Hi All

Having read that news papers & polls in Australia are talking of a Labour landslide, just wondering if people could really be that naive as to vote in a bunch of left wing smart asres with no real political, economic or international experience and no real experience full stop.

It will be like putting the corpral in charge of the army.....

The Fly

It will be like putting the corpral in charge of the army.....

Or sending out the Aussie Rugby team to try and beat England

Is it just me or does John Howard look like an undertaker?

Not really for or against either way, as experience isn't always better than common sense. Not saying either has common sense just saying that lack of experience doesn't necessarily negate ability.

Hi All

Having read that news papers & polls in Australia are talking of a Labour landslide, just wondering if people could really be that naive as to vote in a bunch of left wing smart asres with no real political, economic or international experience and no real experience full stop.

It will be like putting the corpral in charge of the army.....

The Fly

There's no option for who gives a smeg, but as long as he's not like you, tsetse, then I guess that'll do.

Hi All

Having read that news papers & polls in Australia are talking of a Labour landslide, just wondering if people could really be that naive as to vote in a bunch of left wing smart asres with no real political, economic or international experience and no real experience full stop.

It will be like putting the corpral in charge of the army.....

The Fly

I always thought Little Johnny would make a great manager at Maccas.

"Do you want lies with that?"

Leave him in long enough and we might get back to the 22% interest rates he over saw when he was treasurer.

You left out,

NONE OF THE ABOVE

So I did not vote.

You left out,

NONE OF THE ABOVE

So I did not vote.

Australia like the US, the UK and most other "democracies", only has a 2 party system regardless of who you vote for.

I actually give more of a shit about politics in Thailand.

Politics in Aussie is a complete waste of time. Rudd and his party comprising of over 50% union related people will win.

Back to the dark ages for all us Aussies, well those living there anyway. It seems the narrow middle class of swinging voters have allready made up their minds to give away all the hard earned gains of the post Keating / Hawk years. Swinging voters never learn from mistakes made in the past....

Back to the dark ages for all us Aussies, well those living there anyway. It seems the narrow middle class of swinging voters have allready made up their minds to give away all the hard earned gains of the post Keating / Hawk years. Swinging voters never learn from mistakes made in the past....

And then they just blame everything on the Poms .... the ones that manage to achieve escape velocity do in my experience.

Hi All

Having read that news papers & polls in Australia are talking of a Labour landslide, just wondering if people could really be that naive as to vote in a bunch of left wing smart asres with no real political, economic or international experience and no real experience full stop.

It will be like putting the corpral in charge of the army.....

The Fly

I always thought Little Johnny would make a great manager at Maccas.

"Do you want lies with that?"

Leave him in long enough and we might get back to the 22% interest rates he over saw when he was treasurer.

And little saint Kevin would...would do what.... he is a total unknown....

Labour voters are choosing to forget the past 11 years of wealth....of course if the unions ( Labour ) were in office it would have been better....

Why not vote for Eddie Jones ?

After all, at least he has been part of a winning team on the world stage !!!!

When it comes to Aussie politics I am like Sergeant Shultz, I know nothing.

My family has always been Labor voters by tradition, but Beazley changed that for everyone. What ever was Labor thinking having him as their man? This new guys seems to be better than the other one.

The Liberals I think can thank Beazley for the last 11 years, that man inspired no confidence.

Anyway, who ever wins wins...

The only change that would be beneficial for me is if they changed the tax system in such a way that it allowed people like me to come home, but as it stands it would cost me too much of my wage to live in Australia as it does every Aussie who works in my industry. It is strange isn't ti? Australia is screaming for people to enter the workforce to do jobs that us Aussies should be doing but can't because the wages are lower for a National and the tax, I find we have to work outside Australia for an expat wage and to get away from the tax.

Anyway, all the above proves you should all start to call me Serge Shultz...

Hi All

Having read that news papers & polls in Australia are talking of a Labour landslide, just wondering if people could really be that naive as to vote in a bunch of left wing smart asres with no real political, economic or international experience and no real experience full stop.

It will be like putting the corpral in charge of the army.....

The Fly

I always thought Little Johnny would make a great manager at Maccas.

"Do you want lies with that?"

Leave him in long enough and we might get back to the 22% interest rates he over saw when he was treasurer.

And little saint Kevin would...would do what.... he is a total unknown....

Labour voters are choosing to forget the past 11 years of wealth....of course if the unions ( Labour ) were in office it would have been better....

The wealth came from the mining boom, if you can tell me how the Libs caused a world wide rise in the price of metals (500% in 5 years) I'll vote for Johnny myself.

Oh, yeah, them bad old unions under the bed again. You've been reading too many Murdoch fairy tales, don't you know they give you nightmares.

When it comes to Aussie politics I am like Sergeant Shultz, I know nothing.

My family has always been Labor voters by tradition, but Beazley changed that for everyone. What ever was Labor thinking having him as their man? This new guys seems to be better than the other one.

The Liberals I think can thank Beazley for the last 11 years, that man inspired no confidence.

Anyway, who ever wins wins...

The only change that would be beneficial for me is if they changed the tax system in such a way that it allowed people like me to come home, but as it stands it would cost me too much of my wage to live in Australia as it does every Aussie who works in my industry. It is strange isn't ti? Australia is screaming for people to enter the workforce to do jobs that us Aussies should be doing but can't because the wages are lower for a National and the tax, I find we have to work outside Australia for an expat wage and to get away from the tax.

Anyway, all the above proves you should all start to call me Serge Shultz...

Labour has failed to offer a viable choice in the past. Their policies have been so close to the Liberals that people haven't bothered voting for them.

The Liberals will probably lose government for no other reason than it's time for a change. The Media has done their best to dress Costello up but he's an appalling alternative Prime Minister.

Iraq was a mistake, Labour may have done the same but Howard went in there now he has to wear the consequences.

Personally I think the Liberals are prepared to give Labour a couple of terms while they rebuild and sit back and blame them for the enormous problems that are going to arise through international issues in the next decade.

I probably won't even bother to vote even though it's an excuse for a trip to BKK to go to the Embassy.

I won't worry about voting either, the last time I voted was in the 90s at the Embassy in Singas and that was just an excuse to take the day off work.

I think you have summed it up nicely sceadugenga.

I haven't voted in any Aussie election since 1989..... when my vote was cancelled anyway because my dear mates decided to go around to twenty or thirty different polling booths and place votes in my name.

Enough to last a lifetime I think!

I haven't voted in any Aussie election since 1989..... when my vote was cancelled anyway because my dear mates decided to go around to twenty or thirty different polling booths and place votes in my name.

Enough to last a lifetime I think!

I wonder how they cancelled the votes? given that the voting is "secret" how did they determine which ones were from "you"?

If your mug mates put your name on them they were invalid anyway.

I am still not sure if it is worth voting, my local member is Dr Carmen Lawrence, or another Labor stooge so it does not matter who I vote for the labor cantidate will be elected.

I haven't voted in any Aussie election since 1989..... when my vote was cancelled anyway because my dear mates decided to go around to twenty or thirty different polling booths and place votes in my name.

Enough to last a lifetime I think!

I wonder how they cancelled the votes? given that the voting is "secret" how did they determine which ones were from "you"?

If your mug mates put your name on them they were invalid anyway.

I am still not sure if it is worth voting, my local member is Dr Carmen Lawrence, or another Labor stooge so it does not matter who I vote for the labor cantidate will be elected.

That is exactly what I said to the election people when they rang up to lambaste me for voting so many times!

I've elaborated on the circumstances in a previous thread somewhere in Bedlam, but all in all it was a pretty funny situation.

Basically, anywhere I have ever lived in Aussie has always been "safe" (not marginal) electorates for whichever party & therefore, apart from being slack, I could never see a reason to vote.

Cheers.

I heard once that it is compulsory for Aussie's to vote. Is this not true?

I heard once that it is compulsory for Aussie's to vote. Is this not true?

It is. If you don't vote, I think it is a $50 fine. However, the numnuts at the electoral roll office never catch up with the backlog of no show voters if you move houses every couple of years....

If you are a long term expat, you are not required to vote - I gave up voting, going to the effort of casting my choice only seemed to encourage them. Ever since they closed the CM consulate I have refused to shell out for a trip to Bangkok just to vote.

CB

I am still not sure if it is worth voting, my local member is Dr Carmen Lawrence, or another Labor stooge so it does not matter who I vote for the labor cantidate will be elected.

One has to wonder where the real stooges reside.

Carmen Lawrence has retired from parliament. She was the first female Premier in WA before switching to federal politics and serving for some time on the front bench. Here is some excerpts from her parting speech. She makes some very salient points about the coalition government. Most Pollies don't bother with a parting speech to parliament prefering instead to start the good life spending their ample benefits.

"You could not expect from me a dispassionate assessment of the Howard/Costello Government's achievements and flaws, but I know my concerns are shared by a great many Australians. I part company with the Government and their views at an early stage of any debate. I disagree with them not only about how to respond to the challenges we face but even what those challenges are. I do not, for example, share the Prime Minister's image of the ideal Australian everyman with a cricket bat and Gallipoli nostalgia. It may be a useful political device, but [as well as the] the fact it excludes women, it hardly embodies the creativity, energy and vision needed for our times...

"I have been horrified the Government so blithely involved us in the illegal invasion of Iraq, sanctioning the death of many thousands of innocent bystanders. Many Australians protested, multitudes marched and the majority made their opposition clear. We were ignored and derided. I ask today, whose position has been vindicated? It gives me no pleasure to say we told you so. As many anticipated, Iraq is at a stalemate. The war shows no sign of diminishing in intensity. The PM's 'months, not years' promise looks as foolish as Bush's 'mission accomplished' [on May 1, 2003]. Tens, perhaps hundreds, of thousands have died. Bloody suicide bombings are daily events. More than a million people have been displaced within Iraq. Double that number fled to neighbouring countries. I say to the Prime Minister, to his cabinet and to his members: 'You were wrong. Appallingly, brutally wrong.'

"I have been dismayed, too, that on so many fronts the Government capriciously withdrew our support for good international citizenship, engineered and justified the brutal treatment of asylum seekers, surreptitiously endorsed the Hanson agenda, and continue, as one editorial put it, 'to hector minorities for political gain'. The Government knew which buttons to push and had no compunction pushing them, despite the consequences to our social fabric. And they have systematically singled out indigenous people for 'special treatment' to pressure them to assimilate into the mainstream.

"The Government have habitually construed disadvantage as resulting from individual moral failing, and acted accordingly. They have been relentless in their attacks on organised labour. They have bullied critics into submission, narrowed the sources of advice to government, stacked boards and committees with fellow travellers, politicised the public service and misled the public on so many occasions we have lost count. They have dramatically shifted the provision of health, education and social services towards private consumption and undermined the core of our egalitarianism. They continue to pay lip-service to the very real threat of global warming. And frankly, they could not give a stuff about the cultural life of the nation.

"We need to broaden our horizons. It is rare to hear the Prime Minister talk about anything but the state of the economy. He seems to think Australians are interested only in 'stuff'. We need a better balance between material gains and the quality of life. The economy is not all that matters.

"I am confident a Rudd Labor government will help shape a more compassionate society. The Howard/Costello legacy is dangerous: you deserve what you get and you get what you deserve. It is mean-minded and narrow and refuses to acknowledge the role chance plays in all our lives. And I look forward to a reduced emphasis on fear, threats and coercion [as] exemplified in the excessive security and cost at APEC. As the Chasers demonstrated, it made Australia a paranoid laughing stock."

I always knew I had respect for her, now I know why

CB

I can't vote yet as i'm only a resident. But if i could it would be Rudd!

I can't vote yet as i'm only a resident. But if i could it would be Rudd!

So did you cast a vote for him on this poll?

CB

"I have been horrified the Government so blithely involved us in the illegal invasion of Iraq, sanctioning the death of many thousands of innocent bystanders. Many Australians protested, multitudes marched and the majority made their opposition clear. We were ignored and derided. I ask today, whose position has been vindicated? It is mean-minded and narrow and refuses to acknowledge the role chance plays in all our lives. And I look forward to a reduced emphasis on fear, threats and coercion [as] exemplified in the excessive security and cost at APEC. As the Chasers demonstrated, it made Australia a paranoid laughing stock." [/i]

Paranoid laughing stock.... so this left wing fool has no real idea of just how dangerous the people we face are and how far they will go to kill us, yes it not a perfect world, there are bad people out there, you make it easy for them and they will strike.

Multitudes marched ????...where was this ???..... a few thousand marched in Sydney....last time I looked the population of Sydney was over 3 million.....some 5 or so thousand marched in Adl...over a million people lived there, and most of them where just school kids being marched down the main street by there left wing school teachers....

This speech doesnt deserve to be repeated, but its the very things that the writer complains about that gives the writer the freedom to speak such trash. People such as this were loud mouthed in the late 1930"s, silent in the 1940"s....

I don't mean to be rude, but honestly, I can't think of any topic on the planet LESS interesting than what goes on in Australia. I generally like Australians, (except the ones that misbehave when traveling), but the activities of their politicians would put me in a coma. But honestly, that's a compliment... that no one cares what goes on there, must mean they are doing something right.

But when I was there, I noticed there were a lot of smokers... and also a lot of people walking around like zombies from Issan, with those I-pod things in their ears, blasting bad music, at high volume, no doubt causing hearing impairment. The food wasn't great there, but I was eating in cheap places, or department store basement food courts.

I also hate that they care so much about sports... they don't care what's in someone's head, but rather who can run some silly race 1/100th of a second faster than some other cretin.

I don't mean to be rude, but honestly, I can't think of any topic on the planet LESS interesting than what goes on in Australia. I generally like Australians, (except the ones that misbehave when traveling), but the activities of their politicians would put me in a coma. But honestly, that's a compliment... that no one cares what goes on there, must mean they are doing something right.

So do everyone a favour and leave the thread. It isn't of any interest to you and you have nothing worthwhile to add.

CB

I also hate that they care so much about sports... they don't care what's in someone's head, but rather who can run some silly race 1/100th of a second faster than some other cretin.

But if you'd gone to a footie game you could have enjoyed a decent pie or two, and got an interest in sport.

I'd rather be sports-mad than concerned about the quality of Sizzlers salad.

but the activities of their politicians would put me in a coma. But honestly, that's a compliment... that no one cares what goes on there, must mean they are doing something right.

Everybody has a right to voice their views in Australia.... Australia is the envy of the developed world...11 years of growth and good government has us in a fine position, whinges like u are common, couldnt extend your visa and had to leave ??

.... but your correct, Australian business is no cared about o/s.... and our troop presence in Iraq is tiny, but Labour plays it up for a vote...but u must know a lot about our politicians to make a statement like that...

I think Mark Latham was pure comedy, and goes to show just what Labour will do to try and gain office, even if it means placing a total half wit in charge of the country, which they are attempting to do again.