Nacht und Nebel

Fiona Uncategorized

(Image credit: Wikipedia)

Fifty days ago, the Australian electorate blinked, and chose a Coalition government led by Mr Abbott – devout Catholic, Rhodes Scholar, Oxford Blue, sometime journalist, advisor to former LOTO Dr Hewson, exercise junkie, father of “not bad-looking daughters”, self-proclaimed political offspring of Mrs Bronwyn Bishop and Mr John Howard – a man who counts among his political and spiritual mentors B. A. Santamaria and Cardinal Pell.

The government as a whole, and Mr Abbott in particular, are deeply indebted to two powerful individuals, Mr Rupert Murdoch, and Mrs Gina Rinehart. The debt owed by the new Federal government and prime minister to Mr Murdoch in particular is extraordinary, and is most likely to be paid through the sale hand-over of the NBN and, possibly, the privatisation or abolition of the ABC. Mrs Rinehart’s rewards are the repeal of the MRRT, the “liberalisation” of 457 visas to enable the employment of ever-cheaper labour in her mines, and an open-slather approach to exploration and mining, maybe even in national parks, and to coal seam gas fracking. After all, what else is the environment for?

So, what has the new government achieved over the past 50 days?

  • Abolished the Climate Commission.
  • Sacked three departmental heads.
  • Sacked the NBN Board.
  • Announced the privatisation of Medibank Private.
  • Appointed the head of a major business union to chair the Commission of Audit which also includes (gaia help us) Ms Amanda Vanstone. Mr Tony Shepherd also chairs a company that has substantial contracts with the Commonwealth.
  • Announced a witch-hunt judicial enquiry into the Rudd Government’s home insulation scheme.
  • Cut disaster relief payments in the middle of major bushfires in New South Wales.
  • Denied any possible connexion between bushfires and climate change.
  • Released draft legislation to repeal the MRRT, which also (among other things) repeals
      • – the schoolkids’ bonus
      – the low-income tax superannuation contribution
      – geothermal exploration provisions.

    Then, and worryingly, are

    1. The increased demonisation of asylum seekers arriving by boat by requiring the Immigration Department and detention centre staff to call them “illegal arrivals” and “detainees”,
    2. The militarisation of border protection, which is the excuse for
    3. Attempts to restrict information about the arrival of asylum seekers, and their movement to and from various places of detention.

    What we are witnessing is an attempt – by shutting down sources of information, whether they are bodies like the Climate Commission, or reports in real time of boat arrivals – to keep Australians ignorant of the real state of affairs, and ultimately and as soon as possible to silence dissent. How long will it be before there is federal legislation of the type Queensland Attorney-General, Mr Bleijie, released two weeks ago – legislation that has the potential to control what people wear, what music they listen to, maybe even what books they read and films they see? How long will it be before all Australian courts are effectively instructed to do as they are told by the government that – in Mr Newman’s words – they should come down from their ivory towers and make decisions in line with community expectations?

    Silencing dissent sounds to me very like Mussolini’s third principle of fascism:

    1. “Everything in the state”. The Government is supreme and the country is all-encompasing, and all within it must conform to the ruling body, often a dictator.
    2. “Nothing outside the state”. The country must grow and the implied goal of any fascist nation is to rule the world, and have every human submit to the government.
    3. “Nothing against the state”. Any type of questioning the government is not to be tolerated. If you do not see things our way, you are wrong. If you do not agree with the government, you cannot be allowed to live and taint the minds of the rest of the good citizens.

    Prime Minister Abbott has made it clear time and time again that he will not brook questions, he will not brook debate, he will not brook dissent. He is, as Jeff Sparrow points out, a cultural warrior par excellence. He has no compunction about establishing the slush fund, ”Australians for Honest Politics”, that resulted in the jailing of Pauline Hanson. Is it beyond the bounds of possibility that he might act in a similar way to anyone who dissents, disagrees, or differs? It may seem ridiculous in 21st century Australia even to ask such a question. However …

    … remember,

    Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

    Remember Argentina in 1966, Chile in 1973, Germany in 1933.

    Nacht und Nebel has happened before, and will again unless we heed Martin Niemöller’s words:

    First they came for the communists,
    and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a communist.

    Then they came for the socialists,
    and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a socialist.

    Then they came for the trade unionists,
    and I didn’t speak out because I wasn’t a trade unionist.

    Then they came for me,
    and there was no one left to speak for me.

    883 thoughts on “Nacht und Nebel”

    1. Seems they lap up the minimal offerings of the Idiot as though doing so is saying that “we don’t want smart intelligent answers to problems, we just want an ‘adult’ to say something that sounds like what we would say”. Conservative politics is all about easy, cut and dried answers to life’s situations and there is no need to think too deeply because the real answers are complicated and messy. Too bad if you are on the receiving end of the negative effects, you probably lack the ‘get up and go’ or the ‘silver spoon’ to better your life.

    2. Perhaps it explains in some respects the dreadfully long campaign of vilification against Gillard, Puff. It was never about breaking her, though maybe a few hoped for that in the beginning. She showed again and again that she could not be broken.

      It was more about destroying her persona. As I see humans, most have the traits you mention, just as they have many virtuous, caring ones. Gillard’s example, if allowed to prosper, helps inspire the better qualities in us, just as Gough and Don Dunstan did for many, or even the way John F Kennedy could lift the spirits.

      By denigrating her, it becomes easier then to tolerate the baser motives of others. People such as Morrison and Abbott can get away with blatantly loathesome behviour and many are left to imagine that that is the norm.

    3. From Mari
      http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/alan-moir-20090907-fdxk.html alan Moir’s effort
      http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/david-pope-20120214-1t3j0.html Very true one
      http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/federal-politics/cartoons/cathy-wilcox-20090909-fhd6.html Cathy
      The PM and LOTO seem to be ageing quickly
      http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/cartoons Tandberg

      http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/long-war-ends-with-hope-says-abbott-20131028-2wc4j.html

    6. From Mari –
      David Rowe http://www.afr.com/rf/image_thumbnail/2009-2014/AFR/2013/10/28/Photos/94598762-3fb3-11e3-b018-87292e7b55d8_gallery29oct13–736×535.jpg

      From Socrates
      story about people 50 to 64 struggling on Newstart waiting for the pension illustrates two failures. The first is theirs – in failing to get any enployable skills in the past. The second is in government, in pricing TAFE courses out of their reach now. Stupid policy.
      http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-28/australians-on-newstart-await-better-life-on-age-pension/5051082

      From Victoria – is that C@tmomma?
      Tony Abbott came to Afghanistan on Monday to signal the end of the 12-year mission there and declare Australia’s longest war had failed to secure victory.
      But he declared it a job well done and that it was time for the troops to come home.
      Accompanied by Labor leader Bill Shorten, in what is the only bipartisan visit since Australia first sent troops 12 years ago, the Prime Minister did not believe victory could be claimed but felt a positive difference was made.

      Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/long-war-ends-with-hope-says-tony-abbott-20131028-2wc4j.html#ixzz2j3J5O1p8

    8. The way their ABC was telling the story, you could have been mistaken for assuming Shorten was laying a wreath somewhere else… It’s not until the 15th paragraph that he even gets a mention! Pathetic.

    9. Instead of jumping at OM shadows I think we need to wait and see what labor actually does re carbon pricing before we rip into Bill Shorten and the party.

      Labor has been consistent re its position.

      A move to a carbon trading scheme is labor policy.

      If Abbott wants the “carbon tax ” removed labor has called on the coalition to show Australia what what it will be replaced with and how effective it will be.

      Basically, it comes down to we will support the removal of the “carbon tax ” if you replace it will a effective mechanism. ie carbon pricing not direct action

      Shorten, Butler and others have stated this more than once.

      Saying that, if labor does fold then labor will have no chance of winning me back.

      But lets just see how it plays out of the next two weeks first.

      Cheers.

    10. Can I be picky – well I am about to be

      Someone doesn’t know how to lay a wreath in a formal situation when cameras are rolling

    11. I’m just hoping that Labor will force the LNP to an embarrassing compromise at the least. Amend the legislation to have some sort of hybrid ETS-DAP and that’ll be a sort of okay outcome. We’ll at least know the DAP part of the hybrid will be a joke and the ETS is actually reducing emissions, but the issue will be put to rest and Labor will have changed policy from opposition, which is more than what the other mob could ever do. And Labor could always start an enquiry to the money wasted on planting trees with inadequate water supply when it wins back government.

      If the LNP deniers play hardball and say “no” to everything, then Labor can make them pay. While I’m frustrated about this Newspoll, it can’t stay that way forever. And it’s going to be a long hot summer so the Liberals’ denialism on climate change won’t be that popular.

      But Labor allowing this ridiculous plan to go through unchallenged and unamended will be a very bad long term move for the party. The progressives of this nation want Abbott gone as soon as possible and if Labor won’t bother fighting, then there’s every chance a new centre-left party will rise up and take its spot.

    12. UK Cabinet Office “All Staff” e-mail:

      “The crane that was previously in the Courtyard is now on the roof of Number 70. Don’t be alarmed”

    13. Also, in the leadership debate, Bill Shorten said of Julia Gillard “We will defend her legacy and indeed that is what the last election was about”.

      Let’s hope they do.

    15. Labor’s history over the past four years – one under Rudd and the other three under Gillard – has been one of being wedged by Tony Abbott, or whoever controls him.

      His will to win has been greater than Labor’s will to defend. He beat us, unfair and un-square, but he beat us.

      The Whirling Dervish strikes again. He has used hatred, fear, lies, exaggerations and bully-boy tactics superbly.

      His mistakes are covered up, or (more recently) lauded as brilliant strategies. It’s particularly galling to see members of the media pack sing Abbott’s praises for shutting them out of the national discourse. They are cheering their own irrelevancy, unless they work for Murdoch, when instead they get invited to secret dinners, where they can all have a chuckle about how well the Get Gillard campaign worked.

      Murdoch, who is the single most anti-Labor businessman in the country (with the clout to do something about it), is now to be set in concrete, legitimized as a national statesman, by ABC-24 running his Lowy Lecture live to air.

      In any other country on Earth, the national broadcaster would be ashamed to offer Murdoch this gift, after what he and his employees have done to render politics and media grubby, partisan, hate-filled and egregiously misrepresentational, as well as outright illegal and corrupt, across three continents (and probably more than that). By putting Murdoch on air, live, the ABC is giving a big finger, a gigantic EFF YOU ALL! to the nation. Winners are grinners.

      I worry about Bill Shorten too. In him I see a Jesuit educated, elite school boy at heart, with little stomach, little fire in the belly for a fight with his erstwhile Catholic chums. If he stands for something, he’s keeping it well-hidden. He has “lean and hungry” written all over his face. Lean in that he carries little baggage, and hungry in his ability to switch allegiances at the drop of a hat. He is, I think, a gift to Abbott, who, thuggish and inarticulate as he may be, at least remembers who his enemy is.

      I hope I’m wrong about Shorten, I really do, but sadly I’m not wrong about Abbott and Murdoch and their whole sorry band of vandals who are about to set to, wrecking the country and then rebuilding it in their own image.

    16. Bobwatch

      Incidentally, Bob has had a bad fall this morning. After two years of trying, in his endless, obsessive walks around the top deck, he finally managed to dislodge a paling on the picket fence that runs around the deck, right at the top of 25 stairs, and pushed it aside far enough to squirm his way through the gap.

      He fell down all of the stairs, right to the bottom. I heard a thump, but I’m used to those as he bumps into chairs and such regularly, but this thump sounded different. I rushed out onto the deck to find him at the bottom of the stairs, on the back lawn, looking rather sheepish, to say the least.

      He’s fallen all the way down at least twice before, and suffered no real harm as far as I can tell. They don’t call him The Indian Rubber Dog for nothing. As a precaution, after finding him six months ago just about ready to leap from the deck, five metres straight down (no stairs!), I wired the fence with garden mesh, right along, but ran out just a metre short of full coverage. This is exactly where, today, he first loosened then pushed aside the pickets, then forced his way through to the stairs and fell. He couldn’t have gotten through unless he loosened those pickets. But they had rusty nails holding them in place, Bob’s industrious, if anything, in his obsessions, and the rest is history.

      I’ve temporarily patched the last metre, and meanwhile he’s gone to sleep. He wasn’t limping too badly, and could stand, but seemed bruised and a bit stiff, more than anything else. What I’m worried about is whether he’s hit his (already fragile) head and loosened a few extra screws (there weren’t many left to loosen, I can tell you).

      Taking him to the vets at noon. They’ll give him a thorough looking over. They quite like Bob, seeing as he’s proved himself to be a veterinary miracle several times in the past.

    17. Hmm. Reading around the rest of the internet this morning, I’ve come to the conclusion that that article in The Age is complete bollocks and is not what Labor is planning at all.

      The person who wrote it should be ashamed, although them being journalists in this day and age they have no shame and just can’t wait to put their head in a Lib’s lap and hope they pat it for a job well done in inventing lies about Labor.

      Who wrote it… Oh, quelle surprise, Mark Kenny.

    18. Who wrote it… Oh, quelle surprise, Mark Kenny.

      I must admit, that DOES give me some optimism that it’s all bullshit. But we’ve been let down by the Labor leadership so many times. They think we’re sheep. Would they really care what their supporters think?

    19. Wouldn’t it be funny if Labor was punished for supporting a Carbon Tax, then punished – by the same people – for helping to repeal it?

      Abbott will go the mongrel if they do co-operate. He will not let an opportunity to slag Labor off as fair-weather friends go by.

    21. Yes we will. Of course we will. We most certainly will. No we won’t………………………..

      Last year Malcolm Turnbull said this –

      Mr Turnbull said he noted that Huawei was being used in the rollout of broadband in Britain and many people would be surprised that Australia would take a different approach.

      “Obviously they’ve [Britain] got very similar security concerns that we do,” he said. “Having said that, we have not been privy to the security intelligence advice that the government has had. We will review that decision in the light of all the advice in the event of us coming into government. That’s as far as I can go.”

      http://www.afr.com/p/technology/huawei_nbn_ban_needs_review_says_IVLHM1h3UVh3Vf22kjm0PN

      Last week he reinforced that view.

      New Communications Minister Malcolm Turnbull has described Chinese technology company Huawei as a “very credible business” and confirmed he would review the government ban on its involvement in building the national broadband network (NBN).

      http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/government-it/huawei-a-credible-business-malcolm-turnbull-20131024-hv294.html

      Just the other day Andrew Robb said this –

      Trade Minister Andrew Robb has effusively praised Chinese ­telecommunications company Huawei, and said he “strongly supports” reviewing a government ban on its equipment. Mr Robb said Huawei had a “big future in Australia”.

      http://www.afr.com/p/technology/andrew_robb_backs_review_of_huawei_1fnk3LSzbV3D01gDwegXYI

      So if you were one of Huawei’s big chiefs you’d be justified in thinking that Australia’s new government would lift Labor’s ban on your company getting an NBN contract. There’s just one problem. Turnbull and Robb are not members of cabinet’s National Security Committee so they have NFI about what the government has been told by security advisers.

      Today Brandis announced that Labor’s ban on Huawei would stay. It must have been very hard for him to make that announcement, he must have choked on the words. It’s one thing Labor did that has to stay in place.

      The decision of the previous government not to permit Huawei to tender for the NBN was made on advice from the national security agencies,” he said. “That decision was supported by the then opposition after we received our own briefings from those agencies.

      “Since the election the new government has had further briefings from the national security agencies. No decision has been made by the new government to change the existing policy.”

      http://www.afr.com/p/national/nbn_ban_on_huawei_stays_brandis_kEv63fHTjE0CYZXb29tTDK

    22. Throughout Howard’s long tenure as PM, I was dispirited but never felt anything other than Australian.

      Now I feel like an alien in my own country. I simply can’t comprehend what is happening.

      I see the mad twitter ravings of Murdoch and watch Abbott and his crew follow that lead.

      I see the power and influence of Rinehart and co. growing daily and a commission of audit stacked with right wing business leaders with no balance from the community or labour – as if business has all the right answers for running the country. Especially as our business sector’s leadership has long been a chronic under performer, where the only responses to pressure are to rent seek and blame labour ‘flexibility’ for that underperformance.

      I see Royal Commissions being implemented, not to discover the truth but to prosecute political aims.

      I see the Newman government, that Abbott sees as the best model for his own, enacting draconian legislation stripping away judicial powers and making people guilty by association.

      I have never felt like Australia could slip into Fascism, but I look at the creeping disassociation of the electorate with the governing class and the concentration of media voices under the hand of Murdoch and I do despair that what this country has been is being warped into some twisted right wing fantasy.

    25. Indeed, Leone. He seems a bit ginger, but in better shape than I would have been if I’d fallen down 25 steps.

      Actually he’s just woken up and wants to back out onthe deck. I’ll see how he goes.

    26. Good morning everybody! I have not just debasketed – au contraire, I’ve been busy answering emails from panicking students.

      Bushfire Bill,
      Please give Bob a very gentle cuddle from me.

      Gigilene,
      I meant to comment yesterday about your gorgeous picture of the jacaranda. We have a large jacaranda in our garden – probably over 100 years old – and as it has now done its annual leaf-drop the blossoms can’t be too far away.

      Billie & Leone,
      Thank you both for the links.

      CTar,
      So it’s now the St. Jude’s Day storm …

    27. For the record this is where Bob fell (got through the fence at the white circled area, now meshed), and an example of what I have had to do to stop him getting through.

      Amazing dog. If I fell this far I’d be dead. He’s done it three times that I know of. He used to skip down these stairs like a whippet, now he can’t even negotiate one step.

      ATM he’s out on the back deck inspecting the new mesh. Little bastard.

    28. Bushfire – hope Bob is ok.
      We were phoned re News poll ( never before) but they wanted male 18-34- so I guess that’s where the Abbott support is coming from.
      On another issue Privatising HECS debt- will it apply to old debts or ones just assumed- seriously worried as I attended university later then most- and studied 2003 -2008.OH will be so worried.

    30. BB
      Tell Bob we are waiting on the Vets verdict, hopefully all will be well.

      Here’s Andrew Leigh confirming Labor is sticking with ETS.

    31. The borrowing continues.

      The govt just borrowed another $200 million, 8 year index linked: Total gross borrowing since 9 September 2013 is $17.2 billion— Stephen Koukoulas (@TheKouk) October 29, 2013

    33. Some figures on Hockey’s daily borrowings –
      http://northcoastvoices.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/comparing-labor-and-coalition.html

      And our deluded teasurer lying through his teeth about what other countries are doing about climate change on The Project last night.
      http://jbh.ministers.treasury.gov.au/transcript/016-2013/

      Hockey is a disgrace. I’m so looking forward to seeing him lie his way out of the first interest rate on his watch. There should be buckets of sweat. Interest rates will go up soon, maybe on Melbourne Cup day, maybe not until early next year, and there won’t just be one rise, it will be ongoing. We could be in for a deluge.

    34. gigilene,

      On q&a, last night, J Sloane didn’t think that J Hockey was fiscally responsible.

      She also didn’t seem to be over-impressed with Pyne’s antics, especially the way he continually tries to hijack the conversation, often rambling on with not much of anything but almost shouting at the same time.

    35. If this is how the Liberals treat bushfire victims, imagine what they plan for the rest of us.

      The Abbott government is a government of the rich and powerful. It has shown by its actions that we workers are the enemy.

      If it feels emboldened enough to cut funding to bushfire victims then you ain’t seen nothing yet.

      That is where the Commission of Audit comes in. The Liberal government has set up this Commission under the leadership of Business Council of Australia henchmen and former Howard Minister Amanda Vanstone to slash public services and privatise government agencies and instrumentalities.

      The Commission will hand down 2 reports – one in January and one in March and the Government will implement the recommendations as it sees fit as part of the Budget. There will be no consultation.

      http://enpassant.com.au/2013/10/28/if-this-is-how-the-liberals-treat-bushfire-victims-imagine-what-they-plan-for-the-rest-of-us/

    36. scorpio

      C Pyne seemed so adored by T Jones …. Embarrassing! True, J Sloane wasn’t all that kind to him but we know where she stands.

    37. http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/policy/labor-set-to-stick-with-carbon-pricing-amid-debate-over-repeal-of-carbon-tax/story-e6frg6xf-1226748889136

      Labor set to stick with carbon pricing, amid debate over repeal of carbon tax
      Ben Packham The Australian October 29, 2013 11:49AM

      LABOR’S shadow cabinet is set to resist moves to axe the former government’s system of carbon pricing along with its unpopular carbon tax.

      Sources said shadow cabinet was yet to agree on a position on Tony Abbott’s carbon tax repeal bill, but there was no support for the complete dismantling of carbon pricing.

      Labor went to the election promising to get rid of the carbon tax through a rapid transition to emissions trading.

      Fairfax reported today that Labor is expected to support the axing of the carbon tax to avoid being punished by voters.

      But a shadow cabinet source said it would be almost impossible for Labor to introduce an emissions trading scheme in the future if it allowed the broader carbon pricing system to be dismantled.

      “It would be a very long road back, if it could ever be taken,” the source said.

      Some Labor backbenchers favour supporting the Coalition’s direct action policy, arguing the political cost for the party will be too great if it clings to carbon pricing.

      But the prevailing view in shadow cabinet is the party would risk alienating its base if it rolled over on the carbon tax without digging in on carbon trading.

      (more in the article – you can do the google trick but note it seems to be a bit harder these days)

    39. Thought so:

      So “Labor’s” deficit blows out to about $40 billion this year, but Hockey’s heroic efforts to reduce the debt in the years ahead will be enhanced by a rich stream of dividends from the RBA. The last time the Aussie had a sharp fall, the RBA paid the government a dividend of more than $5 billion. Trader Joe is playing the forex market with borrowed money.

      Thank you for the link, Gorgeous Dunny.

    40. fiona

      So it’s now the St. Jude’s Day storm …

      Daughter has acquired a small branch off a tree that landed on the balcony – HTF does one of those get up to level 32!

      Yep – The blue crane. It looks nice. I sent Jeremy an e-mail suggesting he keep it.

    41. Politics is about one thing in the end: winning. Abbott knew this well. Say anything, do anything. Whatever it takes. Words come and go, but were fit for the time. The ALP went with Shorten. In my view, a mistake which is now on full display. They look like the village cricket team in the drinks break – relaxed, content, not puffed and not taking the game too seriously. After all it’s only a game! Well, it’s actually a bit more as we all know. Events will come and go, but the ALP don’t seem to have the bottle for the fight. It’s as though the series is conceded to a superior opponent, but we have to go through the motions until the voters forget about the internal warfare of the past few years.

    42. http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/10/29/essential-voters-like-abbott-not-on-entitlements-and-do-you-fileshare/

      Essential: voters like Abbott (not on entitlements) and do you fileshare?
      Bernard Keane | Oct 29, 2013 12:45PM

      Tony Abbott continues to improve in voters’ estimation, and partisanship dominates our views on climate change policy.

      The Prime Minister’s approval rating continues to climb, but voters are deeply unimpressed with his handling of the entitlements scandal, new polling from Essential Research finds.

      Tony Abbott’s rating on “leader attributes” has improved in areas such as “capable leader”, “understands the problems facing Australia” and “good in a crisis” since he became Prime Minister, with his scores on those attributes jumping 5 and 6 points since just before the election. The only noticeable fall was in “hard-working”, where he fell 4 points – not quite a significant change but perhaps related to Abbott’s slow start and low visibility since the election.

      Opposition Leader Bill Shorten has made a steady debut on leader attributes — he outperforms the Prime Minister on several attributes, including narrow-minded (Abbott 54%, Shorten 31%), arrogant (54% to 35%), intolerant (49% to 30%) and intelligent (69% to 62%), but Shorten’s negative characteristics are muted by the high level of “don’t knows” — voters are still to make up their minds about him.

      ……………….

      On voting intention, the two-party preferred outcome remains on 53-47% to the Coalition. Both the government (45%) and the Opposition (35) picked up a point on their primary vote; the Greens and others remain on 10% and 11% respectively.

    46. On the other hand, Al, we shouldn’t underestimate Shorten’s capacity, both for getting good advice and coordinating a strategy. This Inside Story account of the NDIS shows him in a pretty good light both in terms of looking at the problem and the costs of not acting, and in mapping out a strategy to win public support.
      http://inside.org.au/national-disability-insurance-scheme/

      He has never hidden his ambitions, but it’s pretty clear that his priority remained in getting the best outcome. That is not to take anything away from Macklin, who was the driving force within Cabinet, nor Gillard, who once won over ensured that it happened.

      He has been very quiet, almost silent, to this point as Leader of the Opposition. I don’t know that that’s a bad thing at this point, so soon post-election. The Coalition have indeed been worthy of some smackdowns, but being so new in government, the public instinct is to hold back. The scandals on TA have been helpful, and the media has mainly taken up the running because it gets the public going.

      Even allowing from any selective News Ltd influence, Newspoll of 56-44 suggests that the public is at least suspending judgement. No need to hammer them on every issue – let Abbott’s foreign gaffs speak for themselves. They should come in on petty meanness, such as occurred with Bushfire emergency relief. But otherwise, just get the strategy together. I agree with Plibersek that if handled well this could be a one-term government.

    47. Bobwatch

      Bob’s OK.

      Turns out it was my wallet that feels like it’s fallen down 25 steps.

      Sheesh… they know how to charge, and I must ashamedly admit I fell for the old “Do you need any Advantix? It’s going to be a terrible tick season, you know…” trick.

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