Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

[quote="Nocky"]Never talk politics when your drinking so put can away
I think Rudd did fine and got stabbed because he stood what he thought was right, not what the string pullers thought was right, they were scared of the big mining bosses and unions, Gillard comes in and lightens up on the mines so the bullies win

End drinking!!!!!

Totally agree Nocky I think Rudd was making a pretty good go of it and should have been supported by the party to stand up against the mining lobby and allowed to run his full term (as he was voted to do).
Labour spent approx $40mil on advertisments to counter the mining industries $140mil campaign. It shows the power and influence of the mining industry both financially and worse politically. The public were hoodwinked and conned by both the mining lobby and labour backroomers.
Perhaps this will come back to haunt them both if the Greens manage to gain leverage after the upcoming election!!!

Start drinking!!!!!

I agree timmy to a certain extent, no government has ever got Education or Hospitals right and the whole world has no success with the whaling scene, ETS in my opinion wont save the planet and I agree with Rudd's outcome, and the Super Tax was Rudds downfall, he stood for what he believed and the labor party caved into threats and put a puppet in his place, the only problem is she now will have her strings pulled for ever, The TV show Yes Minister is a classic and in reality it is what happens there and is now happening here, pollies are only figure heads so it doesn't matter who's in the chair

think carefully before voting for the greens - they give their preferences to labor. the greens on their own won't form government, so a vote for the greens is a vote for a labor government.

i'm not sure if Rudd's downfall was sticking to what he believed in, or pure egotistical stubbornness on any kind of compromise. the essence of politics is compromise, but through Rudd's entire term he seemed to completely lack this ability. Gillard seems to suffer the same mental block, announcing things like sending boat people to east timor without proper consultation with east timor's government.
I'd go out on a limb and say most of his scheme's failed because of his "with us or against us" attitude. The policy's he managed to deliver on were all the ones he didn't need any kind of agreement from others like the "sorry" speech and NRAS affordable housing scheme

Greens will hold the balance of power, won't be a bad thing as they won't vote for what they dont think is right, or they will only vote for something if they get something else passed, neither party will lead in it's own right, my National vote will be semi vote for the Libs I suppose, clearly the greens are leading here and in most other online polls I have seen, this may the biggest election shock to both the major parties, which also isn't a bad thing, I have the same poll in the weather forum I belong to which is mainly younger generation, the leader in that poll is the last option with the greens a close second, a couple for Labor and nil for the Libs I think this is the way the new voters will go, and their is a lot more of them this time round

Your first comment had me worried there DR, until I got through your text and found the remedy at the bottom !!

Okay, the easy way around this is to allocate your preferences yourself. If you like the party but don't like the way they send their preferences, take the choice back. Make a decision yourself. ALLOCATE YOUR OWN PREFERENCES!!!!!!!

(this is from someone who will be spending ALL of Saturday 21st in a polling booth, giving out ballot papers, then counting and recounting them until they add up and all preferences are allocated correctly)

ALLOCATE YOUR OWN PREFERENCES!!!!!!!!

sometimes on voting day my wife and i joke with each other and say lets vot for whoever doesnt hassel us and give us a bit of paper on the way in ...... never works they all give us a bit of paper which we never read

i cant stand abbot he gives me the creeps and im not sure about gillard yet so i think ill go the greens and maybe in a few years we can have a 3 way tie like the UK

Cheers
pete

Federal Politics is a cut throat game. If you have the support of the "power brokers" of your party, you have the top job.
If you lose favour you will fall, sooner or later.

Personalities ? Like many others, I don't like either, but they are the choices, the respective parties have thrust upon us and both will be manipulated by the "power brokers", make no mistake.
I think that the Greens will win 1 or 2 House of reps seats and a couple of extras in the Senate. I believe that they will hold the balance of power in the senate and will make the Government accountable for the environment. Unfortunately, they can't make the Australian Citizens responsible, but they will pay in the long run.

Who will form Government?

Probably the ALP.

We have an interesting tussle in the Canning (WA) electorate, where a sitting Lib is up against a State MP (resigned from State seat on Saturday). Both are hugely popular and voth are doers, and capable of a fierce competition.

Watch this one, it promises to be a good fight.

Best wishes,

Tony

It shouldn't be about personalities though should it. It should be about policies.

Under Costello treasuryship we were akin to someone paying off the mortgage and having money in the bank but the house needed painting, plumbing repairs, a new driveway, new wiring and carpets, most of the appliances were old, rundown, didn't work and were in need of replacement. But we had money in the bank.

Sound familar, ports, roads, railways, hospitals, schools and universities all in need of significant investment not penny pinching for the sake of political points scoring.

As the RBA say's our debt levels are modest and we can repay overtime. Time to start investing wisely and get on with improving the place.
Read this comment in the Age newspaper and it sums up the situation nicely IMO.
Dale

+1

I agree dale..

i was told years ago... that labor spends the cash building infrastructure and getting people working but racking up debt...whereas liberals cut spending on infrastructure and pay off the debt...(this of course is a generalisation)... the cycle just keeps happening whilst we only vote for one or the other...
so as i said in my other post... vote for someone else first..then YOUR OWN 2nd preference... this will give the message to who ever wins..that there is a movement away from the major parties.. and they hopefully will rethink their policies...(policies??? what policies???)

Australian politics has moved so far to the right its scary.
Major issues in Australia are ageing population,skills shortage ,eventual labour shortage,not enough superanuation and eventually not enough money to fund health care.
We need to modernise and expand our infrastructure to make us more competitive.(Internet,Rail Roads,Ports,Water and Sustainable Power Supply)
There needs to be a price on carbon.
Resources aren't going to last for ever the sooner any economy can implement a sustainable greener energy source the more advantage that economy will have in the future.
We live in a resource rich nation and we need to utilise more of that money in Australia for Australians benefit.The Mining tax is great start it needed to higher.
Not only do Australians work longer than any developed country in the world ,Australians also work the longest unpaid overtime.
A reintroduction of Work Choices under a different name isnt going to make peoples lives better

Unfortunately politics in Australia is pitched at the Xenophobic Aspirational Bogan who has an addiction to Middle Class welfare.He is the new swinging voter that everyone is trying to woo
Unfortunately this means the big picture is never discussed or considered.

I live in a marginal Labour seat and have Barnaby as My Senator
I will vote Greens and preference Labour and prey Barnaby loses his job.

I look forward to the Greens holding the balance of power and the end of Family First.

+1

mucho respect Snags...

for those of you who want to find out where on the political spectrum you lie (right, left, authoritarian or libertarian) try this little quiz http://www.politicalcompass.org/ . It's very interesting

There is no way that thing is correct... it put me in the same quadrant as Ghandi, Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama...

H.

good, so i'm not the only one? I would consider myself a pretty mainstream labour voter, yet come up looking more like Ghandi.

perhaps i'm politically confused