TOPIC:

westaussieguy wrote: Or is the current situation over in blundersville part of a much bigger problem? Haven't we had 5 different prime ministers in the last 8 years? Even a school child could see the debacle of the rudd/ Julia years as they completely pillaged the country. Most commentators agree it will be 10 years before the mess is corrected.
As stated earlier, "there is zero political capital left in this country to allow for real change, violent swings from one gov to the next"
All of which is bad for the country and just confuses the hell out of the electorate.

You my friend have hit the nail on the head.

It will be intresting what the Libs do , they have never removed a first term PM since the party was founded in 1947, however we now live in very volatile times, and the history books are being thrown out left right and center, constant changes in PM's 1 term govs coming and going, minority govs, senates full of nutjobs, were heading down a chaotic track.

As for Col Barnett, at the end of the day he wil have served 8 years as premier which in this current period is a darn near eternity, Labor will walk it in at the next state election, who knows what their plans are, it won't matter.

NSW seems to have stabilised under the new Premier after a period of chaos, and Tasmania a bit the same.

SA drifts along like zombie on drugs.

swan42 wrote:

58shark wrote: I don't have the political smarts that some people here do have. I do have an opinion though, be it right or wrong. On one hand, Tony has to go, but on the other, people are sick of parties swapping leaders willy nilly, though, Tony has never seemed to be anywhere near popular. So if they do replace him - who gets the job? Bishop- people still remember the last female PM we had plus her inexperience - albeit unfair on her. Turnbull? I remember him when he was around previously - an arrogant millionaire that has no idea in the world what it's like to not have a million in the bank.
One thing I do know...I'm gobsmacked to think that people are starting to prefer he mob of drunken sailors that just about bankrupted this country...some people just have very short memories. Go figure???

It would be an interesting time if Turnbull was chosen to lead the Liberals again. I would think that would mean the dumping of the laughable Direct Action Plan and the introduction of an ETS. It is also interesting to note that only three candidates, Turnbull, Bishop and Morrison, are mentioned to likely replace Abbott; Joe Hockey is not considered a candidate. Certainly the impression one got from reading Hockey's biography recently that Hockey had aspirations with respect to becoming PM of Australia.

I would suspect that Turnbull's insistence that an ETS is introduced would preclude him from winning the leadership spill. Given Bishop's propensity to become Deputy Leader no matter who is leader should also ensure that she would not win the spill. This leaves Morrison: given the Liberals have a problem due to broken promises and the reality that the budget was unfair to the less fortunate that would only be further enhanced if Morrison were to win the leadership spill.

To add to the legacy of broken promises we can add the dumping of Abbott's PPL scheme.

Perhaps Abbott can give himself a knighthood prior to meeting his comeuppance.

For a start, no body at all is talking about Hockey, he is a goner in the PM stakes he has been the most dissapointing performer so far.

Although Morrison is a star in his former profolio , he comes a distant 3rd to the top two contenders, Bishop and Turnbull.

Turnbull is just not liked enough in the party, They wont go for him unless there is no option. He has the fact his is from NSW going for him.

Bishop for mine is the stand out, two things, the failed Gillard female PM experiment and the fact she is from WA holds her back.

Politics dont ya love it. Many many probs, from not taxing the rich enough to people in this great country thinking its thier right to bleed the country dry on social benefits, and how dare anyone take them away and ask them to contibute. Too many splinter groups commanding too much time and space for thier little cottage subjects. Finally its all name calling and child like behavioir from both sides. Give me a decent REAL pollie from any side and i will vote for em. Just aint gunna happen

The Libs shouldn't fall into the same trap as Labor and jettison its leader every time the polls take a turn for the worst. Abbott never has been popular so the coalition just needs to live with it and move on. He has made some bad decisions which hopefully he'll learn from but I don't think the alternatives in Bishop and Turnbull are all that crash hot either....and don't get me started on Labor....other than say Plibersek they're completely devoid of talent and who wants to return to the chaos of 2007 to 2013?

BC wrote: The Libs shouldn't fall into the same trap as Labor and jettison its leader every time the polls take a turn for the worst. Abbott never has been popular so the coalition just needs to live with it and move on. He has made some bad decisions which hopefully he'll learn from but I don't think the alternatives in Bishop and Turnbull are all that crash hot either....and don't get me started on Labor....other than say Plibersek they're completely devoid of talent and who wants to return to the chaos of 2007 to 2013?

I really don't want TA to go either, but if they want to hang in there Turnbull would bring them home. If Peeblesak is the best they have , then they are in trouble, she is a condacending pain in the arse.

mate...Turnbull is too vanilla for mine...he's a left leaning conservative which lines his views up with the likes of Rudd and co. He's also a bit of a loose cannon and doesn't necessarily take the agreed party line...case in point the ETS proposed by Rudd which eventually led to Turnbull's demise as leader. I agree he'd be the best person to take the Libs to the next election based on popularity with the electorate alone and he would easily win a voters poll over TA but that doesn't mean he's the best person to be PM...that's my opinion for what it's worth anyway.

BC wrote: mate...Turnbull is too vanilla for mine...he's a left leaning conservative which lines his views up with the likes of Rudd and co. He's also a bit of a loose cannon and doesn't necessarily take the agreed party line...case in point the ETS proposed by Rudd which eventually led to Turnbull's demise as leader. I agree he'd be the best person to take the Libs to the next election based on popularity with the electorate alone and he would easily win a voters poll over TA but that doesn't mean he's the best person to be PM...that's my opinion for what it's worth anyway.

I agree BC on all that with Turnbull for mine he is a bit middle of ground, but that is the thing that give him his broader appeal, his more moderate views, He's ETS, He's Gay Marriage, I think he is fairly dry when it comes to economics though , he likes the idea of balanced budget and lets face it is pretty good with the dough.

Another thing I really dont like was his role as leader of the ARM , it all seems to me to have just been a huge PR stunt for him at the time, staright after he dumped it like a rotten turd, he never says a word about it now. What this tells me is he is just a bloke desperate to be liked and lacking in conviction.

yep...gotta agree with all you've said Bazza. one area where Turnbull has never really made a commitment one way or the other is on refugees. have you seen where he stands on that issue? given his left of centre leanings, it wouldn't surprise if he dismantled some of the governments current policies if he took over from Abbott...although in saying that he's also smart enough to know that its a big issue in the community and to open the flood gates as Rudd did in 2007 would be political suicide.

Very True, on Q and A he loves playing the greens student card, and stays pretty uncommitmed on the boats, like you say - he could go that way and screw the whole thing again.

Also I dont think many really know his past, his merchant bank was sent up with some of the doyens of the ALP, Wran and the Whitlams my guess is this was at a time when shonkiness was rife in NSW.

Apparently the latest poll has 45% of the electorate indicating turnbull will be leading the Libs at the next election. Bishop has 27% and captain abbot with 18% of the poll votes. Forget about the rest. Abbot has indicated of not stepping aside. He has admitted to political mistakes and promised to do better. All of which still does not inspire the federal scene.