Getup! Confab

Bill McHarg : Planet First

The last kind of person I expected to meet at the Getup! Refresh Conference last weekend in Sydney was a corporate high flier. With the frenetic activity of the last week of campaigning I missed the work of Bill McHarg and his Kookaburra family. His full page ads were in the Sydney press and he slipped under the Broome radar. So it was a great pleasure to meet him and hear his story. Won’t bore you with it all here but his surprise attack on John Howard and Bennelong was clearly sensational. Watch the video and read Green businessman bids to oust Howard (The Age 15 November 2007)

His video Bill McHarg : Planet First was posted on YouTube on 15 November. The Kookaburra van toured the CBD and Bennelong for rest of the campaign. The assault on Howard cost about $200,000. Bill resigned from his business and positions on a number of organisations to focus on his Climate Change passion. His family were his campaign team.

His next target is the US policy makers. They don’t know what they’re in for.

Political Satire:

1. John Howard's Ladies Auxillary Fan Club

Two of the ladies auxillary presented a live sketch of their campaign best at the Getties awards. There was also a workshop presentation by Zelda explaining their tactics and lessons for this kind of satire. Go to their Youtube Channel: joholafaclub for a run around the tan with the PM and a day at the Melbourne Cup, plus other brilliant videos.

2. Cyrius01

Winner of the best satirical video was Cyrius01 aka Stefan Sojka. He was my favourite on Youtube in recent months. If you missed his stuff, visit his Channel.

3. Dan Ilic

Dan made a presentation of some of his videos. He made some for the Getup campaign, others through Fairfax Media and many solos. He describes himself as a writer/performer/director/broadcaster. He's at Channel DanIlic.

Original post at: Labor View from Broome

Bill Heffernan's Payback

The Poll That Counts: Bill Heffernan's Payback

Inside the Tallyroom, Senator Bill Heffernan sparred with The Chaser. As a close friend of John Howard and a Liberal Party assassin, he watched the Prime Minister's concession speech with despair.

It was payback time for his attacks on High Court Justice Michael Kirby and Labor Deputy Julia Gillard.

Politics doesn't have to be fought Heffernan's venomous way. I hope he will leave us in peace now.

"The Poll That Counts" series of Election Day 2007 and the National Tallyroom is now complete. If you are blocked from Youtube try TeacherTube

Original post at: Labor View from Broome

The Tallyroom: Howard Made History

The Poll That Counts No.2: Howard Made History

Inside the Canberra Tallyroom the excitement builds in the 2007 Australian Federal election. Maxine McKew, the ALP candidate, establishes a comfortable lead over John Howard, outgoing Prime Minister and Member for Bennelong.

We wait for Senator Penny Wong, ALP campaign spokesperson, to smile. What a poker face! It finally happens at 9.30 pm when Maxine appears on the TV coverage. National Barnaby Joyce, and Liberals Bill Heffernan and Joe Hockey clearly have dud hands all night. Humpty Dumpty Hockey gets hotter and hotter. Looks like he might explode as he he struggles in his own seat. Heffernan spars with the Chaser but more of that in the following episodes. Finally Howard appears, to make his concession speech, and the crowd hushes.

Footnote: Later Kerry O'Brien and Antony Green both complained about the crowd noise. Some of it was caused by the Chaser. Most was spontaneous outpourings of delight as the figures for Bennelong came on the screens or images of Maxine or Julia Gillard appeared. Unfortunately Julia was seated with her back to the public area so we missed her live facial expressions.

Think I was the only one watching the old tallyboards.

More to come: People in the tallyroom watch Howard's speech. Hefferan payback.

Original post at: Labor View from Broome

The Poll That Counts No.1: Around the booths

I represented YouDecide2007 as a citizen journalist at the Tallyroom on Saturday night. An amazing experience! During Howard's concession speech I videoed the people on the floor of the media centre watching him: Bill Hefferan, Steve Price, Penny Wong, Sharon Burrows and many more.

Still editing. First episode "The Poll That Counts No.1: Around the booths" is on Youtube.

All episodes will be posted to Youdedcide2007, and TeacherTube as well to get around the censors. Watch this space!

Original post at: Labor View from Broome

John Howard is at Stage One

John Howard comes to terms with his role in the Liberal party's loss

Dr. Hibbert: Now, a little death anxiety is normal. You can expect to go through five stages. The first is denial.
Homer: No way! Because I'm not dying!
Dr. Hibbert: The second is anger.
Homer: Why you little!
Dr. Hibbert: After that comes fear.
Homer: What's after fear? What's after fear?
Dr. Hibbert: Bargaining.
Homer: Doc, you gotta get me out of this! I'll make it worth your while!
Dr. Hibbert: Finally, acceptance.
Homer: Well, we all gotta go sometime.
Dr. Hibbert: Mr. Simpson, your progress astounds me.

Tony Abbott, Liberal party people skills coach and public relations manager, was on Lateline this evening. According to him, Howard has convinced himself that the election defeat wasn't his fault. Although, the defeat was half Peter Costello's fault. Whomever is responsible for the other half was left as an exercise for the listener. Also Malcolm Turnbull, who arrived at Howard's last supper at the back gate, changing the Liberal party into the Democrats is totally going to work. OMFG Malcolm watch out... you're a plucky historian but there's a crazed albino Catholic monk right. behind. you. Pausing only to adjust his cilice, Tony informed us that Costello had eaten many meals at the Lodge in Canberra (presumably in the servants quarters) and that he hadn't had a 'foursome' (as god is my witness, the transcript shall not prove me a liar) with Tanya, Janette and John. Whatever vomiting while laughing sounds like, I made that noise. He went on to inform us that he would totally get in on that action. I wish I was lying. Costello is rumoured to be writing a book. I'm sure he'll dedicate a whole chapter to Tony Abbot. As soon as I heard he'd be on Lateline I knew we'd be in for a spectacular performance.

Lexy D

Pic via Crikey

Downer on the 7:30 report. Tosser.

He claims he doesn't have the "enthusiasm" for the position of opposition leader. Hmmm...I suspect it is more that the party doesn't have the enthusiasm for him.

Banging on about his contact internationally due to his 11 years as Foreign Minister

Not "dramatically" surprised about Costello.

"I will continue to help the liberal party and I will listen to what they want me to do in the future." ???

Now saying that Turnbull has great experience when yesterday on Insiders he said he'd "only" been there for 3 years. Not Turnbull, Abbott and Nelson not neophytes.

My god, he's getting even more annoying.

Kissing Costello's arse. "Didn't ever have the numbers" for leadership. Interesting. "At any time." !!!!

What motivated the PM to ask ministers if he should stay, then reject the advice? All the wonderful work they did during 2007 didn't make any difference in the polls. Oh. Kerry said he has heard that Howard rejecting advice affected his relationship with Downer. Downer denying (of course he will). "He thought he was the person best able to win the election..."

Bwahahahahaha

****

From yesterday's Insiders:

And the first thing the Liberal Party should do in order to win the 2010 election is get behind Peter Costello as the new leader of the Liberal Party, because I think he will be a very formidable Leader of the Opposition and I think he will very much get Kevin Rudd's measure. S

Hmmmm

BARRIE CASSIDY: But was it a mistake, though, to revisit the issue during APEC, to take soundings and then to essentially ignore the advice that came back to him?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, I think it was sensible for the Prime Minister to look at our situation.

Look, to be honest with you, I'll tell you one thing retrospectively, my view through this year was that it didn't look to me as though we were going to win the election. I didn't of course say that publicly and you wouldn't have expected me to. It would be suicidal to do that sort of thing, but as the year wore on there wasn't a very positive public response to a range of different initiatives, for example the $10 billion Murray Darling initiative was very well supported by the public, was a wonderful thing to do, something I've wanted to see happen all my adult life.

But it didn't shift the opinion polls. When we brought down a very popular budget in May, yes, popular with the public in terms of the initiatives, didn't shift the opinion polls.

And when we intervened in the Northern Territory in the Indigenous communities there again, the actual initiative was very popular with the public but it didn't shift the opinion polls.

I must tell you that throughout the year I have had a fairly gloomy view of our prospects. So inevitably in those circumstances, a lot of us talked about it and what we could do to try and impervious our situation, so I do think that's wise?

I think that was very wise, but who knows what a better solution could be. History just doesn't record that.

BARRIE CASSIDY: But surely that underlines it. If you a gloomy prognosis on your prospects, Peter Costello was available, you're now saying he will be an excellent leader of the Liberal Party, surely it would've been worth a try?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, who know what would've happened, frankly. I mean, who knows? We just will never know the answer to that. I think also it's important to remember that I think John Howard has been the best Prime Minister Australia's ever had, he's been an extraordinarily successful Prime Minister. He has been a formidable political figure, he's been one of the great political figures of Australian history and you know, people were certainly not going to turn aggressively on somebody of that stature.

That there's just no question of it.

BARRIE CASSIDY: You have no doubt Peter Costello will be elected leader of the Liberal Party unopposed?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Look, I've not spoken to too many people since last night. I've spoken to about two people. So I hope, as a former leader myself, let me say I hope that the party will just get behind Peter Costello and elect him unopposed.

I think that's the right decision for the Liberal Party. Peter Costello has enormous talent and remember he does have a great deal more experience, almost infinitely more experience than Kevin Rudd, and it will be a tough job for Mr Rudd to confront somebody who is as experienced as articulate, and as formidable as Peter Costello.

I think Mr Rudd will find, of course he will have a honeymoon for a while, but I think he'll find dealing with Mr Costello very heavy going as time goes on.

BARRIE CASSIDY: Malcolm Turnbull won his seats against the odds, will that boost his stocks within the party?

ALEXANDER DOWNER: Well, he has been in Parliament for 3 years and I think he's gradually building up a bank of experience there, and I think he has a very good future in the party.

He is a very good friend of mine and I think very highly of him as a person. But look, you need to build up experience in politics and he's doing that. Nobody in the party, well, I suppose at least in theory with the exception of me, but I'm not running for leader, but no one in the party has the experience of Peter Costello and I think there shouldn't be a contest to the leadership. It should just go straight to Peter Costello.

VICTORY!!!

We've won. Go out and celebrate the repudiation of Howardism. No party will ever, ever again dare to threaten the rights of working Australians. Howard appears set to reinforce the lesson of Stanley Bruce. Push the Aussie worker and they'll bloody well push you back!



This lesson is still valid, Kevin Rudd. Never forget what your mandate is, or become as slack and complacent as Howard.

Also Howard loses with a lower primary than Mark Latham LOL!!!

Enough. Dear god, enough.

The difference between this election and the other two federal elections I've voted in is that this time there seems to be a real hope of getting rid of John Howard.

I can't even tell you how much I looked forward to voting on my 18th birthday in 2001 after John Howard stole all Pauline Hanson's policies and then added his own little extras- the election won on a wave of vitriol and hatred that Labor was afraid to stand up to. I looked forward to having my say again in 2004 where Mark Latham put forward some really good policies and yet I still couldn't bring myself to vote anything but Green because I could see that Latham's own party had undermined him in trying to soften his image. The failure of the ALP to counter the Howard government's attacks on Latham was so glaring that that it seemed to be a deliberate strategy by people in the party- almost as if they saw another term of John Howard as being more in their interests than Latham continuing to wield power as leader.

This time, there appears to be a mood for change. Not so much change of policies as change of leader, which is why Kevin Rudd has been so careful of the areas in which he differentiates himself from the government. I want Kevin Rudd to be Prime Minister only because it means we're rid of Howard. It's the first step on the road to making Australia a better country.

Now the polls are showing that Labor's lead over the coalition is narrowing: the ALP could win 52% of the two-party preferred vote and still not win government. Even if the polls were predicting a landslide I could scarcely bring myself to believe that the day is almost here where we can oust John Howard. With the polls that close, I know I'm going to have a sleepless night.

I've had enough of John Howard. I can remember being 14 and wishing I could vote so I could do something to get rid of him. Tomorrow will have been two weeks since I turned 24. Next year Gam and I will get married. Within the next decade we'll have children. I want to raise our kids in a country that has reached a stage where it has repudiated John Howard and all he stands for. I want to teach our kids about the John Howard era as a thing of the past, not something continued under Peter Costello, or Tony Abbott, or Alexander Downer that they will learn to rail against as they reach the stage of life where they start to think about the future they will build.

I can't think of a country I'd rather live in than Australia- not permanently. We've got a lot of good things. We have also allowed John Howard to take the credit for the great things we have- we allow him to spout pseudo-patriotic statements about mateship and being Australian while he continues to believe that we should have a foreign monarch as our head of state. While he continues to fawn at the feet of the imperialist US administration, smiling wetly as he receives the infrequent pat on the head from his US masters. The man who undermines our identity as a country simultaneously tries to take credit for creating it.

I can't believe what we have allowed John Howard to get away with.

I can say in all honesty that tomorrow I will feel devastated if we allow it to happen again. Australia- I'll never forgive you!



Note: as a sign that I can scrape together an ounce of optimism that John Howard will tomorrow be consigned to the dustbin of history I am creating a John Howard tag. This will aid those fortunate enough in the future to not remember his time in government to spend time researching the man as the relic he is.

Vaile's search for a scapegoat

Update: Mark Vaile has been nominated for the Dead Parrots Society Hall of Fame.

Mark Vaile has been the weakest link in the Coalition team this year. Doesn't seem to have recovered from the AWB scandal. This is despite giving up the Trade portfolio so that he could nurse the Nationals at home. Babysitting Barnaby Joyce seems to have been a full time job as we have seen this week with Joyce's support of Labor's proposed IR changes. Too busy to keep any sort of profile as Deputy Prime Minister. I bet a poll of electors would find they think Costello holds that job.

Anyway, he's worked out what the problem is, why they're losing the campaign:

Federal Nationals leader Mark Vaile says he would have liked the business community to have done more to support the Coalition's industrial relations laws during the election campaign. Business didn't back WorkChoices enough: Vaile (ABC News, 21 November 2007)

I'm sure Howard would have liked Mark Vaile to have done more all round. More of the blame game next week if the polls are to be believed.

Original Post at: Labor View from Broome

A vote for us is a vote for being fucked by your furniture!

JOHN HOWARD has sought to turn his most unpopular policy into a key pitch for re-election by promising Work Choices would become "part of the furniture" if the Coalition wins on Saturday.

SMH

As a public servant, I have been immune (thus far) from the changes to the IR laws. But that doesn't mean that I will be in the future. On the contrary, there are already moves to make WorkChoices applicable to the public service.

I have worked in the private sector before, so I know that as a public servant I have it pretty damn good. While I bemoan the fact that because of the nature of the PS you have quite a number of workers who are useless but it is too difficult to get rid of them with the current bureaucratic processes, I still hold onto my entitlements as if my life depended on it, because in some respects, it does.

I'm not afraid to admit that the thought of WorkChoices becoming "part of the furniture", scares the bejebus out of me.

But the Government has suppressed hundreds of pages of documents that could contradict its pledge not to take its industrial relations reforms further. The documents canvass options for another wave of reform, but Channel Seven has lost a battle to expose them under freedom-of-information laws. Labor's deputy leader, Julia Gillard, last night accused the Government of a pre-election cover-up on Work Choices. "The Australian people have a right to know what the Howard Government is hiding," she said.

Tonight on the 7:30 report, Howard claimed that WorkChoices as it is now doesn't need any "refinement". But really, this is the man who didn't even go to the last election declaring that they'd try to completely overhaul the IR system. When they won control of the senate, my heart sank - I knew there were three things that were inevitable: VSU, full sale of Telstra and the gutting of the IR system. I was right on all three.

There is no doubt in my mind that should the government get back in, they will try to remove ALL unfair dismissal laws. And that will just be the start of it.

They will make further changes to healthcare. Reducing state funding or taking over completely.

Likewise education. Education will come under federal control. While I agree there needs to be consistency between the states in terms of curriculum, changes will consist of more than that if Julie Bishop gets her way.

If the federal government can just walk in and make changes to the big three, and ignore the issues surrounding the environment, what is to stop them from choosing to overturn state laws they don't agree with? Sounds totalitarian doesn't it? Don't think it will happen? I am being alarmist? Maybe. But I sure as hell don't want to take the risk.

There are bigger stakes in this election than which party will give the bigger tax cut. Or what is going to happen to interest rates. Or what percentage of the Rudd government is made up of "union officials". The rights of every person in this country are at stake.

Straws. Clutching.

JOHN Howard has warned Australians they risk electing a Labor-Greens alliance that would impose a new national direction and conduct radical experiments with their values and institutions.

[....]

Mr Howard warned that a Labor victory would mean a Labor-Greens Senate majority and an era of social re-engineering, with policy changes on drugs, education, social issues and political correctness in conflict with his social conservatism.

GG

Ohhhhh. Not *gasp* policy changes! On drugs! Social issues! Political correctness (I'm not even sure what that is - maybe LGBT? Since when is that PC? I would have thought common sense.)

Unbelievable.

"There will be a return of political correctness. There will be a softening in relation to things like drugs. You will get a less socially conservative country at the very least.

A less socially conservative country would be good. The conservatism in this country gives me the shits. Not to mention that I believe it is code for racist, sexist, homophobic policies and laws which allow for people to indulge themselves in those kinds of behaviours and beliefs because they know it is acceptable at the highest level of government.

Asked about the future under the Coalition, Mr Howard said Peter Costello "will be elected unopposed" as his successor.

Yeah, "elected unopposed" by the Liberal Party. NOT the Australian people. Sure, you can say people who vote for Howard to continue as PM are giving the green light to Costello. But really, given Howard's previous behaviour, do people really believe that he would step down for Costello? I have no doubt that if he was returned, something dramatic (real or imagined or engineered) would occur and Howard would declare that it is in the best interests of the country for him to remain as leader.

By his own admission, Howard will be using this week to push forward a negative view of the ALP. Be prepared for the next three days to be nothing but bitching and moaning and the government on its knees begging the electorate to ignore WorkChoices, AWB, children overboard, an illegal war, the systematic eroding of the rights of pretty much everyone except business, VSU, and the regular bending over and taking every which way from the US.

Yeah John Howard. You hold the interests of the entire country at heart. Excuse me while I go and ROTFLMAO at this claim.

Howard on the 7.30 Report

Slippery right to the end. He won't release their secret plan on Ultra-Workchoices but expects us to trust them when they say there is no secret plan.

He just invented a parallel history where Keating didn't get rid of centralise wage fixing. Reckons Keating, who made it idependent, didn't respect the independence of the reserve bank. Jesus Christ. Voters clearly think the economy is a '64 Chevy and Howard is the dancing Elvis doll on the dashboard that keeps it running because it's 'lucky'. He's lying and spinning in all directions. Howard has been thoroughly exposed by O'Brien for the mediocre fraud he is. I feel sorry for him, almost. He looks lost.

Howard wants to have everything both ways! He denies running a fear campaign. Claims we all love him really because he's a 'good economic manager' (thanks, mug punters). He replies to accusations of running a fear campaign by pulling out the Rudd=risk. Now he's running the Greens fear campaign. Uh oh, nuclear power... He pretty much admits he has a plan for a nuclear Australia. He is so slippery, Kerry's nailing him to the wall. Kerry nails him on stealing Rudd's education revolution but taking it back to the '50s. Keeps trying to bring back the culture wars. This goes back to an earlier post I made on Rudd's neutralisation of the media. Without his media chums Howard's wedges just look like the rantings of an old codger whose views belong in a dusty museum hallway.

Kerry goes after Howard's excessive advertising. Apparently he won't respond to Kerry's question on asking Downer to canvass the party room on his behalf. Claims that he won't lose his seat. I saw the terror in his eyes just then. Hahaha "My focus is my focus." Hahahaha, Kerry says goodbye to Howard as if this is the last time (we can only hope).

It's easy to feel sorry for Howard, now that his pathetic empire of lies and deceit seems to be collapsing around him. I do feel sorry. I feel sorry for refugees left to drown or rot in island gulags so he could have another crack at the wine cellar. I feel sorry for the 4,000,000 plus Iraqis made sport of the wind and sun, refugees from their country so Howard could feel like a big man. I feel sorry for the soul of our country, tarnished by eleven years of corrosion. For Mr Howard I feel... nothing. He'll wander off into a lavender retirement, pensioned off with all the creature comforts. Maybe there'll be a newspaper column to vent his bitter, twisted spleen on. Meanwhile the rest of us will get back to scrubbing the dirt off our national identity.

Video.

Broadband


Dial-up

"The Australian" Editorial 23/11/07

"The Australian" Editorial
Friday 23 November 2007

It's (not just marking) time!

A decisive win on Saturday is essential for the health of Australian politics. The Australian Labor Party may need 52% to gain a majority. The Coalition parties could scrape home with less than 50%, perhaps even less than 49%. Our democracy would be severely damaged by such a result.

The disillusionment amongst younger voters would be profound. Their interest in politics has revived recently with the desire for positive change and the belief that it can be achieved. It is not just changing the government but reinvigorating our whole approach to politics. Climate change and broadband are more than policy issues for the decision-makers of the coming decades. They are iconic. Symbols of new ways of shaping the future.

Many of those who are turning against the Howard government believe that his team are politically and morally bankrupt. Some of the more glaring examples include: Iraq, the AWB bribes scandal, the shoddy treatment of Australian citizens such as Cornelia Rau and Vivian Alvarez Solon, the political manipulation of the Hicks, Habib and Haneef cases, the orgy of taxpayer-funded propaganda, blatant pork barrelling, the expedient about-faces on global warming and reconciliation, and the cynical introduction of Work Choices. The vilification of refugees and the abuse of basic human rights have reached new lows. The first ever joint John Howard/Peter Costello interview smacked of the kind of hypocrisy that young people reject.

The government’s strength has been the economy but Kevin Rudd has presented a convincing case that Labor will be effective economic managers. The debate has become more complex than three years ago. It's not just interest rates or a booming mining sector. Uncontrolled growth, poor productivity and skills shortages have brought financial stress to both the business community and individuals. Mortgage stress and housing affordability are not just catch phrases. Growing personal debt and unfettered balance of trade deficits present challenges that neither side has yet to face. The exchange rate cannot be sustained at such high levels without major ramifications for whole sectors of the economy, especially exporters.

The Liberal party seem to have run out of steam. They are increasingly out of touch and tainted by political expediency and self-preservation. The treasurer has had ample opportunity to present his vision and plans for Australia’s future. He has failed this challenge. He has been very poor alternative leader of the opposition.

Leadership is about creative ideas and renewal. It is not just marking time. We urge the Australian voters to elect a Rudd Labor government with a clear mandate for the revitalisation that we urgently need.

(Rupert Murdoch's election editorials are always so predictable. I thought I'd write my own. If you have your own or would like to make additions, please use comments below.)

Original post at: Labor View from Broome

John Howard: "the world will not end tomorrow"

Great news! Our Prime Minister continues to sit on his hands.

CLIMATE CHANGE is a serious challenge, but the world will not end tomorrow because of it, says John Howard. It's so reassuring. Hope he's read the IPCC report. Perhaps it will make good retirement reading next week.

A sample from the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report

Table SPM.2. Examples of some projected regional impacts

Australia and New Zealand

• By 2020, significant loss of biodiversity is projected to occur in some ecologically rich sites including the Great Barrier Reef and Queensland Wet Tropics;

• By 2030, water security problems are projected to intensify in southern and eastern Australia and, in New Zealand, in Northland and some eastern regions;

• By 2030, production from agriculture and forestry is projected to decline over much of southern and eastern Australia, and over parts of eastern New Zealand, due to increased drought and fire. However, in New Zealand, initial benefits are projected in some other regions.;

• By 2050, ongoing coastal development and population growth in some areas of Australia and New Zealand are projected to exacerbate risks from sea level rise and increases in the severity and frequency of storms and coastal flooding.

Summary for Policymakers of the Synthesis Report of the IPCC Fourth Assessment Report
(16 November 2007)

Please visit the IPCC website for the full details. This is not the time for blinkered sceptics like our PM!

Original post at: Labor View from Broome

John Howard's Dead Parrots Society

While Howard and his cronies wait for something to turn up and they continue their mantra of empty smears, all Labor supporters should carpe diem.

Seize the day, enjoy it to the full. Might as well savour the next week. A week's a long cliche in politics!

If you've missed any of the LaborView videos, spend some time visiting the Broome Voices series for some serious reflections by local people.

Original post at: Labor View from Broome

Campaign Launches

Now that both 'campaign launches' are done we can compare the two. In terms of tone Howard's struck me as something of a farewell event. Most of the lengthy affair was spent bashing Labor, calling people communists etc. It's the 21st century people, reds under the bed might get a few chuckles in retirement homes but it falls flat for the rest of us.

On the other hand Rudd's launch was short and punchy, about 1/2 an hour. After a perfunctory kicking of the Liberals he got straight to business. I got the impression of this being the culmination of something he's been planning for a long time. It didn't seem seat of the pants and unlike Howard, he didn't need to try to recapture his ideological ground. It was obvious that Howard had strayed onto Rudd's turf in his attempt to match education spending. Listening to the two of them, especially Howard's contempt for computers, it was obvious that Howard didn't realise that Rudd has believed in this stuff since at least 1998. That conviction was certainly conveyed.

When it came to actual substance I was amazed at how little there was in terms of new stuff from Howard. He spent $9 billion basically copying the 'education revolution' and adding a little extra. There was no mention of any other issues, except to continue the sound-bite scare campaign. Mark Vaile, to his ever lasting shame, got up in front of a coalition crowd in Queensland and didn't have anything new to offer on water, rural infrastructure, rural health or the future of the bush. It continues to amaze me that there are people living in areas where you're pretty much dead by the time you're diagnosed with cancer still vote National.

On the Labor side, well you can't say that there's no vision. The stuff Rudd laid out, even if he only meant half of it (which I doubt) will light the way to a competitive future for Australia. A move away from maintaining an economy for its own sake and actually making it work for people. Personally I'm hopeful that it'll mean a move towards actually making use of the incredible potential Australians have. Also he's managed to spend less than the Liberals have which must really sting.

It's not perfect but at least the raw material is there. It looks like there's actually some intellectual realestate for new ideas to develop.

Howard Wedges Rudd, Wins Vital Orangutan Vote

Well, that's the crucial orangutan demographic sewn up! I guess when Howard said he'd be targeting swinging voters this is what he really meant. Now for the lowland gorilla and the marmoset vote!

Book: Still Not Happy, John!

Yes, yes, here it is. The long awaited review. Sorry guys. Finished it over a week ago and have not been able to bring myself to do the review. Not because the book was bad (it wasn't), but because it meant that I'd have to delve back into the world of the coalition. Bleugh.

Just before the 2004 election, Margo released Not Happy John. A book that looked into the questionable things the Howard government had done since gaining power in 1996. The current book is an extension of the earlier one. After all, there has been 3 more years and this time they've had a Senate majority, and we all know how well that has turned out.

The only criticism I have of the book (may as well get it out of the way early), is that, it doesn't have as much new material as I was expecting. But, by the same token, it was good to be reminded yet again of the things that have gone on over the past 11 years. While I remember the fiasco that was GWB addressing parliament, I forgot about Costello trying to get media ownership laws changed (and the ultimate success in 2006).

There is a new introduction, and the chapters each have post-script with a 2007 update. Part 5 is entirely new.

Oh god, there are so many situations presented to you in the book of the government's duplicity, arrogance and abuse of power that I can't cover them all in detail. My only hope is to give you a brief overview of a few so that you can go searching for info on your own (or, better yet, grab the book and have a read for yourself). Strap yourselves in.

GWB's visit in 2003
Aside from the lunch that was held at The Lodge and the invite list Howard tried to stop being made public, we have the absolute travesty that was GWB addressing parliament and the manner in which it was controlled, the behaviour of our own politicians and the complete and utter disregard for propriety. Oh, and let's not forget the way that the Secret Service was allowed to take over the security in our house of parliament. This is the part of the book that pisses me off the most (and pretty much the entire book pisses me off). The general public were not allowed to enter PH while GWB was there. Protesters were not allowed outside (except at a distance). "Non-essential" PH staff were told to take the day off. Control of both security and the media was given to the Americans. Our own media were being told by foreigners what they could and could not do in our house of parliament! Finally, Bob Brown and Kerry Nettle were expelled from the House of Reps by the Speaker (it was a joint meeting) at the behest of Tony Abbott. This was a breach of House rules and was unconstitutional.


Hu Jintao addresses Parliament
The day after GWB addresses parliament Hu Jintao does so, even though there is an understanding that this honour would only ever be given to visiting American Presidents. Brown and Nettles were unable to attend due to the previous expulsion which held for 24 hours. Official guests of the Greens were banned from the gallery. They are Australian citizens who just happen to be of Tibetan and Chinese descent. Chinese Embassy staff are given permission to vet official guests. In addition, the Chinese embassy sent a letter to Fairfax (and presumably to NewsLtd) stating that they were not to publish an open letter or any advertisments that may be placed by anyone associated with the Tibetan independence movement or Falungong. Fairfax refused.

WMDs. War.
Do I really need to discuss this one? No, didn't think so. Except to say that Howard referred to anti-war protesters as a "mob".

Ill treatment of Kylie Russell
SAS Sergeant Andrew Russell was the first Australian casualty in Afghanistan. On 23 October 2003 GWB announced that he was going to lay a wreath in his honour at the War Memorial. Kylie Russell was not invited. The government didn't bother to contact her to tell her. Her MP, Graham Edwards, had to tell her of it. He found out when Bush addressed Parliament. It wasn't until a week later, at the behest of Edwards, did Howard bother to contact her. He sent a letter, but didn't send so much as a photo of the wreath laying. In 2004 the US government treated Kylie Russell better than her own did. The US Ambassador met her at a function in Perth that was honouring her husband. She later presented with photos of the Bush visit, personally signed to her. She was also invited to the US, was gifted with airfares and visited the White House, Pentagon and SAS base. John Howard has never made an effort to meet Kylie.

Tax deductions to NGOs
Costello has tried to revoke the tax concessions and deductibility of donations to NGOs who make an attempt to influence (change) existing policies and laws. If the tax status is changed for NGOs, then few people would donate money to them and they'd have to shut down. Thereby reducing the amount of criticism the government has to face. The purpose of NGOs is to influence government policy so to reduce the numbers to those who are in agreement with the government is to silence yet another avenue of the voice of the people.

***

Throughout the book you also have the complicit nature of the MSM. The fear they have of the current government. When the media is stifled to such a degree that those who aren't cheerleaders for the government are afraid of what ramifications there are of being honest with the public, then you have some serious problems. This has been highlighted by the recent report commissioned by the media.

The 2006 cross-media ownership changes don't help things. Australians are getting a more narrow view of what goes on not just in our country, but the world. We need more independent media to get the information out there.

I cannot recommend this book enough.

***

In addition to the above issues, we have to remember some other things that have occurred during the current government's reign:

• AWB (not just the oil-for-food scandal itself, but the hands-tying of the Cole Commission)

• WorkChoices

• Cornelia Rau

• Vivian Alvarez

• David Hicks

• Mamdouh Habib

• VSU

• Anti-Terrorism Act 2005

• Changing the electoral enrolment rules, ban on prisoners voting (later overturned by the High Court)

• Mohamed Haneef

• Detention of asylum seekers

These are the ones I can think of off the top of my head. Feel free to remind me of more in the comments and I will add them to the list.

UPDATE:

Thought of two more (and I can't believe I forgot them!):

• Marriage Act

• Refusal to give same-sex couples the same rights as hetero couples

Howard: Go for Broke

Falling interest rates show the government are good economic managers.
Rising interest rates show the government are good economic managers.

Mortgages have gone up more than 25% since the last election.

Do you still believe the Liberal Lies!

Post this image to any doubters!

Original Post at: Labor View from Broome

Go for growth!

By the end of the last election campaign, my nose had grown this big!

So, the government's "Go for growth" campaign seems to be working. What? You haven't heard? Oh, well now. Let me show you it.

The Reserve Bank of Australia raised the official cash rate by a quarter of a percentage point to 6.75 per cent. Mortgage rates are expected to follow within days.

The Age

Yay! Growth!

Also, J-Ho has finally come out (no, not like that! That will be Lexy D you silly billy!) and admitted what many of us have always known - he pinches ideas and words from Pauline Hanson:

I know that, I sympathise with them, I don't like it.

I bet he said through barely moving lips too. 'Cause he was trying to hide his joy that his "Go for growth" campaign is working! Duh. Later, after all the reporters had left, he stripped off his suit, ran around naked, then jumped and rolled around in a pile of fiscal reports. Mmmmmmm, fiscal reports.

The only reason that the PM didn't stand in front of the "Go for growth" slogan today like he normally does is 'cause he didn't want to rub it in Ruddie's face how well they are doing. He doesn't want Ruddie to feel bad, and feel like he can't possibly win the election. Gotta give the young whipper-snapper a speck of confidence in his abilities as a leader before he is crushed like a bug underfoot! See, Ruddie may be able to speak Mandarin, but does he like mandarins? J-Ho doesn't believe so, and he's sure that the Australian public can see through Ruddie's lies.

Go for growth!