Another ALP leak came out. Gillard opposes paid maternity leave – not just the Coalition policy but the ALP policy too.
Ms Gillard reportedly opposed in cabinet the 18-week paid parental leave scheme set at the minimum wage, which is due to begin in January 2011.
“The idea that paid parental leave would be a political winner was misconstrued,” Ms Gillard was quoted as telling cabinet.
“People beyond child-bearing age would resent it as would stay-at-home mothers.”
Ms Gillard reportedly questioned the $30 a week increase for single pensioners, billed as the biggest rise in a century since the pension was introduced.
Government sources quoted in the report said that while Ms Gillard was not opposed to the pension increase, she questioned the $14 billion cost on the grounds “elderly voters did not support Labor”.
I suspect everyone thinks Rudd did it, but I wonder. There are others leaving the parliament who could be up to mischief too – not to mention the public service who could be leaking.
Okay – tough headline but it makes a point. 730 Land had a go at Abbott for taking his daughter on the campaign trail with him. Why is this a problem? Parents often have to take a child to work. If she wanted Gillard could take one of her kids too. Oh, wait.
Yes; the campaign has degenerated into silliness – will we see a prime ministerial wedding? Bob Brown thinks all these personal attacks are disgusting. He’s not wrong. But what goes around comes around. Politicians should debate policy and leave the grubby stuff for the tabloids.
What on earth is wrong with taking your adult daughter on the campaign trail? Presumably, she wants to go.
Peter Patton
27 Jul 10 at 8:35 pm
I wouldn’t put it past the nasty vindictive little sociopath from leaking at all.
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 8:37 pm
I can’t say I disagree with Gillers on these points, so where’s the story here?
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:37 pm
All the grubby stuff about Gillard is coming from her own side!
Infidel Tiger
27 Jul 10 at 8:37 pm
I mean, look at this.
Whoever helped organise a coup against this poor man’s Tom Ripley did us all a favour
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 8:39 pm
Yea, but where’s the story here, Jase. If anything they suggest she had a little more sense than the other idiots in cabinet.
You’d have to think it was the little turd.
The trouble is that he’s like a noose around their neck and he isn’t going anywhere unless it’s the UN.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:40 pm
oops I meant these
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/no-labor-in-rudds-campaign-posters-20100727-10t6e.html?rand=1280191604586
http://www.smh.com.au/wa-news/rudds-back-as-prime-minister–in-stirling-anyway-20100727-10te8.html
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 8:40 pm
JC, Gillard boasted about the boost to aged care pensions during the debate. Turns out she was vehemently opposed to the measure, saying in Cabinet that the beneficiaries were Coalition voters. She is also said to have opposed Labor’s parental leave scheme in Cabinet.
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 8:41 pm
All the grubby stuff about Gillard is coming from her own side!
How do you know it’s coming from her side?
One thing that may point to the little turd is that Jabba said something to suggest it was someone close to her.
Oakes brandished his piece of paper and said that Gillard would in fact know his source was much closer to home..
That could be Jabba trying to put them off the scent that it was the little turd by suggesting it was someone close to her.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:43 pm
JC – think hypocrisy.
Sinclair Davidson
27 Jul 10 at 8:44 pm
well good, she’s more sensible than both the Coalition and Labor.
As pedro said somewhere else, this is really a hold your nose and vote election.
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 8:44 pm
Oh Okay, Got you CL.
She’s caught lying. hahahhahhahahhahhaha
But then why is this a shock? Fisk correctly refers to them as the Australian Liars Party or ALP for short.
In fact we should be more shocked if we thought she was being honest all the time as you’d then want to know what the fuck is wrong with the ALP.
This is a bizarro world when someone actually lies about being frugal and thoughtful with mullah.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:46 pm
well good, she’s more sensible than both the Coalition and Labor.
I doubt her reasoning had anything to do with economics. Bugger me with a sharp pool cue if a woman who wastes $16bn on sheds and lean-tos would give a continental about a few hundred million for mums.
Infidel Tiger
27 Jul 10 at 8:49 pm
well good, she’s more sensible than both the Coalition and Labor.
Yea… But all to no avail because her act of lying suggests she doesn’t want to be characterized as responsible and frugal with money.
Lol.
This has to be the stupidest election of all time.
The problem for her is that she’s coming on a high. That isn’t good. You want to be doing what Abbott is doing if you’re absolutely not going to run a perfect campaign.
You want to be starting weak and finishing strongly. The other way is pretty bad.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:53 pm
oops… coming off a high….
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:54 pm
It’s not necessarily Rudd leaking this, IMO. According to Latho, Albanese and Macklin hate Julia’s guts and Tanner and Faulkner bolted from her at a million miles an hour.
well good, she’s more sensible than both the Coalition and Labor
It’s a bit of a stretch to praise the fiscal credentials of someone for opposing maternity leave when that same person has presided over one of the most massive spending rorts in Australian history. The question thus becomes one of values: why does Julia prefer halls and toilet blocks over caring for children?
Smells like spleen spirit (unplugged militant feminist version).
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 8:54 pm
Freaking sick of pensioners anyway. They should have saved some money when they were young unless there were health problems.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:55 pm
More sensible? She only disagreed with the rise in pensions because there were no Labor votes in it, and so far as the PP scheme was concerned because those that fall outside the benefit might resent it.
dover_beach
27 Jul 10 at 8:57 pm
No one said she’s Milton Friedman in a dress, Cl. We’re not dealing with a princess of economics.
Perhaps she just thought it was wasteful while school dunnies weren’t
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:57 pm
Dover,
why do you say there are no votes from the pensioners. I would have thought it more labor’s way.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 8:58 pm
Freaking sick of pensioners anyway. They should have saved some money when they were young unless there were health problems.
Some pensioners have no money because your wall street cronies blew it all.
Infidel Tiger
27 Jul 10 at 8:59 pm
The school dunnies policy was primarily one of Keynesian stimulus. No one’s saying she subscribes to Say’s law. Like everyone else she would’ve subscribed to the Keynesian consensus on macro policy. The Keynesian consensus says throw money at a recession as soon as possible.
The maternity leave plan on the other hand is more of a long term policy and not part of a stimulus.
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 9:01 pm
.why do you say there are no votes from the pensioners.
That’s what Gillard said. That was why she opposed it. They’re all coalition voters, apparently.
daddy dave
27 Jul 10 at 9:01 pm
Precisely, Dover. She opposed it – according to Oakes’s leak – because the beneficiaries were mostly LNP supporters. Nothing to do with a concern about wasteful spending.
Gee, what a nice person.
FFS, peeps, get a grip: drop the lame apologia. She stood shoulder to shoulder with Kev as they blew $50 billion on home incinerations and tuckshops.
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 9:01 pm
It’s not necessarily Rudd leaking this, IMO. According to Latho, Albanese and Macklin hate Julia’s guts and Tanner and Faulkner bolted from her at a million miles an hour.
Yea but internally he’s going to get the blame. I can’t really see say Gillard or DC suddenly thinking to themselves.. the leak came from Faulkner. They going to say it was Rudd.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:02 pm
I would have thought if Albanese and Macklin hated her guts that would be a point in favour of Joolia.
But seeing as how it is Oakes, I would bet on the Krudd.
Anyway JC, Joolia was not arguing against the policy on economic grounds, but because she believed the pensioners do not vote ALP. Which is two points against her: that she makes decisions for petty partisan reasons; and ignorance that retirees with no self funding component are more likely to vote labor.
entropy
27 Jul 10 at 9:02 pm
JC, that is Gillard’s reasoning, not mine.
dover_beach
27 Jul 10 at 9:03 pm
Fidel:
Stop it with the Bird imitations.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:03 pm
Oh Okay sorry… Umm I better read Jabba’s hit piece.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:04 pm
I’m over the lot of them
tal
27 Jul 10 at 9:06 pm
re Abbott’s daughter, personally I am disappointed we have not seen a lot more of her on the campaign trail.
entropy
27 Jul 10 at 9:06 pm
She’s had the worst day in the campaign by far. Non-stop disaster. Maybe Tim can giver her a head massage tonight.
Infidel Tiger
27 Jul 10 at 9:06 pm
Depends, JC, re pensioners. Most oldsters did not work in a world where it was possible to tuck away the sort of money they’d need to live off for 30+ years. Most had quite large families. A significant number either dodged ot took bullets for the country at war. They’re entitled to a living. Far more so than, say, a (hypothetical) single woman who has cntributed no future wealth creators and taxpayers to the nation and has drawn her living from the public purse for most of her working life.
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 9:09 pm
The paid maternity leave is a *long term welfare state entitlement*. It’s going to be with us forever. She was right to oppose both the Labor and Coalition plans. I’m going to give her credit for that.
I’m not going to give her credit for not going along with the stimulus package because I don’t expect her not to be a Keynesian and Keynesianism says any money that is wasted in a recession is still money well spent. The stimulus package is a once off which admittedly saddles us with debt but doesn’t add to the long term entitlements of the welfare state.
Meanwhile Tone thinks that a less competitive company tax rate is worth a Swedish style maternaity leave system.
I am going to give Julia credit here and say again I don’t regard either of the parties with much enthusiasm.
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 9:09 pm
From Jabba’s piece.
Mr Rudd himself for the first time during the election campaign, has referred to Julia Gillard by name giving his support to the Prime Minister’s campaign.
Oakes said on Channel Nine he had leaked information from government sources supporting the suggestion that as Deputy Prime Minister, Ms Gillard, in cabinet had resisted the 18-week paid parental leave scheme set at the minimum wage.
You know it would be really interesting getting a time line on this and seeing when Rudd mentioned Gillrudd and giving support because the little turd could be creating that smoke to cover his tracks.
If he offered support before Jabba’s piece, it’s Rudd who leaked.
I told you dudes months and months ago that if Rudd got the boot he’d ruin Gillard because he’d leak all the bad shit about her.
This is now coming to pass.
Having read the piece… what a douche. It wasn’t that she’s being frugal but because it was being spent on the wrong people.
This now folds nicely into the accusation the Australian Liars Party is directing cash to their electorates.
Oh my. What a wonderful web that’s being spun.
At the rate this is going, Bill Shorten(ed) will be getting the nod from PM Ludwig and deputy Little Paulie Howes (the 9th grade dropout) before election date.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:13 pm
With the Gillard campaign faultering, the ABC – which, for years, has salivated over Tony Abbott’s religion, appearance, youthful indiscretions, Speedos, marriage, family and children – wheels out the damsel-in-distress distraction.
This is an obvious campaign tactic.
And what a pathetic one: the woman as victim.
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 9:15 pm
I’m going with the theory that it’s Rudd too.
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 9:15 pm
I know CL… I don’t begrudge pensioners. I was only kiddin..
Sheesh you guys are aggressive this evening.
One foot out of place and it gets chopped off.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:16 pm
She was right to oppose both the Labor and Coalition plans. I’m going to give her credit for that.
She may have opposed, but it’s still her god damn policy. She’s the French Resistance.
Infidel Tiger
27 Jul 10 at 9:16 pm
From the above ABC link:
“She has also been the subject of a newspaper story discussing her earlobes…”
Great Scott!
Her earlobes!
Nicola Roxon was trashing Abbott’s Catholicism just a few weeks ago.
But that’s nothing compared to… earlobe-ism.
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 9:18 pm
Sorry, JC.
But I thought you were making a good point badly: about the importance of financing retirement etc.
Yeah, ya have to keep your head down around here.
Tell me about it. LOL.
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 9:20 pm
From CL’s piece: from the ALP media wing known as the ABC.
She has also been the subject of a newspaper story discussing her earlobes and fashion sense.
Oh yea right… It’s disgusting. Like it was disgusting referring to Howard as a dessicated coconut and all the other shit about his looks or Abbott’s big ears.
It was Keating who referred to Howard like that on our ABC and I never saw anyone whine at the ABC media wing.
What’s wrong with her ear lobes anyways as I haven’t seen the meat handles yet.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:21 pm
It must be bedlam in ABC current affairs. Kezza running around wailing madly that the Coalition just might win this one; to the barricades, comrades!
dover_beach
27 Jul 10 at 9:23 pm
Oh please, earlobes!!!!
tal
27 Jul 10 at 9:26 pm
Lobegate!
Peter Patton
27 Jul 10 at 9:27 pm
Bet Jools is happy for people to talk about her ears rather than her f**k ups
tal
27 Jul 10 at 9:30 pm
If a bachelor was running for PM and had a bird in tow, would it be a sexist scandal if a few reporters asked him if he intended to marry her? No.
Is this what Gillard is now reduced to – playing the gender victim?
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 9:33 pm
jeezus.. They’re freaking huge.
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=168079&id=126845640693796
They’re like those stretched lobes African women have. However their lobes are artificially stretched while Gillers meat-handles seem natural… or rather un-natural.
They’re enormous.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:34 pm
It’s only going to get worse Lad
tal
27 Jul 10 at 9:35 pm
It must be bedlam in ABC current affairs. Kezza running around wailing madly that the Coalition just might win this one; to the barricades, comrades!
Doves, I’m sure PM Ludwig will call a meeting soon between the political and the media wing to see what the ABC can do to salvage this.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:36 pm
It’s now considered sexist if you ask her if she’s going to marry Stedders?
Fme.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:38 pm
Someone should ask Steddie if HE is going to make an honest women out of Julia!!!! Then stand back
tal
27 Jul 10 at 9:42 pm
Isn’t it tomorrow that the Women’s monthly spread comes out? This is not looking good is it?
entropy
27 Jul 10 at 9:43 pm
What’s that about Entropy?
Naaa, not a woman’s weekly spread. I’m sure that’s where we see stedders again.
Why do you reckon it’s not looking good?
JC
27 Jul 10 at 9:45 pm
Wow. She actually has got huge lugs. I think it’s from wearing those ear chandeliers.
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 9:57 pm
Apparently the OZ woman’s weekly has a hagiographic photo shoot of gillard in the August edition, out tomorrow.
A la Cheryl Kernot. And didn’t that work out well.
The ALP machine probably thought it would work a treat during hte campaign. Now, with this little revelation that she was partisan in speaking out against a pension increase she just waxed lyrical about the game is a bit soured. And then she comes out as a glamour queen. I do not believe it will work out well.
entropy
27 Jul 10 at 9:59 pm
Someone should ask Steddie if HE is going to make an honest women out of Julia!!!! Then stand back.
Cry havoc and let slip the blobs of Dior!
C.L.
27 Jul 10 at 10:02 pm
Very clever CL, I’m sure The Bard would approve
tal
27 Jul 10 at 10:07 pm
The whole campaign is just shocking. Sinc, I am surprised your headline has not caused an outbreak of hives at LP yet.
Peter Patton
27 Jul 10 at 10:16 pm
You dills. Until proven otherwise, I’m claiming the title of blogger who first said “julia has big earlobes” back on election night 2007. (Within a couple of days, someone started the Facebook page.)
Lately, I’ve been getting over a thousand hits a day from people googling “Julia Gillard earlobes”.
Anyhow: doesn’t Oakes feel just a little bit sleazy being the delivery boy in the tit for tat going on from someone not a million miles from Rudd?
steve from brisbane
27 Jul 10 at 10:20 pm
If the story about ‘querying’ the pension increase on the basis that the benefit was wasted on non-Labor recipients is true….
You have to wonder about the culture going on in the meetings of the Gang of Four ?
For what is being portrayed as the heartfelt face of social democracy and social justice, that is a pretty Rosa Klebb-moment to leave on the record for posterity.
Even if THAT is what she thought, surely to goodness she would have the wit to keep her cards close to her chest and make some remarks about fiscal prudence instead ?
You have to wonder the substance of that one, and also if the other members of the Fabianistic Four disagreed with her on grounds of – you know – morality maybe ?
Regrettably we face a long wait until the Cabinet records are unsealed.
Myrddin Seren
27 Jul 10 at 10:27 pm
Great point, MS.
The pension rise did go through despite her opposition on some pretty abominable grounds. This of course makes Rudd look good awhile she looks terrible.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 10:30 pm
The pension rise decision had been locked in before the GFC.
Peter Patton
27 Jul 10 at 10:37 pm
That’s even worse for her, because they still had the loot left in the trolly by the previous government.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 10:38 pm
Then again, it is impossible that such perspectives would not be considered in EVERY single cabinet decision, by every single member of cabinet.
Peter Patton
27 Jul 10 at 10:41 pm
The worst election campaign in my experience.
Can I vote “neither of the above”?
Ken Nielsen
27 Jul 10 at 10:42 pm
Ken
The problem is the debt/deficit. There’s no more money in the cupboard any more.
The liars party would dearly love to spend and promise the world but after the Lurch/Rudd insulation fiasco and the BER that idea would go down like a lead balloon. And during a period in the world where large annual deficits appear like train wrecks additional spending proposals would be a disaster for them.
As for the Libs. Their big job will be to get the debt down and pay it off, which will cause some pain as a result of reduced spending.
Consequently they have nothing to say other than fighting over boats and the size of Julia’s ear lobes.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 10:54 pm
JC Do you believe that the Libs elected would have the courage to work on the deficit?
Perhaps we have to face the kind of mess that Kennett inherited in Victoria to get much done.
Ken Nielsen
27 Jul 10 at 10:59 pm
Tanya P is defending Gillard on Lateline. Only sending out Homer would be worse. She mistakenly refers to Abbott as the PM; a premonition, no doubt.
dover_beach
27 Jul 10 at 11:00 pm
thank god for Tanya P.
She makes my choice easier. I know I can’t possibly vote her in as my federal MP.
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 11:03 pm
Well aren’t you lucky SOON
tal
27 Jul 10 at 11:05 pm
not that my vote will make a difference in an electorate that spans Surry Hills, Glebe, Balmain
jtfsoon
27 Jul 10 at 11:06 pm
JC Do you believe that the Libs elected would have the courage to work on the deficit?
Of course they will. I’ve always thought the Libs slogan should be: “We’re big government ninnies, but we usually balance the budget.”
Infidel Tiger
27 Jul 10 at 11:07 pm
Yea, I think they would, Ken. They keep mentioning it as a problem and if there is one issue and perhaps the only issue that I think they would be serious and that I care most about it’s the deficit and the debt.
As I keep saying, everyone seems to look at the overall debt level which is quite low by OECD standards. To be honest that is nothing to crow about seeing the large slab of that association are walking debt zombies.
The world is a shitty place for sovereign debt and if we’re thrown another curve ball we could reach 10% of GDP in annual deficit. I love to see a government recover from that sort of thing without getting a meat ax to spending and raising taxes if it’s labor.
I think hockey is sincere when he says he’s concerned about the deficit and would be their number one priority.
Frankly that’s all i really care about at the moment. I want to see spending down and return to a balanced budget. The Libs are far more likely to produce that.
JC
27 Jul 10 at 11:11 pm
I agree about with Julia not spending money on breeders.
And, $14billion for $30/week. Someone is shaking the nuts out of Laurie’s Oak tree because that means we have nearly 9million pensioners!
Laurie Oakes is a lender of the truth and should be whipped and burnt for not telling this stuff before so how can we believe him now.
Denis of Perth
28 Jul 10 at 12:44 am
There aren’t 9 million pensioners in the country. There are 2.6 million people over the age of 65 and out of those they aren’t all on the pension.
http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/3201.0
Spot making stuff up as you go along, Denise.
JC
28 Jul 10 at 12:52 am
“Depends, JC, re pensioners. Most oldsters did not work in a world where it was possible to tuck away the sort of money they’d need to live off for 30+ years.”
Well they had much lower tax rates than we have to deal with, largely because we have to pay pensions and health bills those buggers dodged.
“Most had quite large families.” Not my fault, and why can’t their kids pay for them direct?
“A significant number either dodged ot took bullets for the country at war.” In which case they’d get a defence pension so that’s irrelevant.
“They’re entitled to a living.” What if they wasted all their money on piss and fags?
“Far more so than, say, a (hypothetical) single woman who has cntributed no future wealth creators and taxpayers to the nation and has drawn her living from the public purse for most of her working life.” Rubbish. How do you know Gillard is not childless because she can’t have kids? Plenty of barren women don’t tell people their problem/
pedro
28 Jul 10 at 7:21 am
spin·ster (sp?n’st?r)
n. 1.A woman who has remained single beyond the conventional age for marrying.
2.A single woman.
given Gillard lives with her ‘partner’ it is impossible to argue she is a spinster.
That word usually means a woman who is single ie no man around.
A person living with someone is hardly single.
Forrest, you are an idiot,
if the World collapses and our debt did go to 10% it would still be very much lower than anywhere else.
Other countires debt would rise faster than ours yet somehow markets would pick on us.
No they would be gobbling up our bonds
Butterfield, Bloomfeld % Bishop
28 Jul 10 at 8:43 am
brilliant shot of the little sociopath and Joolia
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/labor-fear-a-vengeful-kevin-rudd-may-be-behind-cabinet-leaks/story-fn5z3z83-1225897719853
jtfsoon
28 Jul 10 at 9:25 am
Spencer, I wish you’d leave the ‘Spinster’ angle out of it; if you acknowledge that the election is degenerating to silly personal issues there’s no reason to reinforce that by deploying the word ‘spinster’.
That being said Labor’s clearly in no fit state to be re-elected and hopefully we’ll see many more leaks of this sort…!
TimT
28 Jul 10 at 9:32 am
Jason, I made the point here somewhere else, and I was curious if you agreed: I suspect that in Asian countries, with their traditional regard for “honour” and saving face, they could think it near insulting of the Australian government to appoint a very recently dumped PM as foreign minister? (I know Downer had a demotion and went on to foreign minister, but there was enough of a gap and it wasn’t as big a demotion.)
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 9:34 am
never thought of it steve and I don’t know that it’s a signficant issue.
for some strange reason, Rudd seems to be quite popular with people in the region anyway.
jtfsoon
28 Jul 10 at 9:37 am
TimT: I think you must be one of the very, very few poets in Australia who votes against Labor. Do you just avoid talking politics to your other poet writing friends? ??
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 9:38 am
Well I can only quote Lewis Carroll Steve – ‘such is human perversity’. I really don’t know why.
Most poets wouldn’t vote Labor, though they’d preference it above the Libs. Top votes typically go to the Greens or the Socialists I’d imagine.
TimT
28 Jul 10 at 9:39 am
Steve
there’s also Geoffrey Lehmann. He used to write these right of centre columns for the Oz in his day job as a tax lawyer but was also a famous poet.
In fact at one point I suspected our very own Rococo might be him but the demographics don’t match as he’s retired
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoffrey_Lehmann
jtfsoon
28 Jul 10 at 9:41 am
BTW Tim, did you rename Sinclair “Spencer”?
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 9:43 am
I think I did… sorry Spenclair.
TimT
28 Jul 10 at 9:46 am
were you just reading the Faery Queen or something, Tim? strange sort of juxtaposition with Sinkers
jtfsoon
28 Jul 10 at 9:48 am
I’ve also noticed here that many have been happy to make comments suggesting that Gillard’s hairdresser partner may be gay. In fact, he’s been married before and has 3 adult kids, as was set out in a profile of him in Fairfax recently, and this story too:
http://www.smh.com.au/national/first-bloke-is-a-mans-man-20100626-zapz.html
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 9:52 am
TimT – we have to give our leaker his little reward and then get onto the substantive issues. Spinstergate tells us more about the workings of the Rudd government than it does about Gillard’s views.
Sinclair Davidson
28 Jul 10 at 9:55 am
Jason – I often get called “Spencer” or “Sidney” and, of course, “evil, bald, fascist gnome”.
Sinclair Davidson
28 Jul 10 at 9:56 am
I’ve also noticed here that many have been happy to make comments suggesting that Gillard’s hairdresser partner may be gay.
That would be me. And I wasn’t “suggesting” it, I asked why he was being hidden from the campaign, and threw that possibility out as a question. But, thanks for digging up evidence of his heterosexuality. I know you’re working hard now that there’s an election campaign on so I appreciate the effort.
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 9:56 am
we do ont vote for politician’s ‘partners’ so why the interest in them and why do they ‘need’ to be in the campaign?
Butterfield, Bloomfeld % Bishop
28 Jul 10 at 9:58 am
It wasn’t just you d_d; many people had been jokingly implying it, I thought. I had been meaning to comment on it for some time.
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 9:59 am
I’ll just call you Eclair for short.
TimT
28 Jul 10 at 9:59 am
Yes I agree with Homer. Politicians dragging spouses around with them has always annoyed me. As did Lefties criticism of Howard’s wife for not being an active enough PM’s spouse. It fine for them to be on stage at the election launch; that’s about as much as I want to see of them.
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 10:04 am
TimT: I think you must be one of the very, very few poets in Australia who votes against Labor.
Les Murray perhaps? He’s never said how he votes but seems to lean conservative.
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 10:04 am
Yes, I couldn’t think of his name, but Murray was the only (presumed) conservative poet I knew of.
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 10:07 am
When dd made the comment I assumed that Mathieson was playing the part (the word for it doesn’t come to mind immediately) for Gillard. It makes no sense that Gillard would be playing the part for Mathieson.
dover_beach
28 Jul 10 at 10:11 am
As Quadrant shows there are a number of poets with right-of-centre views. For whatever reason – the clannish nature of left politics as opposed to the more idiosyncratic nature of right politics, the way left-wing politics has of shaming its opponents into silence – few poets are willing to identify as right-leaning. That’s life.
TimT
28 Jul 10 at 10:15 am
As a social conservative, I would be happy for Gillard & Tim to marry as (despite Jason’s protestations) I think the way prominent people live their domestic lives does influence people. So as I think marriage is a social good, it would be good to see them marry.
On the other hand, the issue of a politician’s relationships is a matter that is only sometimes relevant to their performance or general character. There seems to be nothing unusual or controversial about Gillard’s current relationship, so I don’t see that it should really influence votes.
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 10:24 am
Laurie Oakes is surely having a good time this election campaign
Just saw julia on TV from Adelaide betraying Cabinet confidentiality (gosh) by telling us she was just being prudent asking about the costs of the paid parental leave scheme and the hike in the aged pension.
But the tenor of the leak was that she didn’t want to spend the money on these initiative because there were no votes to be gained A very different tack.
Judith Sloan
28 Jul 10 at 10:28 am
As a social conservative, I would…
Steve, I wouldn’t describe you as a social conservative in any way.
On the other hand, the issue of a politician’s relationships is a matter that is only sometimes relevant to their performance or general character.
I don’t agree. The office of Prime Minister is a very, very powerful position. Voters are interested in learning all they can about potential holders of this office; they really want to understand the person who will be running the government.
You can say “but that’s got nothing to do with policies,” but fpr a position that important, even small details of character can have big ripple effects.
Call it deep, thorough vetting if you like. The kind of vetting you get before you work at ASIO, for example. For security clearance purposes, all details of your life are examined! Well… this person won’t be a spy. They’ll be the boss of the boss of the boss of the boss of the spy, and of lots of other people too.
There’s no such thing as too much scrutiny of a political leader.
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 10:30 am
Laurie Oakes fired another interesting salvo at Julia this morning on Ch 9.
In regard to the alleged cyncial comments deployed about the well-known welfare matters, Laurie suggested ( words to the effect, await the transcript ):
“Why wouldn’t she query these, she is a cold, calculating politician !”
Which is of itself no sin per se, except her public persona is being airbrushed into secular, Fabian sainthood.
No more than a stone’s throw from were I am sitting, the Womens Weekly is hosting a lavish affair to launch their hagiography edition of St Julia.
Nice work Laurie !
Myrddin Seren
28 Jul 10 at 10:37 am
…I’ve also noticed here that many have been happy to make comments suggesting that Gillard’s hairdresser partner may be gay.
Can we have one example, Steve?
C.L.
28 Jul 10 at 10:37 am
I mean, an example as rock solid as you posting about Tony Abbott being caught in adultery.
C.L.
28 Jul 10 at 10:38 am
Reverting to my own query of 10:27 pm last – “why would she challenge increasing benefits to non-Labor voters where the story risked being recorded for posterity ?”
On further reflection, the issue is being played as if this was Julia’s unique moment of ruthlessness, and for which we are missing context and comments from her Cabinet fellows.
In other words, why put this stinker on the record if no one else was so minded ?
Experience suggests that in feral, trading environments – a lot of macho talk about ‘who is the most workaholic’, ‘who is the hungriest for money’, ‘who is the most ruthless’ gets tossed around as part of the sociopathy.
See the likes of Liar’s Poker, Smartest Guys in the Room etc.
KRudd fits the pyschotrader mold perfectly, and therefore her comments make sense within an inner sanctum all trying to show each other up as being more ruthlessly tribal than the next spearcarrier. Seen it before – just interesting to see the culture morph from the trading room to the Cabinet Room.
It would indeed be interesting to get a sense of the other opinions and expressions in these meetings.
This is an Enron-moment and I’ll bet Julia is not Robinson Crusoe when it comes to expressing “Eff the scum who don’t vote for us” sentiment.
Myrddin Seren
28 Jul 10 at 10:48 am
d_d said: “Steve, I wouldn’t describe you as a social conservative in any way.”
Yes, you and several other reality challenged commenters here who think its inconceivable to be conservative and believe in AGW.
CL: can’t be bothered playing games with you and your sneering dishonesty today, sorry.
steve from brisbane
28 Jul 10 at 10:55 am
With all due respect to JC, who seems to be coming off a high, how does a $30/week increase in the aged pension translate into a $14 billion costing? Go do the maths!
And now Julia is stating that she was being fiscally responsible by questioning whether we could afford $50 billion over 10 years for both paid parenting and pension increase.
So, could someone leak the actual costings please because whats being tied around the old Oakes tree is just more spin!
Denis of Perth
28 Jul 10 at 11:07 am
Denise.
To make the amount $14 billion, you need 9 million retirees earning the pension at 30 bucks a week.
There are that number. The number is around 2.6 million people 65 and above.
So with due respect Denise, learn some comprehension and while you’re at it, get a brain transplant.
JC
28 Jul 10 at 11:11 am
“With all due respect to JC, who seems to be coming off a high, how does a $30/week increase in the aged pension translate into a $14 billion costing? Go do the maths!”
You’re confusing JC with the journo who conflated the various welfare arrangements.
FFS be lucid if you’re going to make the “you’re pissed/stoned” slur.
.
28 Jul 10 at 11:12 am
…I’ve also noticed here that many have been happy to make comments suggesting that Gillard’s hairdresser partner may be gay.
Can we have some examples of the “many”, Steve?
Or will we just assume you’re lying again?
Your call.
C.L.
28 Jul 10 at 11:15 am
From all reports Timbo’s a pants man and Jools is a second hand dartboard. Not sure where this gay stuffs coming from. Bloody Rudd and his leaks.
Infidel Tiger
28 Jul 10 at 11:17 am
CL, ‘It doesn’t matter’. Sorry, I couldn’t help myself.
dover_beach
28 Jul 10 at 11:19 am
Can we have some examples of the “many”, Steve?
Even one example. All I did was throw out a question, in the context of asking why he was being kept out of sight during the campaign.
By the way, on the topic of spouses. He’s been appointed national ambassador for mental health. Presumably that’s not on the basis of his qualifications, but because he’s the partner of the PM. Yet he deserves to be left alone and not scrutinised? It seems like he’s part of the package.
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 11:23 am
Steve the adultery fantasist may be interested in this snippet from the Women’s Weekly:
If he wasn’t still married at the time, she would have happily and pointedly said so.
So she’s simply being dishonest again.
Incidentally, compare and contrast the volume of coverage given to Gillard and Emerson (virtually zero) with the sheer tonnage of coverage given to Tony Abbott’s teenage tryst with a girlfriend whose name we don’t even know.
C.L.
28 Jul 10 at 11:27 am
actually the number is 3.024 m but 18% of those wouldn’t recieve any benefit.
Butterfield, Bloomfeld % Bishop
28 Jul 10 at 11:28 am
So Gillard’s a homewrecker?
What a classy look for a statesman, running the country and representing us abroad. How proud we feel of our first female PM.
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 11:32 am
Is this going to be a gender election people? That would be a grave mistake I believe. Issues and policies are the important things here, and not who has the sexiest ankles or the prettiest hair colouring!
It’s not very long ago that the American People voted in their First African American President – on a platform of ‘change’. I would guess that non white Americans were delirious when Barack Obama was sworn in as their 44th President, praying for, pleading for and dreaming of great changes that would be of immense benefit to themselves.
http://just-me-in-t.blogspot.com/2010/07/why-would-younger-women-vote-for-julia.html
Justmeint
28 Jul 10 at 2:54 pm
Interestingly you call yourself a “Skeptic” on AGW yet you criticise Gillard for being an Atheist.
Maybe you should apply some of that healthy skepticism towards your own belief in sky-fairies.
Yobbo
28 Jul 10 at 4:47 pm
I wouldn’t put it past the nasty vindictive little sociopath from leaking at all.
.
Yeah too right. This is amazing. It’s obviously Rudd and he’s obviously trying to get the government kicked. Out of pure spite. The theory that he’s incapable of empathy gains weight.
.
If Gillard wins she will nail his balls to the ceiling and use his head as a fast punching bag. Or at least she’ll be first in line.
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 6:20 pm
That could be Jabba trying to put them off the scent that it was the little turd by suggesting it was someone close to her.
Swan? It could be Swan. Altho’ my impression was that he was Cheney type who knew that hew was a slithey tothed reptile and no-one would let them sit in the same room as their children let alone vote him the top job.
‘Closer to home’ in my limited experience is a standard ALP phrase. Members use it when someone they’ve knifed accuses them of doing the knifing. They always say it was ‘someone closer to home’.
It’s Kevvie. He’s joke, knows it and he’ll bring the whole thing down. If I can’t play no-one can.
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 6:28 pm
If you can hear a “dog whistle” which others cannot hear, what does that make you?
http://larvatusprodeo.ozblogistan.com.au/2010/07/28/medialibs-gender-campaign-against-gillard-is-filthy/
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 6:44 pm
Definitely not Rudd, directly, but let’s say, oh I don’t know, Alistair Jordan?
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 6:45 pm
Interesting article from Tony Wright of The Age on the leaks. He reckons the ALP backroom bots think it isn’t Rudd.
He posits two alternative theories they’re running with:
#1:
#2
There are no official suspects here but Wright speculates:
Is he suggesting Lindsay Tanner?
I’m beginning to wonder if Mark Latham’s analysis of the party doesn’t go far enough.
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 6:49 pm
And the irony of this poster’s nic!
http://larvatusprodeo.ozblogistan.com.au/2010/07/28/medialibs-gender-campaign-against-gillard-is-filthy/#comment-101058
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 6:49 pm
The poltiics of gender are filthy in the campaign she says. Filthy? Abbott reminds people he’s married and has a family without making a fuss about it and someone says something about Julia Gillard’s earlobes which I have never seen.
.
Wow! Gillard should get compensation and psychiatric care poste haste. What oppression.
.
Jay-sus! Why is it that so many self-declared warriors for the cause of women’s liberation are such pampered little girls!
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 7:02 pm
I don’t care who is doing the leaking, I just want it to continue for the sake of the nation.
dover_beach
28 Jul 10 at 7:08 pm
“Politicians should debate policy and leave the grubby stuff for the
tabloidsblogs.”Or is it that you see yourself as a tabloid journalist Sinclair?
Oh, and yes – Tanner makes more sense to me than Rudd. He actually cares about issues.
FDB
28 Jul 10 at 7:14 pm
db
As someone who is more than prepared to vote Labor if the times suit, I find the idea of a riven, directionless, and ideologically-berfet government most insupportable.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 7:14 pm
er, “bereft.”
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 7:14 pm
Yaaiirrssss…I could not agree more that Tanner is a HUGE loss to Labor and the country.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 7:19 pm
I neither said nor implied that. You are berfet of comprehension.
FDB
28 Jul 10 at 7:21 pm
PP, I’m hoping continued leaking will make the reference to Labor as the government otiose.
dover_beach
28 Jul 10 at 7:22 pm
Couldn’t accuse you of being berfet of comprehension, hey FDB?
C.L.
28 Jul 10 at 7:23 pm
Oh, I wasn’t agreeing with you, dear child.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 7:23 pm
FDB, I think you owe an apology to PP.
dover_beach
28 Jul 10 at 7:24 pm
So whose comment was it a response to?
I’m prepared to forgive myself for thinking that Greenfield was responding to what I said, given the context. No need to go seeking absolution elsewhere.
FDB
28 Jul 10 at 7:34 pm
So Kim at LP is offended by “offensive stories about her earlobes.”
Come come, Kim. “It would seem to me counterproductive to have loud denunciations of it.”
C.L.
28 Jul 10 at 7:35 pm
And CL – awesome. Your hilarity and originality are above reproach as ever.
FDB
28 Jul 10 at 7:35 pm
I think Kim’s perfectly consistent, CL.
She thinks it would be counter productive to criticize Gillers if she had those hangers removed.
JC
28 Jul 10 at 7:38 pm
Lefty Kim should name her threads “what people were discussing last week.”
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 7:41 pm
Any link to Kim’s Gillers earlobes thread?
There’s a lot of crap there I don’t want to woddle through for obvious reasons.
JC
28 Jul 10 at 7:44 pm
So whose comment was it a response to?
It was either addressed to me, FDB, you might note the db that precedes his first comment. But if you were responding to his second comment, “I could not agree more that Tanner is a HUGE loss to Labor and the country” I can’t imagine that you didn’t quite mean something like that when you said, “Oh, and yes – Tanner makes more sense to me than Rudd. He actually cares about issues.”
dover_beach
28 Jul 10 at 7:52 pm
And from that annals of I Host a Blog, So I Don’t Have to Make Any Sense, we get this piece de Luvvie
http://larvatusprodeo.ozblogistan.com.au/2010/07/28/medialibs-gender-campaign-against-gillard-is-filthy/#comment-101087
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 8:03 pm
I still reckon it’s probably Rudd. If the leaking continues it must be someone who doesn’t have a future or doesn’t care. Rudd’s future’s probably at the UN or some such schtick. Tanner’s out. But is he really the type to try and bring down his own government?
Maybe he really hates Gillard.
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 8:04 pm
Both are gendered positions in their own way, but not explicitly in the minds of the voters who hold them.
I think it’s time to shoot people who use the word ‘workshop’ to describe any activity not doesn’t involve actual tools. Mere flogging will do for ‘gendered position’. Are we trying to create an ‘ungendered position’. Is that the politically correct way to make love now?
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 8:08 pm
I think Therese should be able to find Rudd something, from her oh so very NOT neoliberal [WTF, whatta phoney] little business.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 8:09 pm
Doesn’t Rudd’s wife’s business depend on government contracts?
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 8:12 pm
Adrien, there is no need to tie yourself in knots over nuance. All those nuanced workshoppers who are moving forward with their non-gendered mind-reading of the gendered positions of the punters should be publicly hung, drawn, and quartered; daily.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 8:12 pm
Adrien
Her entire business was a government privatized gravy-train.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 8:14 pm
Tanner’s out. But is he really the type to try and bring down his own government?
Tanner quit within 24 hours of Gillard taking over.
Think about that.
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 8:19 pm
dd
He had already decided he was leaving. Pressure from his THIRD missus.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 8:23 pm
Her entire business was a government privatized gravy-train.
.
So it’ll be salt pork and biscuit at Ingeus if Gillard gets elected and reckons Kevvie’s sprung a leak.
.
Tanner quit within 24 hours of Gillard taking over.
.
Yeah. That’s why I thought maybe Tanner. But I wonder if he’s really that bitter and twisted. The theory that it’s someone who want Rudd bumped to kake room in cabinet is also viable. If the leaks stop soon then I’d be inclined to believe that. Such a person would leak just enough to damage Kevvie but not enough to damage the government.
Adrien
28 Jul 10 at 8:26 pm
Swan and Tanner also queried the cost of pension rises. As they should.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/28/2966947.htm
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 8:49 pm
He had already decided he was leaving.
How gullible are you?
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 8:56 pm
Swan and Tanner also queried the cost of pension rises.
So now senior public servants are playing a role in the government’s campaign. He should keep his trap shut.
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 9:14 pm
Who said this is a boring election?
The political classes wanted to make it boring, in order to avoid talking about policy.
Instead, they’ve left a HUGE vacuum which the ALP is now filling with all sorts of amazing facts.
Gillard is a homewrecker. The First Bloke is a swordsman. Rudd and Tanner have turned into suicide bombers.
And Abbott is out there surrounding himself with photogenic women.
There’s still three and a bit weeks to go.
This campaign is going to be an absolute cracker.
Dandy Warhol
28 Jul 10 at 9:15 pm
It really is the Seinfeld election.
“Serenity Now!”
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 9:17 pm
He had already decided he was leaving.
Oh sure. To spend more time with family, right?
Please.
C.L.
28 Jul 10 at 9:20 pm
Actually, yes. His third.
Peter Patton
28 Jul 10 at 9:22 pm
Actually, yes. His third.
Good for him!
daddy dave
28 Jul 10 at 9:30 pm
Not only that:
How many more school structures are going to fall down between now and election day?
How many more suburban roofs are going to go up in flames between now and election day?
How many more boats of border busters are going to flood in between now and election day?
And it’s all entirely their own bloody fault for being a bunch of shallow closeted arrogant self-righteous narrow-minded spendthrift fucktards.
Warm up the popcorn and settle into that beanbag. You’re going to be telling your grandchildren about this one.
Dandy Warhol
28 Jul 10 at 9:33 pm
Warm up the popcorn and settle into that beanbag. You’re going to be telling your grandchildren about this one.
If I understand you right, you’re predicting a Coalition landslide of historic proportions.
daddy dave
29 Jul 10 at 9:42 am
Utterly incoherent db. And from what little sense I can make of your account, it doesn’t match the sequence of events at all.
Not that it particularly matters, but you suggested I owe an apology to Greenfield. Perhaps you owe me one, for butting in and being so wrong, and he owes me one, for lying that he wasn’t responding to my comment. But it’s all very petty, no?
FDB
29 Jul 10 at 9:49 am
Dandy says:
“And it’s all entirely their own bloody fault for being a bunch of shallow closeted arrogant self-righteous narrow-minded spendthrift fucktards. ”
Add some commas and you have as brilliant a summation of the ALP as you will ever hear.
Rococo Liberal
29 Jul 10 at 10:21 am
Utterly incoherent db. And from what little sense I can make of your account, it doesn’t match the sequence of events at all.
Yes, it was gracious of you to ignore the spirit of the comment and simply point to my mistaken expression. Here is what I should have wrote:
It was either addressed to me, FDB, you might note the db that precedes his first comment, or, if you were responding to his second comment, “I could not agree more that Tanner is a HUGE loss to Labor and the country”, I can’t imagine that you didn’t quite mean something like that when you said earlier, “Oh, and yes – Tanner makes more sense to me than Rudd. He actually cares about issues.”
dover_beach
29 Jul 10 at 10:21 am
I was genuinely trying to understand before, and you’re still not making it too easy, but okay. So you did butt in erroneously, and you agree that Greenfield was lying when he said he wasn’t responding to me.
I’m glad we went to all the trouble of clearing that up.
FDB
29 Jul 10 at 7:03 pm
FDB
Stop trying to skulk out of it and apologize.
JC
29 Jul 10 at 7:09 pm
Will the real Rosa Klebb please stand up?
http://www.smh.com.au/federal-election/the-leaders/glossy-to-grey-in-a-day-for-digitally-moulded-gillard-20100729-10wr6.html
Peter Patton
29 Jul 10 at 8:07 pm
FDB
As Elmer Fudd would say, your’e a ranker.
Rococo Liberal
29 Jul 10 at 8:23 pm
FDB, your evasiveness suggests to me that I was right, for what it was worth.
dover_beach
30 Jul 10 at 9:32 am
What evasiveness?
And you were right about what?
Now I’m starting to think we’re talking about completely different things.
I suggested that, because Tanner seems to me to feel more strongly about social issues than Rudd, he’s the more likely leaker.
Greenfield resonded to that with a sarcastic crack about his value to the ALP, which frankly I don’t give two shits about. I’m glad he stepped down as my local member – his seat is likely to be claimed by a Green and a personal friend of mine.
This is weird.
FDB
30 Jul 10 at 6:28 pm
This is weird.
Well, yes, this is.
I suggested that, because Tanner seems to me to feel more strongly about social issues than Rudd, he’s the more likely leaker.
Greenfield responded to that with a sarcastic crack about his value to the ALP,…
Well, the problem is that Greenfield’s response:
Yaaiirrssss…I could not agree more that Tanner is a HUGE loss to Labor and the country.
was not, I believe, made sarcastically, setting to one side the “Yaaiirrssss”, if his comments over the last two months are to be believed. I can see how you might have been led astray since you might have missed them.
dover_beach
31 Jul 10 at 11:27 am