Tuesday 24 August 2010

Julia wants to play with the independents

With no clear majority to form a government, Labor has sent out a plea to the party faithful tonight, and Julia Gillard is saying that it's clear the majority of Australians want a Labor Government.

"This is certainly due to the dedicated work of Labor supporters, the tireless hours put in by letter boxing, doorknocking and handing out on Election Day never goes un-noticed, and is always greatly appreciated by members, candidates and the Party," she writes in a supporters email tonight.

The message says the Prime Minister has begun initial discussions with both the Independents and The Greens.

"Labor is better-placed to form a stable Government that reflects the will of the Australian people as reflected in the two party preferred vote," Gillard says. "Labor has a very good record of working with the independents, a strong record of delivering jobs for the regions, and a better plan for regional economies that includes record investments in infrastructure and the National Broadband Network."

She says that Labor's agenda "benefits all."

"For electorates in rural and regional Australia, the National Broadband Network is absolutely pivotal for the future. The NBN will mean better health care and education equity for regional families, and it will mean job opportunities no matter where you live," Gillard says.

"Labor believes in a sustainable Australia, supporting our regional economies to grow whilst investing in the infrastructure challenges these communities face. At the same, seriously tackling climate change and investing in clean energy will be pivotal for the future and will create many opportunities across Australia," she says.

In the message, she says that they will invest $1billion to connect remote renewable energy to the electricity grid, to tackle climate change and grow jobs.

10 comments:

Thaddeus said...

Independent MP Bob Katter accused of threat to kill Liberal MP Peter Lindsay (heraldsun 25 August 2010)

Lindsay alleges Katter said to him.."You Liberals are slimy dogs and you are the lowest of the low..."

Charming...and this bloke could hold the future of Australia in his hands??

Smithfield Sam said...

Is all Julia can offer SPENDING MORE MONEY WE DON'T HAVE?

Pathetic.

Leuco Gaster said...

Thaddeus, I'd take this with a big grain of salt. Katter can be excitable, and if it was Peter Lindsay he had in mind, "slimy" is quite appropriate.

:Kevin-John: Morgan. said...

This woman sounds like an MP3 with a glich. Julia has been groomed for Labor party leadership by the very people who bring down many politicians via their backroom dealings and handshakes with the lobbyists.
It's these silent and faceless people, along with the many Bill Shortens of party politics, that have held Australia to political ransom, and I totally agree with Bob Katter, they should be shot!
We should also couple this with another concern by younger voters, who wonder why in the 21st Century they still use pencils at the polling booths instead of permanent markers, which is also a recipe for a huge conspiracy.
The fact that Australia is once again politically divided down the middle is proof that the AEC are incompetent in their "running" of elections (they are NOT politically neutral).
Add to this formula the fact that the fluoride in the water is doing a marvellous job on people's blood/brain barriers.
I believe that party politics in this country is no different to Al Capone's criminal network, which I can assure everyone is the very same network model employed by the Australian judiciary.
Whatever the outcome of this election is, it will not change the fact that the banks, lobbyists and back-room-boys run the show.

Tom said...

I hope you mean "they should be shot" metaphorically :Kevin-John: Morgan. When listening to anyone sympathetic to Katter's views, you can never be sure.

Alison Alloway said...

Katter hates certain types of Libs as much as he hates certain types of ALP people. Mexicans don't know of the historical conflict between the National and Liberal Parties in Queensland, and Katter has a long memory.
It's hard to know who to believe in this altercation between Lindsay and Katter, however I am inclined to believe Lindsay, knowing of Katter's bitterness towards some Libs. It only increases my uneasiness over the situation of a minority Federal Government. The more I read about Andrew Wilkie as well, even though I do admire him greatly for his courageous stance of exposing the lies and deceit over the Iraq war, I wonder about his motives for entering Parliament. He says he is about "honesty" in Government, but is that all? His treatment by some of Howard's Ministers when he blew the whistle was disgusting, (as it always is) with whistleblowers who finger the Government.
The more I think about this situation of a minority Government the more inclined I am to think it is completely untenable. Anyone else got any ideas?

Leuco Gaster said...

Alison, I've known Katter for 30 years - he is above all, passionate in advocacy for his community, honest, and very conservative in personal morality (he is, for instance, a trustworthy husband). Peter Lindsay, from the little experience I have of him (in Canberra), is not an ethical man. Katter dislikes Lindsay because he has, in Katter's view, abandoned the interests of his regional community, in loyalty to the coalition leadership.
As to the eventual makeup of the govt, I don't see why Labor can't govern with the support of the Green Bandt, Wilkie, and 2 or 3 of the other independents. While it is also possible that Abbott may yet get the support of all 3incumbent independents (he can forget Bandt and Wilkie), this would be difficult in light of this sort of attack on Katter from a Liberal, the open hostility between the independents and the Nationals, and the ridiculing of the independents, particularly Katter, in the Murdoch press.

Alison Alloway said...

Thanks Leuco for that information.
You have shed some new light over it all.

:Kevin-John: Morgan. said...

Hey there Tom, isn't EVERYTHING metaphorical these days?
Been inside a Qld court recently?
Truly, if most of these pussies calling themselves politicains acted this way in many overseas countries, they would be ousted in 60 seconds, or shot, or maybe hung, drawn and quartered (yes, it's still done today), because it's THE LAW! Rubbish needs to be thrown out, simple as that.
Hurrah! to those Independents that had the balls to step up to the public plate, especially after winning the podium position, including you Bob.
There should be many more like them in this country, and I feel confident if there were, we would at least get things done properly!
Come on now Tom, have you never been more than a little pissed-off at these pretenders into "party politics", and their frivolous antics inside the Big House at Question Time, wasting time?
What about these stanchions of society who meet behind closed doors to do the Roman thing with knives.."et tu, Mark & Bill?"
What gives these people the right to believe that their constituents agree with their party-line?
Who indeed makes the rules of this "Two Party Preferred" idea?
Two Party Preferred means only one thing, the ship (parliament), now has TWO captains.
Unfortunately, each captain wants to go in the opposite direction to the Truth, which is OUR WAY!
THAT'S WHY THEY TOOK EVERYONE'S GUNS AWAY!

Clifton Ratbag said...

Leuco, you've missed the salient point.

The only question the independents have to answer is: will allying myself with Labor be seen in a worse light than allying myself with the LNP. And while the talk from Katter in particular sounds even more left than the Greens on occasion (including his ideas about the "responsibility of the government" to sustain small, inefficient, and unprofitable agricultural business), all of these independents would undermine their support irretrievably by supporting Labor.

We'll have another election within six months, I'm quite sure. The sooner the better for the LNP - even scared Labor voters would now be ready to jettison Gillard after seeing how close the LNP's come.