Carleton not Carlton.

Jayb,

"That's what they all do. No Politician ever answers a question directly. They deflect. That's one of the reasons I'm not supporting either of the big two. They are all BSers"

Of course, there's some truth to that.

However, it's the "degree" to which I refer here.

Mal hasn't got a clue...time after time all we get is a stream of cliché-ridden waffle.

It's like trying to grab hold of a bubble floating in the air.

I will point out that Shorten fronted up to that public forum - and he "did" answer questions without deflecting...which is what those public forums should be about - and also the reason Turnbull failed to make an appearance.

Shadow Minister,

Sorry. I seem to have forgotten to put your name at the top of my response to your slanderous attack on Xenephon - or someone else with a Greek name.

Had to laugh when I heard the Sex Party being given airtime on who else but our abc. They were banging on about dying with dignity. They promote living as deviants, sluts and whores and then are given air time to speak about dying with dignity. Live without any and then die with it. Tell me its a joke. The abc certainly is.

Dear Poirot,

Thank You for your good wishes.

As far as the PM's interview on the 7.30 Report is
concerned? Perhaps I did not express my feelings
very well by calling him a good "communicator" and
then not answering the questions posed to him by
Leigh Sales. What I meant to say was that on a superficial
level he appeared charming and polite - but excellent and
professional at ducking the questions. An expert really.
However perhaps it was Leigh Sales behaving quite
aggressively (possibly out of frustration) that also
came as a surprise and started to annoy me after a while.

As I stated - all very frustrating. And now let's see whether
Mr Shorten does any better.

Foxy,

Yes, I see what you mean.

Sales is overly aggressive - and has been noted for it.

Although, she bopped Abbott a good one shortly before he was rolled by Turnbull. If you recall, he was reduced to answering questions on the economy by saying he'd "stopped the boats".

"...What I meant to say was that on a superficial
level he appeared charming and polite - but excellent and
professional at ducking the questions..."

Again, veering completely off course with his replies, rendering them trite and devoid of detail (except for his foray into the machinations of his business cut strategy), isn't doing Mal much good. He's coming across as nothing more than surface froth at the moment.

Shorten is doing better - and off the cuff as he was last night at the public forum, he didn't duck or weave, even handling questions on Labor's asylum policy.

Which is probably one reason why Labor has clawed their way back in the polls.