chris955

I think ' a rock and a hard place ' suitably describes the current political situation.

Siren & Brian

Any opposition are negative until shortly before an election when then they release all there policies.

spalen

Ill vote for the first one who has the guts to stand up and say

" Stop the Boats is a load of tosh drummed up by the press and we need to focus on the economy "

I fear I may be waiting some time.

Budawang

This opposition has gone way beyond the negativism usually associated with an opposition party in the Westminster tradition. Constantly calling into question the legitimacy of the government (totally different to criticising government policy) shows a profound lack of respect for our democratic system. I have never seen an opposition which is so unfit to govern this country.

chris955

Well with a Government hell bent on self destruction and that lot in opposition we really are f***ed

Budawang

It would be more accurate to say that the media (well, at least the large chunk owned by Murdoch) is hell-bent on destroying the government. This government has actually produced a lot of reforms.

commonwealth

I think this govt should implement much more reforms than a carbon tax. The govt should ditch the carbon tax!

chris955

No, I think I will stick to my original comment.

cresta57

At the moment there is no credible opposition, much as I dislike Ms Gillard the alternative is a bumbling buffoon. As I've said many times it's choosing between a kick in the head or a kick in the balls
Maybe we could get Baroness Thatcher over on a special visa to show 'em how it's done............................................ .................................................. .....................<ducks & runs>

Broad Shoulders

I've long thought we should have a Politican Amnesty. Where each party can hand in their duds no questions asked. I genuinely believe that should Abbott be booted from his position as leader it would give those who simply won't vote Libs because he would become PM an option. At the moment it is the lesser of two evils. Gillard is absolutely useless as PM, but I fear TA would be much worse, so essentially we are caught between a rock and a hard place. A trade in of both leaders at the same time would mean both parties would be forced into working on policies based on educated research rather than populist whims and would also force them to drop the petty politics

Budawang

Many people think prime ministers are all important and when you vote in a general election and that you're voting for person X to be PM. This just isn't the way our political system works. We don't have a presidential system, but one where you elect your local MP. Prime Ministers' role is essentially choosing ministers and selling policies to the voting public - the day to day running of the government and policy development falls to any number of other people who make up the government.

That's why I think dislike of Julia (which is overblown in my opinion) is missing the point. Julia actually did well to bring the independents and Greens on board with her superior negotiation skills. People may not like the government because it's too left wing, or that it has to make lots of compromises, but you can't blame it all on Julia. There has been an unfair character assassination which has been fed by unscrupulous elements in the media.

NedKelly

Yeah, a lot of reforms, here are a few:-

Carbon Tax to reduce "global warming", more likely to fix labors bad economic management and get the surplus Swanny promised. Who cares about the jobs lost.
Means testing the Private health insurance rebate, as if people aren't struggling enough already.
$10,000 gift pack for illegal immigrants. Another failure.
NBN what a waste of money.
BER money wasted. - $30,000 to build a $4,000 shed.
Pink Batts, what a rort, with people dying as a result.
Money wasted all over the place, the list just never ends.
Labor couldn't run a tuck shop.

GarryP

Nah, "a rock and yawning gap heading straight down to hell, complete with fiery lava and demons with flaming swords up the ars*h*le" would be a more accurate summation.

Given she is supposed to be totally 'la la' now, not knowing what is going on or who she is .............. yeah your probably right, she probably is still more competent.

chris955

My dislike of Gillard started when she stabbed Rudd in the back and has grown from there. Gillard has shown herself to be totally ineffectual and unlikeable.

Broad Shoulders

Maybe in theory that is how it is supposed to work, but if you vote for your local MP and he/she is part of one of the three franchises of political parties this country has then he/she will most likely have very little say or impact on the local priorities if he/she is not in cabinet. If the PM wants a policy to go ahead then the chances are it will happen. People vote for what the potential leader stands for simply because they are the main key policies that will likely be implemented.
Case in point, our local state members have been backing a much awaited rail link for the last 20 years. Those members were part of successive Labor govts and this was simply not a priority for those govts regardless of the effort those members did or did not put in.