TOPIC:

Watching Paul Murray Live tonight, they touched on past PM’s. I wondered who people thought were the best.
I for one think that Bob Hawke was the best in my life time. A larrikin yes, but a genuine man and a great leader. I thought that Howard was as good, but Hawkie was a down to earth people’s person. He had a set of balls that they don’t have now. Howard had the balls and was a great leader, but not quite the people’s person that Hawke was. Still they both could be number one in my humble opinion.

1st- Bob Hawke
2nd- Daylight

Gough - he dragged Australia into modernity.
Bob + Keating

Daylight

Krillard.......in the dog eat dog world of Australian politics the pair of them kept us all amused for hours.

Pig Iron Bob, best years Australia ever had.

Ben Chifley, post war reconstruction, anti communist and Holden’s.

Honourable mention to Gough for giving me an education and removing the sales tax on wine.

Dishonourable mention to keating for trying to tax me out of existence with his bracket creep and the bloody wine equalisation tax.

For those paying off a home would say the Hawke/Keating years was savage inflation & exorbitant bank interest rates. Bob was just a dick head playboy with Hazel seen as the devoted wife whilst he had his bit on the side.. Menzies the best whilst Whitlam tried but had idiots at the side. The red lady was the worst.

some good posts -- Keating was a complete failure.

Historically, Curtin, Chifley and Menzies were sucesses

Whitlham's government was very important for its reforms but he failled as a PM.

Hawke and Howard were both solid, although ideologically flawed.

In my lifetime: Gough Whitlam by the proverbial country mile. See below for some of the reasons:

(i) Medicare's forerunner Medibank;
(ii) Education for all as a right no matter the socio-economic standing;
(iii) Royal Commission into Aboriginal land rights;
(iv) Resuming diplomatic relations with China;
(v) Abolition of conscription and ending our involvement in Vietnam;
(vi) Blue Poles and the Australian Council for the Arts;
(vii) No fault divorce;
(viii) Racial Discrimination Act;
(ix) Protecting the Great Barrier Reef and environmental protection.
(x) Ending 23 years of Liberal-Country Party Federal Government.

anchorman wrote: Pig Iron Bob was the first of our PMs to sell us out. Selling our resources to foreigners. Making us quarry workers for the foreigners.It is still happening now.

I wouldn’t rate Menzies after what he did to the retirement scheme. 500 mil (back in the 50’s), or thereabouts out of the worker’s retirement fund and into the govt coffers. Opposition didn’t object either. Now we baby boomers are seen as a financial liability with today’s generation even though people contributed something like 7% to the fund....and still are I think. Interesting reading if you can find it. Will see if I’ve still got the article.

Leather, funny world, driving through nin bin in a couple of weeks. See if I can find the grave of cairns or morrosi.

42, from memory you’ve banged on about conscription and Vietnam b4. Wish you would get your facts right on both. Try McMahon government, 72 and 71.
Please, blues poles wasn’t a good look when unemployment and inflation were thu the roof.

58, the following offer differing points???

arpq.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/old_age_pension.pdf
the point on keating is interesting!

www.aspc.unsw.edu.au/node/36/paper/2140

morningmail.org/who-stole-the-pension-fund/

cuffelinks.com.au/age-pension-not-welfare/

Are we paying 7.5% too much in income tax?