September 26, 2004
Marchers accuse Prime Minister of being a "Lying Rodent" - posted by
A rally against the Howard Government in King George Square today in Brisbane attracted over a thousand protestors. During the demonstration, which was outside the Liberal Party's federal election campaign launch, speakers such as the Socialist Alliance's Senate candidate Sam...
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Election Sound Bites Without the Sound - posted by
It must be assumed that the term "doctors' wives" was invented by some crusty old male political scientist who would never think of describing other voting blocs as "housewives' old men", "hairdressers' balls and chains" or "secretaries' drunken bums". Any...
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September 25, 2004
Women, Footy, the Federal Election and Me - posted by
This week, I dragged me, my beanie and pom poms out to forget that if the Broncos had not played like sheilas this season they would have made the finals. Unknown to me, Souths Leagues Club was taken over the...
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September 19, 2004
The Professionals - posted by Graham
When Pauline Hanson announced she was running for the Senate she made a remark that she was putting her own money on the line. It sounded like a good fundraising pitch, but it's only right that she stump up. If...
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A Quickie - posted by
Lock up your middle-aged men because Pauline's back and she's as sexy and, ummm, as susceptible as ever. See link for an interesting analysis of her return and how she has impacted on Australian politics. During a recent conversation over...
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September 18, 2004
Amateurs - posted by Graham
I've been waiting for the John Howard to start hitting the buttons that our research says he should. One of those is that voters feel Latham is not sufficiently experienced to be Prime Minister. In this article from The Age...
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September 16, 2004
The new Archbishop of Perth - an inspired choice - posted by Jeff Wall
AT a time when the Anglican Church is in desperate need of strong and inspirational leadership, the Archdiocese of Perth has made an inspired choice in choosing Bishop Roger Herft as its next Archbishop. Roger Herft is a unique churchman....
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The beneficiaries of Pauline will be the Nats and Democrats - posted by Graham
Pauline Hanson won't win a senate seat, but her candidacy should put the National Party over the line in Queensland and enhance the chances of the Democrats of retaining theirs. Last election the senate results were as follows: Liberal34.7% National9.1%...
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September 15, 2004
Papua New Guinea 29 years on - what does the future hold? - posted by Jeff Wall
TOMORROW Papua New Guinea celebrates 29 years of Independence. If you were to believe some commentators, and sections of the media, there is nothing to celebrate, and an even bleaker future lies ahead. I don't agree. Papua New Guinea has...
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September 14, 2004
Labor - school for envy - posted by Graham
Labor's education policy ditches Howard's transparent and fair funding formula in favour of rewarding Labor state governments and teachers' unions at the same time playing the politics of envy and the art of the sectional special deal. For decades now...
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September 13, 2004
Howard loses debate by huge margin - what is he doing? - posted by Graham
I remember the 2001 leader's debate. On my scoring, and that of the "worm", Howard lost. Later that week I realised that in a way he had won. The people in the studio audience weren't those he was talking to....
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September 12, 2004
The real experts - what the people say. - posted by Graham
Now I know what I'm talking about. Between surveys I feel like a complete fraud. Journalists ask me what I think is happening, and I tell them, qualified with the observation that I am only speculating because I am only...
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Salty Sean Leahy - posted by
Before attending what turned out to be a fine afternoon's entertainment at the theatre, I visited the Museum of Brisbane (MOB) at City Hall today to take a glimpse at Y' Want Salt Rubbed in That?, an exhibition of the...
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September 11, 2004
A Brief Election Summary By Political Inexpert Darlene: Part 1 - posted by
Like many voters, my information about the election is coming from quick reads of The Courier-Mail in the morning and viewings of The 7.30 Report at night, when not tempted to watch The Simpsons that is. This minute engagement with...
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September 09, 2004
This page has been deliberately left blank - Jakarta, 9th September, 2004 - posted by Graham
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Outsourcing - a big issue in the US, why not here? - posted by Jeff Wall
ONE of the issues really making an impact in the United States elections (although the polls might not indicate it) is the "outsourcing" of job in areas such as call centres to overseas countries, notably India. John Kerry has promised...
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September 08, 2004
Latham tidies up Costello's budget - posted by Graham
This post is a quick summary of the economics and politics of Latham's tax and family package. The Economics According to today's papers Latham's tax policy is an $11 B pitch for battlers which will return an average $8 per...
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September 07, 2004
Governments do affect interest rates - economist! - posted by Graham
I was getting tired, not to mention angry, at all those economists who said that governments don't make any difference to interest rate levels, so it was a relief to hear Frank Gelber from BIS Shrapnel on ABC Radio news...
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September 06, 2004
Heads you lose, tails I win - posted by Graham
I think I'm going to run a series of these. I first applied this phrase to Jenny Macklin in a post over the weekend where she was criticising the government for not implementing a budget promise when in fact they...
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The Liberal Party's own trusty union - posted by Graham
The Liberal Party as the champion of Medicare? It sounds unlikely given decades of opposition to national health since Bill Hayden introduced Medibank, but it is not as unlikely as it looks if you understand the relationship between the medical...
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September 05, 2004
Some more quick observations - posted by Graham
"Expectations management" is something that all good campaign managers do, because if electors perceive that a certain outcome is likely that will influence their vote. As a result, all smart political operators try to position as the underdog. Expectations management...
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11:19 PM
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John Anderson: Out of Touch or Just Behind the Times? - posted by
Just like his party, John Anderson showed himself to be seriously out-of-date last week when he exhumed Mark Latham's comments about hating his political opponents. Sounding like the sort of hippy peacenik the National Party in Queensland used to have...
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Quick observations - posted by Graham
I'm in the federal seat of Paterson at the moment, and as it is such a long drive from Brisbane I've been deprived my usual sources of news and had to even rely on commercial radio. That gives me an...
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September 04, 2004
The Queensland Liberal Party: Barmy One Day, Crazy the Next - posted by
As someone whose practical knowledge of factions has been limited to a few meetings at the Paddington Workers' Club, these bodies formed to bolster careers and/or shared ideological commitments often bewilder, even if they do have a valid part to...
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September 03, 2004
The dangers of over promising and over demonstrating - posted by Graham
Yesterday Mark Latham signed "Labor's Low Interest Rate Guarantee". This was a variation on past themes from both sides of politics, and it was a mistake. In 1993, needing a weapon to blunt the tax cut component of the Hewson...
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September 02, 2004
Free advice for the Queensland Liberals - posted by Graham
What would a federal election in Queensland be like without an expulsion? On my watch it was Pauline Hanson who was despatched. This time around Russell Galt is threatened with the axe. My advice to the Queensland Libs is "Don't...
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03:21 PM
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September 01, 2004
Many more rodents - posted by Graham
Accusations by Russell Galt, a former Liberal Federal Electorate Committee Chairman that Senator George Brandis called the Prime Minister a "lying rodent" over the children overboard affair shed more light on Howard's problems with the Queensland Liberal Party than they...
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