I thought it appropriate to have a discussion on
the intention of our former Deputy PM and Foreign
Affairs Minister's intention to quit politics and
not run for re-election at the upcoming Federal
election.

Personally I found Julie Bishop to be a great Foreign
Affairs Minister, and I still believe that she would
have made a better PM than the one we currently
have. Her leaving politics is a loss not only to
the Liberal Party, but to us all.

Your thoughts please?

Bishop seemed like quite a dignified lady. She showed atrocious judgement in backing Turnbull when they knifed Abbott. They certainly managed to reduce a healthy majority and allow the self interested Turnbull to do a lot of damage. Bishop was obviously very popular in her own electorate turning a marginal seat into a safe seat for the libs. Hopefully she won't join the Turnbull termites like Banks in trashing the party that gave her the opportunity to serve.

Foxy truth is Bishop was an out standing politician
And equal to any Minister in the last twenty years
She, given a chance, could have been PM
And that never happened, she was in fact knifed
They say you can not find a member of this government who thinks they cam win
JB may she said go now with pride rather than serve [she clearly would have held her seat] in the rump of a once government

She will not be missed.

The reason I am disappointed with Julie Bishop's
resignation is that in my opinion she would have
been the obvious candidate for the Liberal
Leadership when Mr Scott Morrison inevitably
loses the election this year. Who else could it
be? Tony Abbott remains as unpopular as on the
day that he announced the knights and dames titles,
or bit into the raw onion. And Peter Dutton will
probably lose his seat when the government loses.
All of this would have made Julie Bishop the front-runner.

I'm also still baffled why Julie Bishop lost so greatly
at the leadership challenge when she received only 11
votes in the first ballot against Morrison and Dutton.
She was by far the most popular candidate with the
Australian people.

We've had a few explanations given by Kelly O'Dwyer and
Julia Banks who indicated that Julie Bishop would have
stood a greater chance if she'd been named Julian
instead of Julia. There are a few dinosaurs in the party
but there's got to be more than that to it. I read
somewhere that there are two factors that decide someone's
viability as a leader - their appeal to the public
(in her case - great), and their popularity among their
colleagues. And therein lies the problem. Julia Bishop
was popular with the public but philosophically she was
significantly more moderate than the party's centre of
gravity. They'd already knifed one moderate PM and leader
why would they support another one similar to him?

As a political commentator stated - Ïnternal party politics
are putrid, but they do matter!

How much will she cost us from here on & for what in return ?

Dear Foxy,

Julie Bishop lost me permanently when she labelled those who believe in the BDS movement against Israel as anti-Semitic.

Many Australians as I do see this as a non-violent way of putting pressure on a government who has promoted and enabled the illegal movement of people into the occupied territories.

To have my foreign minister show so little respect for Australians who are committed to seeing a two state solution come to fruition in Palestine was a terminal act in my book thus I hated the thought of her ever getting her hands on the PM position.

However there are some who definitely see her resignation as a blow.

http://www.zfa.com.au/julie-bishop

An awful little woman. Mutton dressed up as lamb. Totally useless, and a backstabber of Prime Ministers. The MSM kept saying how 'popular' she was, but they were proved wrong when she received only 10 votes in the leadership spill. Her own people were clearly not sucked in by her. Good riddance. I believe her self-interested, uselessness and arrogance was one of the reasons women wanting to get into politics are regarded with suspicioun and even contempt. Her removal from the scene might improve chances for women.

Dear Steele,

Thanks for the link and I do understand your feelings
about Palestine. However, don't forget Julie Bishop
has to represent the government's position on this
issue and I'm sure that Netanyahu's State Visit to
Australia would have played a part in her comments
at that time. However, as far as I knoe she has always
supported a two-state solution and she did continue her
stance that Australia would not be moving its embassy
to Jerusalem - rebuffing party pressure.

I also admired the way she lambasted Russia for using
its veto power to block UN proposal to establish an
international criminal tribunal onto the MH17 disaster.

Awww, runner’s so precious about her opportunity to serve.

Like she served the shareholders of Hardy..

Very like the Samarian, wasn’t she?

well as you know Rusty everyone serves someone. Either self or God.

Dear Steele,

I forgot to add that I also liked the way she
stood up not only to Russia, but to China,
and the US - refusing to be bullied. She delivered
hard messages to them all.

She also broke through the gender bias that had
existed in Foreign Affairs in Australia. She pursued
her goals with determination and rigour.

Peter Greste when he was released from prison in Egypt
rang two people - his mum and Julie Bishop.
He gave credit to the hard work that Bishop had done
and her powerful influence in getting his release.

She lost me when she knifed Abbott in the back. A loyal deputy she most certainly not.

About the highest praise I could give her is she is a good cloths horse.

Foxy your thread may well be of far better use than you or any one ever thought
See at the time of her standing for PM she, by far, was the most popular person in her party
No true, polling exists
Here we see pure hate dislike venom used against her
That HIGHLIGHTS the Liberals and SOME who support them have a very real problem with women
The election will confirm treating women as lessor people is unwise they vote and are half of the vote

I've always had the feeling she was merely a mediocre actress with a poorly written script in a play about a lost plot !

individual,

I'm going to steal those lines!!

When it is all boiled down, the old boiler, Bishop, was just another stooge and mediocre servant of the the left of the Liberal party. She was told what to do, and she did it with absolutely no distinction. To be fair, she was just like most most politicians, totally lacking personality and personal ability: a soon-to-be-forgotten hack,forced, at last, to take her snout of the open public trough into the shady world of fabulous superannuation, perks and the usual jobs for no longer wanted time servers. Maybe a ghost-written tell-all book, and a short time in the media spotlight until she disappears from our ken, just like 99.9% of short-lived public figures who have contributed very little to anything but their own bank balances. She didn't make it to the top, so she won't be periodically resurrected by the media - she will just be another forgetable stain on our political history.

Dear Belly,

Julie Bishop's record is of substance that most
Members of Parliament can't boast about. At the
last leadership challenge the Liberals fought
out the Prime Ministership between two men who
when compared to Julie Bishop (the first woman to
contest a leadership ballot in the party's history),
had limited respect, recognition, and authority.

Julie Bishop's performance has been tested - she has had
a significant role over 21 years as a MP and she was an
important presence before she became Australia's first
female Foreign Minister staying there for 5 years
and 155 days.
Over the past 30 years only Labor's Gareth Evans and
Liberal Alexander Downer have held the job longer.
She was a Coalition Frontbencher from 2003 to
2007, a Cabinet and Shadow Cabinet Minister from 2006 to
last August. She survived during all the internal
Liberal ructions after the Coalition's 2007 loss - due in
large part to significant party backing.

She emerged untouched from Liberal power clashes. She was
Deputy Liberal Leader for 11 years all through the
post-Howard, Turnbull-Abbott-Turnbull years.

Her performance has been tested by major issues from
the shooting down of MH17 over Ukraine, the election of
Donald Trump, the growing tensions from an
expanding China. As stated earlier, she has pursued
all of her goals with determination and rigour and
achieved results.

Hopefully she will be offered a vital and important
position by the newly elected government. Her talent
should not be wasted. Australia needs her.

Here's a link that explains Julie Bishop's incredible
trailblazer career:

http://www.sbs.com.au/news/the-long-career-of-incredible-trailblazer-julie-bishop

She emerged untouched from Liberal power clashes.
Foxy,
a classic example of hypocrisy, connivery & fence-sitting ! If you can ess any integrity in this at all I'd like you to point it to us.

Dear Foxy,

Don't get me wrong. In comparison to the bulk of the twats in that very discredited, backward thinking, party of neanderthals Bishop did look good.

She resisted calls to move the embassy to Jerusalem, something Morrison quickly touted trying to win an election after she stepped down. She also was committed to maintaining Palestinian aid.

However that is really a poor position to judge her properly. There were parliamentary expenses which were highly questionable and she often acted in an entitled manner which I found particularly off putting.

"Julie Bishop ordered an empty VIP jet to fly from Canberra to Perth to collect her and her ­boyfriend from a charity dinner, The Daily Telegraph in Sydney ­reports today. The Foreign Minister and partner David Panton were the only passengers on the RAAF Challenger jet on the overnight flight back to Canberra on ­October 18."

And

"Julie Bishop claimed $32,000 in taxpayers’ money for “family” travel by her long-term partner but has not declared his financial interests because she claims he is not her spouse."

And

"Julie Bishop is the latest Turnbull government minister facing scrutiny over taxpayer-funded travel claims, amid growing calls for an overhaul of politicians' travel expenses. The Foreign Affairs Minister charged taxpayers $2716 to attend the Portsea Polo event on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula in January last year as a guest of beer maker Peroni and car company Jeep."

I understand why you hold her in high regard and the fact that I don't doesn't mean your or my reasons for doing so are invalid, it is just we have a different perspective.

"a classic example of hypocrisy, connivery & fence-sitting ! If you can ess any integrity in this at all I'd like you to point it to us".

An excellent summing up, individual! She was rat-cunning, a perfect example of the old shitehouse rat. She used the party, the electorate and everything and everyone she could for her own ends.

Dear Foxy,

I will add that to have served as a deputy to Abbott must have taken the kind of fortitude not many would have had. Trying to polish that turd must have taken an inordinate amount of diplomatic skill and perseverance. It should have been nigh on impossible for someone to be so tied to the worst prime minister this country has seen in modern times and yet come out of that dark period relatively unscathed.

Dear Steele,

Thank You for your comments regarding Julie Bishop.
I do see things somewhat differently but Thank You
for finding some common ground.

I honestly did not query her travel expenses in the past
because as far as I understand - she had been
invited to these events and attended them in her
official capacity as Minister of Foreign Affairs
and as the Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party,
along with her escort and partner. She also attended
various business meetings while in town. I'm sure
that as George Brandis explained at the time -
"She was well aware of the standards and is always
observant of them."

She stated that in attending the movie premiers -
"Ït does add a great deal to the economy and it will
raise our profile overseas as a sophisticated,
creative nation."

And Brandis further added," Ït may be the case that
she attended this particular event in the role she
assumed as Foreign Minister in advocating Australia's interests
including the promotion particularly in the US of the
Australian cinema and film industry."

I'm sure that the costs involved were far
outweighed by the benefits gained out of all this.

Again Foxy we see in this thread a total failure to understand that dreaded, or it appears so here, female sex has half the vote
Must laugh it will come back and savage this government

Belly,
For you it's just a game of Labor winning, for us it's hoping integrity & sense making a come-back !

Dear Foxy,

You wrote;

“ And Brandis further added," Ït may be the case that
she attended this particular event in the role she
assumed as Foreign Minister in advocating Australia's interests
including the promotion particularly in the US of the
Australian cinema and film industry." “

I'm sorry but for him to be saying “It may be the case” rather than just stating “she attended this particular event in the role she assumed as Foreign Minister in advocating Australia's interests including the promotion particularly in the US of the Australian cinema and film industry.” would get the whiskers twitching of most people. This wasn't a doorstop interview but rather a question asked in Senate Estimates where he would have been fully aware Bishop's expenses were going to be audited.

There was no way he was going to end up under that bus with her if the pressure had been more adroitly handled by non-government members.

Nor do I buy attending movie premiers in Sydney and polo matches on the Mornington Penninsula greatly advances Australia's overseas standing. They made up part of her 1.2 million dollar expense bill for the year.

Too much of a cynic when it comes to these things I'm afraid. Bronwyn Bishop got rightly admonished for her excesses but Julie Bishop seemed to breeze through relatively unscathed. I understand she is respected within the Labour party which may have been why she got different treatment but in my book parliamentary standards exist for a reason and Bishop and Brandis shouldn't be trying to rewrite them as they seemed to be at pains to do.

Indy my support for the Australian Labor Party is not because my parents told me
I understand a great deal more about politics than you have ever shown here
Labor is not just my pick, and it is not the leftist party you wish to claim it is
Out and about each day, campaigning for the state election
Still have time to see, and question, the flood of jobs for the boys and very very suspicious contracts
In truth right now the LNP seems to have acted more like the Mafia than a government

Dear Steele,

I still feel despite your arguments to the contrary
that Julie Bishop did attend because she was invited
as a Minister - and did attend in her official
capacity. Of course you are entitled to be skeptical
and I understand your skepticism. However, the
Ministerial Standards prohibit travel for private
purposes but allows travel when it is related to the
office. I feel that in Bishop's case it was related
to her office. She was invited in her official
capacity as Minister. Of course drawing the line
between private and public appearances can be tricky
at the best of times. The following link explains
further (note Mathias Cormann's expenses and those of
Kevin Andrews):

http://thenewdaily.com.au/news/national/2017/01/14/julie-bishop-expenses/

Dear Foxy,

I will confess I am at a loss as to why attending a polo match in Portsea would be vital to advancing Australia's overseas interest, perhaps you might give your thoughts as to why I am wrong.

Your own link does give credence to my stance;

“Foreign Minister Julie Bishop pulled out of an appearance at a glamorous Victorian social event following revelations she charged taxpayers $11,006 to attend several high-profile social events from 2014 to 2015. Ms Bishop’s Polo no-show occurred on the same day influential Australians called for a federal anti-corruption watchdog to be fast-tracked.”

If it was a vital, or even to a degree tangential to her duties as a minister then why pull out after a this more recent event after just a little scrutiny?

The fact that she was perhaps invited as a minister to an occasion doesn't give her the automatic right to accept and bill then the poor old tax payer for the privilege, especially as I'm sure she gets invited to a multitude of events.

Look, if she wanted to attend because she enjoys polo and was extended tickets and hospitality then okay. I might not like it but can live with it. However attending a polo match and billing the rest of us without a decent explanation of why it was deemed appropriate to her position or how it advanced the interests of the country spectacularly fails the pub test in my book and I'm a little surprised it doesn't your own.

Another rat deserts the sinking ship.

Dear Steele,

I'm sorry that I've disappointed you by having
a different take to yours on Julie Bishop's
expenses. I thought that I'd explained the reasons
for my perspective. I appreciate your taking the
time to explain your position on this issue to me.
You know that I value and respect your opinion.
Perhaps my admiration for her is clouding my
judgement. In any case - Thank You for being so
patient and trying to understand where I'm coming
from. I wish that I could give you a better explanation.

http://www.9news.com.au/2019/02/24/22/01/news-australia-labor-leads-coalition-in-latest-newspoll
OFF topic? swell no, truth is this poll takes the wind out of the Liberals will win posters sails
More importantly, if they care to look
It should remind them actions like hating women are far from good for the side they want to win

I would like to Thank Everyone for their contributions
to this discussion. For me it has now run its course.
I wish Julie Bishop All The Best in whatever she chooses
to do in the future. Hopefully she will be offered another
posting by the Government. The following link is taken
from The Age newspaper - Reader's Letters Section:
It gives a good overview of what people think of her
resignation:

http://www.theage.com.au/national/julie-bishop-a-fine-australian-and-a-fine-female-role-model-20190222-h1bkxh.html

I was hoping that this lady would be our first female Liberal
Prime Minister some day.

There's no doubt Ms. Julie BISHOP is Australia's, Imelda MARCOS with her collection of shoes. I wouldn't trust her with today's date. Her notoriety for knifing Tony ABBOTT demonstrates her character and her level of loyalty. No doubt she'll become another lucky beneficiary of a bountiful pension, funded by the ever magnanimous taxpayer. I can only hope you enjoy it, and can live with your conscience.

Dear Foxy,

If I have in any way elicited a sense that I was disappointed in you I sincerely apologise. That is certainly not the case. I like being challenged, it keeps me coming back to this forum. I thought I was inviting you to change my mind on Ms Bishop but perhaps I did not communicate that as well as I should have.

Indeed how boring a life would it be if we were in furious agreement on every issue.

The fact is when we hold someone in high regard as you do with Ms Bishop then we will understandably give them the benefit of the doubt on issues of probity trusting that they will do the right thing in every circumstance. Some may call it donning rose coloured glasses but really it is just a natural instinct we all possess, often for good reasons.

Yet when we are significantly less disposed to granting that trust as I am with Bishop then a cynical view is often the result. Feelings of ill will due to earlier action can, rightly or wrongly, serve to cloud one's judgement of a person.

Neither of us can really judge the other, without far more information, to be correct or incorrect in our assessment of the lady. The best we can do is acknowledge we are after all human, complete with the fickleness which is part of the package. For instance I am reasonably certain my perception Of Ms Bishop would likely be more nuanced if I were a woman.

Thanks for the conversation anyway Foxy. Keep on keeping on.

Is the love in between the arch-Lefties, SteeleRdux and Foxy over? SR is now apologising because he doesn't agree with Didums on everything. Is this the end for 'Dear SR' and 'Dear Foxy'? Tune in later, but hopefully on a new thread; this one has reached the boring stage.

Politicians are all on the peculiar side. They come, and they go, and are very easily forgotten because all the do is feather their own nests, and generally leave the country in a worse state than they found it in. Most of any country's problems are caused by politicians. The shorter their time, the better.

Just out of interest does Butcher (rehctub) still post on this forum. Where is the old sausage!

Dear Steele,

One of the most beautiful qualities in any
human interaction - is to understand and to be understood.
Thank You for having that quality in spades.
I value your friendship.

ttbn,

Instead of looking down at your feet constantly -
try looking upwards. You'll get a different
perspective.

'Just out of interest does Butcher (rehctub) still post on this forum. Where is the old sausage!'

hopefully not out of business due to the renewable charlatans and scammers who have forced up electricity prices over double of what they need to be.

Paul/Foxy the same thought has me concerned hope he is well
He never shared my views but had class unlike a couple
It helps knowing the ranters must rant and have lost the ability to annoy

//Politicians are all on the peculiar side. They come, and they go, and are very easily forgotten because all the do is feather their own nests, and generally leave the country in a worse state than they found it in. Most of any country's problems are caused by politicians. The shorter their time, the better.//

ttbn, does that apply to your folk hero Corny Banana, once you claimed membership of his screwball outfit.

Dear Belly, Paul,

Talking about politicians and our own outlooks
on the state that our country is in at present
in this election year - I came across this
link by Katharine Murphy that gives much food
for thought. See you all on another discussion:

http://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/dec/22/australia-is-lucky-thats-why-the-ubiquity-of-stupid-in-our-politics-is-so-infuriating

Foxy I once read that paper every day, not any more
It tends to be more Labor than some but in truth seems more British Labour
We in this country are not quite that left yet
ALP is the party of reform, banking trade social welfare education , the list is long
The choice comes down to three things
Liberal Labor or a wasted vote on a party that will never hold true power
Pick the best

Dear Belly,

I chose this particular article because it was
written by Katharine Murphy - who always presents
a balanced well-researched view. Perhaps you should
actually read it.

Monday 8.11am, Foxy:

"For me (this thread) has now run its course".

Tuesday 9.54am:

She's still at it.

ttbn,

So are you old chap.

Get a life.

You tell lies, Foxy. I didn't say I was finished with it; you did. There's the difference. Whenever you say one of your threads is over- i.e when people are not agreeing with you enough (even the boyfriend this time) - we know that you don't mean it, because you must always have last say. You don't fool anyone but yourself.

ttbn,

I do not lie.

What I said was that for me - this discussion had
run it's course (meaning that I had nothing more to add),
and I Thanked all the contributors.
However, I do respond to people - as you well know.

As for my having the last word?

Why is that even so important
to you?

It's not to me. Especially, when I'm dealing with
anonymous keyboard "warriors" such as yourself
whom in real life I would have nothing to do with.
To me - You're not real (or part
of my life). So don't make assumptions about your importance
to me.

As I said previously - get a life and stop
nit-picking. There must be something better that could
occupy your time - than trying to demean women you don't
know on discussion forums. Sad really.

“I do not lie”, says Foxy, delusional as always. Having the last word is important to you, Foxy, not me. It's a particularly female trait, one which you will, of course, deny; but I suspect that it's the reason why you hang on grimly as the only female on OLO - too much competition from the sisters on other sites, and the blokes here show amazing, gentlemanly behaviour. The girls wouldn't let you get away with it.

If I'm an “anonymous keyboard warrior”, just what is it that you are? Are you not anonymous? Did I somehow miss the revelation of your name and address? As for having nothing to do with me in “real life”, how would you know that you have nothing to do with any anonymous person? You might see me, speak to me, every day for all you know. I certainly know women just like you; you might be on of them.

When did I make “ ...make assumptions about (my) importance to (you)”. You really do have tickets on yourself! There is nothing special about you that I would try to “demean” you just because you are a woman. You think you cut the mustard with the men, but out comes the gender card when you don't make the grade. You demean yourself.

Yes. I do have better things to do than deal with people like you. Thanks for reminding me.

ttbn,

Go on admit it - you're definitely a fan!

I will continue being awesome - and you can
continue nit-picking.