The horrible Australian federal election

Oh, and here are the cross bench Senators:-
www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/09/senate-who-new-crossbenchers

I think it is true that disunity caused the fall - you know, all that in-fighting. But the nature of the Left is to fight: working class conservatives are usually ones who accept what's dished out to them: working class lefties are usually the ones who refuse to put up with injustices; instead they fight back. We just can't help it. And alas, that fighting spirit has been turning in on itself when the party cannot agree on various issues.

Maybe this devastating loss will make the ALP all realise who the enemy really is.

I always thought rudd got away with a lot as a baby faced man, who looks quite benign. He sounds from that article, like a complete nightmare to work with. Interesting that Gillard did not bad-mouth him. I wonder if the campaign would have gone better if they had not stabbed her in the back when they did.

Baggy I voted Greens, I would never waste a vote.

Not a great choice then, faye! Ah well, even a spoiled ballot paper is a vote.

baggy I am not surprised that Rudd could be seen as a Narcissist. His solution for asylum seekers when he became Prime Minister again shows he has no empathy. He previously acted as though he was a caring person but this time around he thought he might get more votes by outdoing Abbott regarding refugees. He lost my vote for the Labor Party and lost the votes of many other people too. This election they didn't even get my second preference for that reason. Abbott would never get my vote for the Liberals, he is an idiot!

GN - well that says it all!

Melanie Phillips, Britain's most right-wing journalist, is a devout admirer of Abbott!

A view from Sydney.

Neither Bill Shorten nor Anthony Albanese have said they'll do it yet. I like Albo, but he doesn't look too good on camera, which shouldn't matter but it does.

Mind you, Abbott is an ugly bugger on both the inside and the outside. I wonder how long before the velvet glove will come off: in the last month he's been uncharacteristically nice.

There is always the chance Abbott'll get rolled eventually in favour of the much more presentable Turnbull, who does not have Abbott's history of aggression and nastiness. Time will tell.

Meanwhile all Abbott's anti-environment and anti-boat people plans will get stuck in a hostile Senate. Honestly Machiavelli would feel quite at home in Canberra these days!

Apparently the National Broadband that the Labor Party were proposing was a threat to Murdoch's Foxtel's interest.

I am now waiting to see who is the new Labor leader, hoping it is not Bill Shorten who was one of the faceless men who originally was involved in sacking Kevin Rudd from the Prime Ministership and replacing him with Julia Gillard.

Bill Shorten who is being considered as the next Labor opposition leader left his wife for the Governor General's daughter who was also married but pregnant to Shorten. The Governor General Quentin Bryce is much more interesting and very glamorous seventy year old woman.

And that is what is laughingly called "democracy".

No, this rime he utterly and shamelessly backed the Right (LNP) while badmouthing the Left (ALP). The morning after the elections were called, his banner headlines taking up the whole front page were: KICK THIS MOB OUT. It continued in the same vein for the duration.

'Get up' made this this TV advert to try to counteract it, and here's the advert, and what happened:

www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/getup-anti-tv-murdoch-advert

However. the losses were nowhere nearly as bad as predicted. I worked on the campaign for my local Labour MP, and he got in with a 1.4% increased margin, much against the nationwide trend.

Suspect Murdoch likes the power.

Suspect Murdoch likes the power.

Well Murdoch doesn't necessarily back a particular party - he seems to favour certain individuals if their world view fits in with his. I'm fairly sure he backed (New) Labour in this country at one stage. His support must have some effect, otherwise why did Labour and Conservative parties go out of their way to court him?

Didn't Murdoch have the same power over the media when Julia Gillard's party won the general election? Something suggests to me that there may be more to it than Murdoch's wily ways – such as that the majority of voters were pissed off with Labor for some, or several, reasons.

I can't say I know a lot about Australian politics but the little I've seen of Abbot doesn't endear him to me. He seems a most unpleasant man.

With Murdoch having such power over the media, it was pretty much a foregone conclusion anyway.

Yes, I agree, JessM, but I think it's a pity that they don't. Politicians control so much of our lives that it's in our own interest to know what's going on.
Personally, I find politics endless fascinating, both here and all round the world.
This recent Australian election has been marvellously entertaining, and after clicking on the above links kindly supplied by other gransnetters, I am even more fascinated. How long can Tony Abbot last, I wonder?

I think many people don't connect politics with their lives - don't see the links.

Oh yes, I loved it too. it was clearly from the heart.

Abbott will have to pull his horns in anyway - he won't have the Senate unless he can get most of the independents on his side.

I agree that politics are never boring - trouble is, too many people do find the whole political scene boring: if only they would give it some thought they would be fascinated.

I love that speech Jess and watched it again. The man who was sitting behind Julia Gillard is Anthony Albanese and I hope he will be the next Labor leader. I think they will make a huge mistake if they elect Bill Shorten.

Also I am hoping Malcolm Turnbull takes over the Liberal party when Tony Abbott messes and has to resign. I can dream.

Politics are never boring.

Abbot will go down in history Joan as the person who provoked Gillard into the best anti-sexism rant by a prime minister, ever.
Here it is in all its glory for anyone who missed it
media.theage.com.au/news/national-times/julia-gillards-misogyny--speech-in-full-3701787.html

Yes, I'm very sad, but with the entire major local media (all owned by Murdoch) pushing the conservatives and bad mouthing Labour shamelessly, it was always going to happen. I worked on my local Labour MP's campaign, Shayne Neumann of the electorate of Blair, and he got a 1.7% swing towards him, according to last night's figures.

Well i hope they are very happy together