1 November 2006

BOOM! Liberals implode again?

| johnboy
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A common question in Canberra these days is “How does Stanhope think he can carry on like this and win the next election?”.

The common reply is “Well would you vote for Bill Stefaniak? How about Richard Mulcahy?”

At which point the original questioner goes a bit funny, steadies themselves against the furniture, and asks no more.

Today’s Canberra Times is chockas (hope to link as soon as the website has something online) with ructions within the Liberals as Steve Pratt gets accused of digging dirt on Richard Mulcahy (I think the NSW branch of the Hotels Association has got that covered Steve) by the ACT party president Gary Kent. Other minor acts of bastardry are also recounted in the lurid reportage.

Will someone moderately electable climb over the bodies when it’s all done?

UPDATED: Thanks to Ari the slave-master I can now direct your attention to the Canberra Times reportage. They’ve actually got the front page online so you can see their pretty graphics outlining the turmoil (note this page is not permanent). Jack Waterford gives a gloomy prognosis for the Liberals:

“Only resignation, death, or a change in the respective balances at the next election seem likely to change the numbers. If it waits until the next election, of course, there are likely to be fewer, not more, to fight among each other.”

Also, Markus Mannheim reports on the email that has ignited the current troubles. Apparently Steve Pratt, Brendan Smyth, Jacqui Burke and Vicki Dunne, are all fingered as plotters in the email from Gary Kent. Intriguingly there is mention of a “sticky situation” between Jacqui Burke and her then advisor, David Bell.

Another Update If you are looking for an alternative to Labor I’d like to second Ralph’s suggestion in the comments and recommend the Liberal Democrats socially progressive, economically sane, and dedicated to NOT telling you how to live.

FURTHER UPDATE: The ABC reports that the Libs have spent much of the day in a crisis meeting and all are refusing to talk to the media. Apparently Liberal flunkies kept the corridors surrounding the meeting cleansed of media reptiles so as to avoid reportage of the screams and body parts thunking onto the walls.

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Ain’t politics hilarious??

i also after a careful read think that the LDP woudl never fund or give the go ahead to proper mass transit public transport.

its too ‘big govt’ for them.

if they read hayek they will see that large govt investment in projects of this scope does not conflict with small govt.

The LDP don’t appear to have a policy on Humvees and F100 utes, and that’s a bit of a worry.

If everyone can have guns, then everyone should drive big gas guzzling tanks too – yeeeeeeha!

just agreeing with the hill billy call turbs…

The last time they had balance of power we got the cycleways.

On the other hand, a four way split (which needs some coalition of with both the lib-dems and greens to govern) might be workable.

Anything but majority government.

barking toad10:32 am 02 Nov 06

yeah, the greens having balance of power
in the council would be fuckin’ great

I don’t know if I’d trust me with a gun. I’m far too sleep-deprived.

Oh, and I’ll be voting Greens next election. If enough of us protest vote for them, they may actually get the balance of power (or even a minor-party government).

hey i like the liberal democrat gun laws – i’ll vote for them.

sane and considered.

whats their stance on a dragway ?

S4anta – not sure if you meant me, or another terubo?

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present2:18 pm 01 Nov 06

don’t have an angry bone in my body.

I don’t know if I would trust me with a gun – I’m far too angry!

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present2:04 pm 01 Nov 06

I don’t know if I would trust me with a gun. I am far too curious.

I like the idea of everyone owning guns – it’d certainly liven up Canberra a bit, especially if you were able to carry them at all times!

Look, while the “smaller, less dictatorial government” thing is lovely, the lib-dems are falling down for the same reason that the Australian Democrats are – quality of members (or lack thereof).

Pandy makes an important point: wherever you don’t have an upper house in a parliament, you need some other way to ensure checks and balances, rather than rubber-stamping of the dominant party’s agenda. In a single house parliament that way is to have a minority government, and a cross-bench that can veto them. In Queensland Labor got rid of the upper house in the early 1900s. Beattie only got in on the say-so of a lone Independent Peter Wellington, who I knew well. He (Wellington) was a reasonable man (although I often didn’t agree with him on some issues) and for 3 years he kept Beattie honest as a one-man balance of power. It was a good time for Queensland.
Only when Beattie scored an absolute majority in that single-house parliament, did the arrogance come to the fore.
For this reason I will never put one of the old parties first on my vote.
But JB, after having a look at the LibDem website, I’d say they are definitely not the answer. There is very little small L liberal or democrat about that party. It seems very right-wing and not at all like the real Liberal Democrats that are doing very well in Britain.

Okay that was meant to be “a handful of issues”, not “handle of issues” 🙂

Yeah but I kinda agree with their dictating… 🙂 Oops did I say that out loud? 🙂

But seriously, I’m a strong believer in that people tend to have a handle of issues on which they decide where their support will go. So while a party’s stance on telecommunications is not likely to sway me, their stance on childcare, gun control and abortion will.

Similarly, I’m sure the LDP will no doubt attract shooters in droves. They’re definitely playing to their target market.

If you want the toytown parliament dictating every aspect of your lives the Greens and ALP are still available to you.

You cannot be serious about recommending the Liberal Democrats. Have you checked out their firearms policy here: http://www.ldp.org.au/federal/policies/firearms.html. A brief skim read here also tells me that they believe evidence to support global warming is weak: http://www.ldp.org.au/federal/policies/energy.html.

They’re entitled to their policies but there’s no way in hell I’d support a party not in favour of gun control. I’m also not encouraged by their lack of policy formualtion on health or family or childcare or women.

terubo, word.

“Widespread ownership of private property”?
not quite up my khyber, nor the point above about government regulation and spending.

please put down the red book.

I’d be amazed and disappointed if these far-right-wing types got up in Canberra. I think annexation by Queanbeyan would be the best way to go.

They do seem to be trying to broaden their appeal beyond the Adam Smith reading crowd, which seems an important pre-requisite to doing any real good.

Well, JB, with regard to your espousal of the Liberal Democrats – I’ve yet to read their policies, but a glance at their home page (recruiting at Summernats / pro-Shooting) suggests the Hillbilly Party might be a more apt nom de guerre…

i think a large proportion of belconnen hopes you are right Pandy.

We all know Mulchay is the appointed one. Bill is just the stand-in.

Any politican who uses the term “civil liberties” with derision is unfit for office in a democracy as far as I’m concerned (although unlike Bill I accept that others are entitled to their own contrary views)

While he seems like a nice enough guy in person his slavish parroting of whatever the Southern Cross Club has on its agenda makes me nauseous. And that’s before his disgraceful comments in the terror debate are considered.

The Libs have no chance of capturing the middle ground in Canberra with him as leader.

Go to hell Johnboy,

Bill is not as quarter as bad as Vicki and her Christian right, anti-abortion, bike-lane loving, damn dam building ilk. Bill is just a nice harmless guy as the Canberra Times says today.

I will not be voting Labor that is for sure and probably will vote for the cross bench to get a minority Government that aint so pig headed arrogant with power and unwilling to listen to the people. Did you read the second page of the CT today? Sonic was saying that if he wasn’t such a nice guy he would be sueing the ar$es off the Libs. I bet this is the sign of things to come.

Well, there goes a bunch of LP staffers’ security clearances.

Oh, wait…

I’d support that too, and absorb all the non-NCA areas back into NSW.

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present10:08 am 01 Nov 06

would prefer costello over howard any time.. and yeah captainwhorebags, abbott should be chopped in half and then banned from being in any political party… he is a scarey man – he is possibly an android from the past sent to destroy the future.

the third option is to abolish self-government – to return to the comforting bosom of the fed govt

I actually don’t think the Liberal party has been in ascendency at all in the last few years, they come across as a bunch of disorganised, petty, extremely right wing freaks.

And I think that Stanhope is doing a decent job.

PS I am not some Labor party hack, in fact I haven’t given any major party my first preference in eons.

PPS If there is such a genuine demand for a dragway why don’t the dragway enthusiasts get it privately funded?

at least we would be belting people with little sticks bonfire…

captainwhorebags9:52 am 01 Nov 06

Ralph, let me clarify my position on the feds by saying that although I don’t like Howard’s conservative leanings, I can’t really fault the overall job that they’re doing. I’d actually like to see Costello have a run as he appears to be a lot more progressive than John.

Abbott scares the crap out of me though. Ditto Vanstone.

ahh the federal alp.

if they had been elected to power MARK LATHAM would be in charge right now.

and you reckon stanhope is bad.

…and where’s my FUCKING DRAGWAY???

Federal govco is very unlikely to change at the next election. Not that I really care. FWIW, I think Howard is doing a better job than Beastly anyway.

Locally, I think the comment about getting back to the business of govt is right on the money.

Queen Victoria I9:32 am 01 Nov 06

It does seem as though the parliamentary Libs need to pull their heads in… but i have no problem with people exposing corruption before we have to elect it…
I think the bigger issue for the libs is their Party President Gary Kent. Says in the CB that he has been a member of the Management Committee for 10 yrs and the President for 6yrs… here’s a noval thought: get rid of the idiot who typed the email in the first place! Anyone who commits those thoughts to an email, paper etc, should not be sitting at the head of a state party!

John Howard is doing a fine job thankyou. I used to hate him but have warmed to him. The Federal ALP will run this country into the ground, now that scares me.

But there is an alternative in the ACT, the Liberal Democrats. Good sensible market-based policies and promotion of small government and minimum red tap. They’re just a bit too liberal for me on things like reffos.

JB’s a bit slow off the mark with links.
So here they are.

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present9:21 am 01 Nov 06

yeah it is the federal gov that really scares me. even if we see a change of government there aren’t many in the alp that give me confidence.

Kind of mirrored in Federal Government, ain’t it?

barking toad9:00 am 01 Nov 06

Regardless of your political affiliations we need an effective opposition to challenge the fuckwits currently mismanaging the place.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t exist.

“J-Ho.”
I do like it.

Well we know who JB isn’t a fan of.

Absent Diane of the Imminent Present8:55 am 01 Nov 06

I don’t think the libs had/have the leg up. Whilst stanhope has proven not so crash at administration (has any CM thus far though?).. a lot of people still admire his more humanatarian ideologies – and because you don’t get any at all from federal gov.. it appeals to people more. Throw in the fact the general consensus on stefaniak is that he is a clown… it’s difficult to assume anything but another labor victory.

“Yours sincerely

All ACT voters”

Oh I got that wrong did I? I thought you were in hospital Hilali?

Just a young parliament with a few minor hiccups in the process of government. I reckon we all should juast relax, listen to the string orchestra, and rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, and conviniently forget that there is a iceberg coming towards us known as annexation by New South Wales.

a premonition… the magnet mart man will run in molonglo and take the balance of power!

good times for all!

Um, check it again, JB – I don’t think that’s quite what I was saying (or at least what I intended to say).

captainwhorebags8:28 am 01 Nov 06

What we need (and we’re all experts here on talkback internet) is a term or two of sensible government business. Leave the touchy feely happy happy joy joy stuff until there’s some dosh in the bank and just get the trains running on time, so to speak.

As far as federal politics go, I can’t stand J-Ho and the conversative cronies of the Liberal party, yet the management skills of the ALP front bench certainly aren’t inspiring right now either. So it’ll come down to a lesser of two evils voting decision (and a protest vote for a minor party still ends up in the pocket of one of the two majors).

Go to hell chris.

There is no way I’d give any sort of vote to Bill Stefaniak and his fascist policies.

You don’t speak for “all ACT Voters”.

An open letter to the Liberals:

Dear Turkeys, at a time when Canberra citizens are sick to the back teeth of the hopeless government we now have (school closures, an arboretum, hospital pay parking, Epicentre – and that’s just today), you clowns are busy fighting each other.

At no other time in the history of self-government have we so desperately needed an effective opposition while there is this autocratic and despotic majority government in office; at no other other time have we so desperately needed an alternative government.

Yet you clowns are so busy fighting each other that you couldn’t organise the proverbial.

You’re a disgrace; you could so easily be the government next time round, but who can trust you to govern yourselves, let alone the rest of us.

Get your individual and collective acts together, or bugger off and give someone else a go.

Yours sincerely

All ACT voters

cannot expect anything more than muppets in toytown!

…and that’s ‘electorate’ – or is it ‘erectorate’?

The venality of politicians never ceases to amaze me. Why can’t they just get on with the job of serving the elctorate – which is what they’re paid to do. F**kmuppets.

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