Saint Barack lectures black men

[rooster59]

Eyed in Middle East; Australians vote in by-election, government's majority at stake

By Colin Packham

 

FILE PHOTO: The new Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison attends a news conference in Canberra, Australia August 24, 2018. REUTERS/David Gray

 

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Voting began in a Australian by-election on Saturday that could determine how long Scott Morrison's two-month-old premiership lasts, with the outcome keenly watched in the Islamic world after Morrison's brazen bid to woo Jewish voters.

 

Morrison, Australia's sixth prime minister in eight years, needs the ruling Liberal Party to hold onto Wentworth, an affluent Sydney harbourside constituency, to keep his centre-right coalition government's one-seat majority in parliament.

 

The seat was vacated by Morrison's predecessor, Malcolm Turnbull, who was ousted in August by in-fighting among Liberal lawmakers.

 

To boost his party's appeal in a constituency where 13 percent of voters are Jewish, Morrison proposed that Australia could follow U.S. President Donald Trump's controversial decision last December by recognising Jerusalem as Israel's capital and moving its embassy there.

 

Arab diplomats expressed their worries to Canberra this week, and neighbouring Indonesia, the country with the biggest Muslim population, warned that Australia was risking its trade and business relationship with the entire Islamic world.

 

Dave Sharma, the Liberal candidate in Wentworth, is a former Australian ambassador to Israel who is credited with first making the proposal to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

 

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest obstacles to a peace deal between Israel and the Palestinians. Israel regards all of the city, including the eastern sector that it annexed after the 1967 Middle East war, as its capital.

 

The Jerusalem proposal was the most controversial element of an already heated campaign. Turnbull's own son called on voters to shun the Liberal Party, while Sharma was scolded for using an unauthorised endorsement from a prominent rabbi.

 

Sharma's strongest rival is Kerryn Phelps, an independent candidate, who has said during campaigning that defence, trade and security implications need to be considered for any decision to be taken on Jerusalem.

 

Should the government fail to win Wentworth, it will need support from independent lawmakers to survive any no confidence motions.

 

Two independents have already ruled out supporting the government, and others have warned Morrison that he will have to pay a hefty price for their backing.

 

While the gambit on Jerusalem has been welcomed by some members of Wentworth's Jewish community, the proposal has hardened the views of others.

 

"I’m not thinking of voting Liberal anyway, but doing things like this makes me more inclined to vote Greens," said Jo Sharp, a 47-year-old resident, referring to the left-wing party.

 

Less than 0.5 percent of Australia's population is Jewish, while Muslims account for over 2 percent.

 

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-10-20

[pegman]

Hope the Liberals lose. Boycott Australia until these guys are tossed from government.

[lanista]

And replace him with who?  Labor union boofhead Bill Shorten?

He's more dangerous than that Corbett Trotskyite in the UK.

Australia's two party political system is just as stuffed as those in most western countries.

 

Who cares where  we build an Embassy in Jerusalem although likely to be West Jerusalem not the East which is far less controversial.

[DoctorG]

Phelps, who has a good chance of winning, has stated that she will not support any no-confidence motion in the Parliament, so the Liberal Government should be safe until the next election.

This seat requires a massive 17% swing to change hands so I believe the Gov will just hold on. (you can laugh at me tomorrow, OK?)

[lanista]

1 hour ago, DoctorG said:

Phelps, who has a good chance of winning, has stated that she will not support any no-confidence motion in the Parliament, so the Liberal Government should be safe until the next election.

This seat requires a massive 17% swing to change hands so I believe the Gov will just hold on. (you can laugh at me tomorrow, OK?)

Unlikely it will swing to the militant unions but didnt former Lib PM Howard lose a safe seat in Sydney?

We live in unpredictable times.

Voting in Australia is like flogging a dead horse.

[newatthis]

Any Jewish voter who believes that an embassy in Jerusalem is more important than trade, economy etc should pack their bags and go back home. In the religious world, you may be a Jew but in politics, you are an Australian.

[Morch]

4 hours ago, pegman said:

Hope the Liberals lose. Boycott Australia until these guys are tossed from government.

 

A great contender for Unhinged Post of the Day.

[Stargeezr]

Oil speaks, don't you know, and unfortunately lots of it lies in the ME

or Islam Headquarters.

[pegman]

17 hours ago, lanista said:

And replace him with who?  Labor union boofhead Bill Shorten?

He's more dangerous than that Corbett Trotskyite in the UK.

Australia's two party political system is just as stuffed as those in most western countries.

 

Who cares where  we build an Embassy in Jerusalem although likely to be West Jerusalem not the East which is far less controversial.

Labour unions have moved alot of working poor to middle income lives. Your lot with your crumbs from the 1% policies push them the other way.