Johnnie wrote on Jul 22^nd, 2018 at 3:53pm:


I think Pauline's inability to recognise her own ignorance is a major problem to her being "honest and open".   That she seems to be easily influenced by her latest Sven Ghalli figure is another.   

That you appear to prefer an ignorant politician over a knowledgeable one suggests what about your personality?  Mmmm?   

When and if they find this honest politician one thing you can be sure of....... it won't be a lib.

Brian Ross wrote on Jul 22^nd, 2018 at 6:26pm:



we all do Brian   how do you tell an honest pollie until he/she becomes one.....

thats the conundrum...its impossible right????>..

over all I dont think we do too bad....

its stoopid to condemn someone for an honest mistake   because we all make them...and lefties tend to only condemn Liberal ones....

mind you if I was a leftie  I would want to forget Labors  record as well...

cods wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2018 at 8:29am:


Both sides of politics has made mistakes, Cods.  Liberal and Labor.   However, both sides like to pin their mistakes on individuals and forget about them, rather than examine the systemic problems that allowed those mistakes to be fostered and implemented.

Then, we have unfortunatly all too often allowed lies to be created in the media and consumed by the public until they become truths.  Julia Gilliard is one such example.  She is, according to the Liberals and their supporters, the "red haired witch" who misgoverned Australia into ruin.   That of course is a sexist insult and completely untrue.  In reality she was one of our most successful Prime Ministers.  Not one piece of legislation she proposed was defeated in Parliament.   Not one policy, was abandoned during her term.  She was a consummate negotiator and an able politician.   She out maneuvered her political opponents at every turn.   I didn't like her but I have given an honest appraisal of her performance.  Much better than Tony Abbott's or Rupert Murdoch's view of her.  Guess which view the public believed?

Another able politician was John Howard.   He out maneuvered his opponents, invented "dog whistle politics" and changed Australia significantly.   He brought the budget into the black and provided massive savings for the Commonwealth.  His abilities to manipulate the political debate were often breathtaking.   I admired him, even if I disagreed with his policies.  The Australian public loved him, until it grew tired of him.  As I remarked Tim Fischer over a dinner we both attended, it was obvious that he should have resigned 12 months before his final election.  He was on a high.  He could have gone out with kudos.   However, he didn't and so was defeated.

It is usually easier to make such judgements in retrospect, I am quite willing to admit.

Mr Hammer wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2018 at 8:52pm:


All policies which predated her ascension to the PM's office, Hammer.   Tsk, tsk, get your history correct.   I know it's hard for you to do a Google search but, hey, at least try for a change.   

Brian Ross wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2018 at 9:10pm:

She kept them when she could have changed them, brick.

Frank wrote on Jul 23^rd, 2018 at 9:19pm:



She kept them because most of them actually worked rather well, Soren.

Tell me, have you invested heavily in coal?  Afterall, that was the only real industry under threat during Gilliard's tenue.