all. Yes, she did vote for Malcolm Turnbull
in September. However what the Party has to
consider is, is the woman good for the Party,
or the nation? Is she still popular amongst
voters?

As somebody commented on the web - this is the
politician sho reserved her power almost
exclusively for the eviction of MPs on the
opposition benches, who held Liberal
Party fund-raisers in her Speaker suite, who
carried a vindictive lance onto the set of
Q & A to show up her fellow panelist, the
Human Rights Commission President, Gillian Triggs.

Is this the kind of politician that our new Prime
Minister wants to continue to support in his party?
With that kind of agenda?

Food for thought.

I've just looked up Dick Smith's biography
on the web.

It is impressive.

The man has achieved a lot in his lifetime
and would make a great Member of Parliament.
Reading about him - if I was in his electorate -
I'd vote for him.

Google it for yourself and take a look at what
this guy's done.

Impressive!

Foxy, compared to Dick's achievements all we can say about Bishops 27 years in parliament is that she has been totally self serving, with an overwhelming sense of entitlement, and that's being kind. Abbott once described himself as the political love child of John Howard and Bronwyn Bishop, I wounder what he though when "mum" sold him out in a sad attempt to save her own political skin.
I think there is every possibility Malcolm will give Bronny the tap on the shoulder before the next election as he tries to clean out more of the dead wood in the parliamentary Liberal Party.

I have to admit I am shocked she is even running for this seat at all.
I don't mind Dick Smith as a businessman, but one never knows how these sort of people would go in parliament.

I think even if Bronwyn was pitted against Jack the Ripper, he would win the seat.
She was a disgrace as a Speaker, and if Abbott had any b##ls at all he should have thrown her out of Parliament for good for her spendthrift ways.

It is a politically naive, shortsighted Fox and other lunar leftists who cannot see past their obsession with Tony Abbott and using BB to do that.

Dick Smith has been (rightly) critical of mass immigration and Big Australia, and of Labor and Greens stuff-ups that resulted in hundreds drowning at sea and porous borders.

If elected, Dick Smith would stand in the Parliament as a foil and an honest one to the double-talk, hypocrisy and shabby tricks of the treacherous Greens and Labor's 'Wolves in Sheep's Clothing', the Fabians aka International Socialists.

Be careful what you wish for Onthebeach.
Dick might not turn out to be the great white male Pollie you seek.
As I have said though, almost anyone could run against Bronwyn and romp it in.

Suseonline, "great white male Pollie"

"White"(sic) and "male" are irrelevant - outside of your obsessional bigotry that is.

You forgot to deride Christians. You were rushing your 'drive by' and forgot to load that bucket as well?

Suse and otb,

I don't know that much about Dick Smith but as
I said earlier - his background is impressive.
He does seem like a sincere and honest man and
we certainly can use more of those in Parliament.

I used to like Bronwyn Bishop years ago - believe
it or not. But her role as Speaker, and other
actions left a lot to be desired. Still I'm not
in her electorate and won't be voting for her.

I hope that Dick Smith does run and wins. I'd
rather give him a chance to do something
worthwhile, than get more of the same from Ms Bishop.

Beach, possibly you could put up your man Jim Saleam again and siphon off 0.1% of the vote, another great white hope of yours. Dick Smith is a liberal in the true sense of the word and he would attract a lot of support from younger voters and progressive older conservatives. I would think he would have better than an even money chance of unseating Bishop, a crusty old conservative.

Foxy,

Have a look at this. BB's personal vote at the last election was 62.4% of the vote and 2pp was nearly 70%, while not popular amongst left whingers she is well known and liked in Mackellar.

Dick Smith has more chance of falling pregnant than winning here.

Paul,

You must be a big Trump fan then.

Dear Shadow Minister,

You might possibly be right. Ms Bishop has been
a faithful warrior of the Liberal Party and as I
stated earlier - I used to like her a great
deal. Her recent behaviour made me realise that
she was giving the Grand Old Party a bad reputation.
That she was not of the calibre of what Liberals
were supposed to be.

Perhaps other Liberal in Mackellar will see that as
well. One can only live and hope.

OTB "White"(sic) and "male" are irrelevant - outside of your obsessional bigotry that is.
You forgot to deride Christians. You were rushing your 'drive by' and forgot to load that bucket as well?"

Ah well then we are similar in that way OTB, what with your constant derision of anyone female, feminist or 'leftist' , but you have far more bigotry attributes than most here.
Your love of conservative male Liberals is blinded only by your hatred of women, hence you put up Dick in front of Bronwyn.
Mind you, I am with you on this rare occasion...

Dick has made similar threats before. A recent example involved the safe Liberal seat of Warringah.

It gets him publicity for his hobby-horse, an airport.

It gets the conspiracy prone leftists excited. Doesn't seem to do much for Dick's airport complaints though.

For the information of the ageists (and the tabloid editors are spinning ageism, through polls for example) Dick is a similar vintage to the experienced sitting member he might challenge. 'Might' being the operative word.

I think it depends how her party members feel
about her. From what I gather she's currently
become not very popular due to the "choppergate,"
debacle. Pollies don't like losers - and she definetly
lost out on that. As for Dick Smith - I guess it does
depend whether he decides to sun or not.

I wish him well.

Hi there FOXY...

Indeed Dick SMITH does have very impressive antecedents, both in business and aviation with his solo round world helicopter journey. I flew quite a bit in choppers in my military days, and they're a fascinating aircraft, but damnable hard to fly?

In fact we were returning from a recon., in a RAAF UH-1B, with just one (1) pilot (RH seat) and two gunners on the doors. I sat LH seat, as the CoP. was down with a suspected Malaria attack. He rode the 'jump seat', all the while sweating profusely and shaking like a vibrator. Anyway when we're nearly back at 'the Dat' the pilot asked, if I wished to take the cyclic control for a minute or two? Did I what! Fantastic FOXY, absolutely brilliant!

Though, a chopper pilot I'd never be, they're a very difficult A/C to control, even straight and level, bucking and yawing for all it was worth? The experience was memorable to say the least, and surprisingly the RAAF never enquired if I wanted pilot training, I wonder why?

Dear O Sung Wu,

I admire your courage in flying.

I'd be terified.

Still taking these sort of challenges must be
very exhilarating. Makes life interesting -
never dull.

Yes, I would vote for Dick Smith if I could.

Ms Bishop obviously prefers to be flown by others,
rather than fly the plane herself - therein lies
the difference between her and Dick Smith.

There are reports that Turnbull is making moves behind the scenes to divest the Liberal Party of the dead wood still clinging to party life support.Not only is the usless Bronny Bishop in line for the well deserved shop, but the old crusty one himself, Phillip Ruddock is also up for the political high jump, wont be missed. Abbott of course is a goner as well, if Turnbull has his way. There are others who wont be there come election day.

Just maybe Malcolm Turnbull will bring the
Libs back to their former glory. They've had
a rough patch under Abbott. It's about time
now for a massive change and perhaps Ms Bishop
will be the first of the dead wood to go.
I wonder if that's possible. Bishop is a fighter
and has been supported by most Libs. Still
the Libs don't like losers, and if she's on the
nose so to speak, they'll drop her like a
hot potato.

Dang, it is always that fellow Abbott who is always responsible.

Abbottophobia resists cure.

Well it would wouldn't it, where the fleas on fleas of the 'asylum seeker' industry - the supporters and beneficiaries of the illegal people trafficking scams - have had their incomes courtesy of the Australian taxpayer slashed.

Still, that wonderful Mr Turnbull has helped out by bringing thousands of mainly economic migrants from a world away. Yay, hundreds of millions of dollars annually from the taxpayer from the labour-intensive game of taking better care of them than the homeless and elderly in Australia's own backyard.

There will be interesting times ahead that's
certain. Not only seeing what the new Prime
Minister has in mind for the election. What
new policies shall be implemented but also
what new tactics the Opposition Leader will
develop. Already the Opposition Leader appears
to be restructuring his office staff. Kimberley
Gardiner's position has been placed under a
new umbrella. She's resigned by mutual agreement
which indicates that she's probably got a new
job on offer. Mr Shorten has praised her work.

Now it seems that he's going to try new tactics
and fresh ideas with a new team - which due to
his fall in the polls is not a bad thing.
It's now a question of "What He Does," that
matters, and what the results are.

Interesting times indeed.

Foxy>> - although a few of them are upset that
she withdrew her support from Tony Abbott in September
and voted for Malcolm Turnbull. This after Tony Abbott
supported her over the "Chopper" affair in Geelong.<<

Yes Foxy the choppergate fiasco. An event that should have opened the debate on parliamentarians with their snouts in the public purse..........but it did not, as the will to proceed was not at all evident from either side.

Not since the Lyons government and the Menzies led opposition agreed to send us to WWII have the two packs of self serving “servants of the people” closed ranks so decisively, exhibiting the extent of their sense of privilege. I just happen to be in Bronny’s electorate and if Dick choppers in I will turf Bronny like an expired flight plan.

Dear SOG,

And I wouldn't blame you.

I'd do the same if I was in her electorate.

Foxy>> Still the Libs don't like losers, and if she's on the
nose so to speak, they'll drop her like a
hot potato.<<

Dearest Foxy, “Libs don’t like losers”..............lolololol .........where is there any sense of equilibrium in that statement.......in just the last decade may I remind you:

LATHAM
BEAZLEY
RUDD
GILLARD
RUDD
SHORTMAN

Hot potatoes Foxy?

The latest news on Bishop is the she might not even get preselected. Conservatives are not pleased that, after all the suport she received from Abbott over her recent 'misjudgments' , the old bag knifed Abbott and voted for Turnbull.

Foxy,

While the LWNJs might think might not like BB she is well liked in her electorate, and the party delegates (who select the person to run for MP) there are solidly behind her. Unless MT is going to make a captain's pick, which he has so far indicated that he won't BB is in the clear.

If Dick Smith ran in another electorate he might have a chance, but against BB he will just lose his money and end up looking like another Clive Palmer.

Liberal party conservatives cried fowl, calling it a stitch-up when Turngull's choice Trent Zimmerman won pre-selection for the safe seat of North Sydney.
Barrister and Liberal Party member Juris Laucis was disappointed in the process, saying that the Liberal Party machine has guaranteed that Mr Zimmerman would win the contest.

"Trent Zimmerman has almost 50 per cent in the bag even before you start the pre-selection voting, and that's not democratic," Zimmerman defeated the rabid rights candidate John Hart, who incidentally had most of the local support over the blow in Zimmerman.

Paul,

If your point was to bore us with irrelevance, you have succeeded. In North Sydney the seat had been vacated, so the comparison with a sitting MP is vacuous.

That there is contention for the seat is no surprise, but unlike the greens the selection is democratic.

Shadow, you talked about democracy in the Liberal Party, then I pointed to the last federal pre-selection the party held just down the road from Mackellar in North Sydney. Well, well, well, the Liberal pre-selection in North Sydney was hardly democratic the "contest" was won by the blow in, who was parachuted in by Turnbull's back room boys. Turnbull got the man of his choice.

How many Greens pre-selections have you taken part in? None. I have been involved in many, all decided by the membership at the grass roots level, something both Labor and Liberal can never claim!

In the words of Big Brother; Bronny its time to leave the house!

I do not know how anybody could bring themselves to stick up for dear bronny. Has she not been smeared with self indulgent crime. Some will never see the wrongs she has done. Or Abbott.
I have my doubts if she will get a chance of being preselected. It will be more like I have reconsidered and decided to retire.
The same with Abbott, no one likes a loser, disgracing his own electorate. Fools to themselves, taking the red carpet every time and telling us how bad things are going, with 579 companies paying no tax, does not make sense. That conservative faction needs to be wiped out, they should be in their own party room out the back smashing up antique furniture.

It will be up to the Party to decide whether
Ms Bishop will be chosen for pre-selection
in her electorate. Do they have anyone better?
She's very well known in her electorate- but
whether she still has the influence and support
of her party - remains to be seen. We'll have to
wait and see prior to the election.

I'm still willing to bet on her being chosen
by the party.
Whether she wins though, is a different matter.

You are joking aren't you Foxy, when you say, "There will be interesting times ahead that's certain. Not only seeing what the new Prime Minister has in mind for the election. What new policies shall be implemented"

There is no way Turnbull could even get 40% of the vote if he actually gave the public the policies he wants to implement. He will pretend to be middle of the road, before taking a ridiculous hard left if he can.

We had best hope the national will cross the floor as a group, if Turnbull gets in, & tries to do what he wants to. That or we will be stuffed again, as we were with Rudd.

Dear Hassie,

Mr Abbott stuffed us around. Broke his promises,
kept things secret. Did his "Captains Picks,"
so Mr Turnbull can only do better. We need to give him
a chance - he certainly can do no worse.

Has been will vote for his mad max party, so why should he be worried about Turnbull, Liberal is not his preferred party, His preferred party does not have a party. Well I should say when they do have a party they smash things up like a mob of hooligans.
I find it quite interesting how public opinion can be dismissed as if it does not exist. Or a handful of others no better.

I used to support the Liberal Party 100 per cent.
However since I've grown older my preference
has been more towards policies rather than parties.

I like Malcolm Turnbull. I am impressed by his
background, qualifications, experience, and
positive attitude. Of course, it also depends on
what policies will be presented prior to the election.