I agree with SR about Chalmers.

I think Labor's 'big end of town' not only encompassed those greedy self-funded retirees in their 60's but also aspirants a decade and a half out from a self-funded retirement.

Shorten's class-warfare rhetoric bit him in the arse by making aspiration a sin.

Phelps has been given the bum's rush, and things will be back to normal in Wentworth. And, blondey in Warringah will be a one term wonder. An anti-Abbott vote there, not a vote for a completely unknown bimbo.

Australians have called a halt to the leftist crap. And, it is quite clear now that anything but a vote for Liberal or Labor in the lower house is a wasted vote, and your independents and odd bods will only ever be effective in the senate. I wrote 'none of these' in the lower house paper, bit I will probably vote Liberal next time, given Morrison's amazing campaign. He had to do it on his own because he has nothing but dills on his front bench.

Where to for Labor? Who gives a shite?

I don't think so Bazz. As for factories running flat out, the sales of the Chevy Volt were so bad, even with large subsidies, they have dropped the thing from the range.

Good luck charging half the cars on the road each night, without a few new coal fired plants, or a couple of nuclear. I saw some figurers the other day. It would cost billions to retrofit inner city high rise apartment block power systems, to allow car charging, & if that was done, it would cost billions more to upgrade inner city grids to supply the power to them.

Personally I don't give a damn. I am never going to buy another new, or near new car. I much prefer my cars more mature. They become interesting only after their 40Th birthday for me.

Yes we might have petrol supply problems, but only if government force it. We have very large reserves of shale oil. Any decent government would mandate that those wishing to sell fuel in Oz harvest that oil, & refine it here.

I doubt such far sighted action by either of our big 2, so it might be back to buying gasoline by the gallon from the chemist shop, if we allow these lefties to destroy our civilisation. Just one thing is for sure, we won't power a modern civilisation by wind or solar cell, & we sure won't charge a million electric cars by it either.

Dear Hasbeen,

You wrote;

“Look at Germany if you won't believe me. They are building coal fired power as quickly as they can, now they have gone all silly about nuclear.”

Will I didn't believe you so I went and checked;

“On 26 January 2019, a group of federal and state leaders as well as industry representatives, environmentalists, and scientists made an agreement to close all 84 coal plants in the country by 2038. The move is projected to cost €40 billion in compensation alone to closed businesses. Coal was used to generate almost 40% of the country's electricity in 2018 and is expected to be replaced by renewable energy. 24 coal plants are planned to be closed by 2022 with all but 8 closed by 2030. The final date is expected to be assessed every 3 years.”
Wikipedia

LA Times repeat the story;

“Germany, one of the world’s biggest consumers of coal, will shut down all 84 of its coal-fired power plants over the next 19 years to meet its international commitments in the fight against climate change, a government commission said Saturday.
The announcement marked a significant shift for Europe’s largest country — a nation that had long been a leader on cutting CO2 emissions before turning into a laggard in recent years and badly missing its reduction targets. Coal plants account for 40% of Germany’s electricity, itself a reduction from recent years when coal dominated power production.”
http://www.latimes.com/world/europe/la-fg-germany-coal-power-20190126-story.html

So your assertion was a lie.

Forwardplease's "there are plenty of EDUCATED young people who will correct the peasant ignorance of their predecessors."

Don't you just love the smugness of the young ? Why not just ask them now about everything while they know it ? And the big joke is that they too will grow old.

Let's face it, the Labor Party gambled to push the electorate towards the 'Left', in conjunction with the Greens and at least one of the 'Independents': good old leftist political strategy. The Labor Party abandoned much of the working class, i.e. the miners and the urban, non-Anglo workers (who never get any attention), which moved towards One Nation and the Liberals. I certainly hope their next leader - elected by the membership - has more sense.

It will be interesting to compare 'polling on the night' with 'pre-polling' voter preferences. I think there are a couple of surprises yet.

Joe

So where to for Labor now?

Choosing a new leader is the first job.

I am leaning towards someone without previous
the baggage. Someone who would
be able to articulate an agenda for economic growth -
not just talk about how it needs to re-distribute wealth.

Someone Who will see that they have to respect the
election and try to work out how they can do better.
Someone who will see that it is time for a re-think
and not be focused on the blame game.

Who that person is - I frankly don't know.
I hesitate in recommending Antony Albanese or Tanya
Plibersek - because they do have previous baggage.