Seems some of thou people wanteth a shakesphere night
Is our australian speech not good enough f’r thou?
The sooth hath rear’d it’s ugly headeth. Some of youse art all closet monarchists pining f’r the speech of mother England.
Abbott supp’rt’rs thou be. hoping that he will conf’r a knighthood ‘r damehood upon thy heads.
BB and nyself art gravely dissapoint’d in youse but if this is thy wisheth f’r the night so be it.
Thy raffles will be runeth as ingraft if ck can und’rstandeth thy wishes.
I will siteth in the c’rn’r and drinketh a few ales and bemoan what mineth po’r establishment hath becometh.
Geteth stuck in and begineth thy tales of good and bad,evil and delighteth.
I hopeth thou enjoyeth this fine evening and best of lucketh.
THE PUB 
2 x Lib, 1 x ALP, 1 x Greens, 1 x PUP.
Lib and ALP to fight for the sixth.
True, the Labor vote seems to be inching upwards, but it seems pretty clear that the Greens and Palmer have ripped a big chunk out of it.
Damn Bullock and damn the media for its saturation coverage of the ‘gaffe’. Now all we’re going to get is LNP gloating about Labor’s record low vote and internal Labor bitching about Shorten’s leadership and all the electoral poison that comes with that.
Ghads! I hope Louise Pratt gets up.
with the leadership, they can’t do anything about it because of the new rules that were rammed in last year.
Given that a lot of the anti-Shorten brigade are Ruddites, I think it’s a bit of poetic justice that they’re strung up by their hero’s changes.
So far the Liberals are 9,465 votes ahead in the count for the 6th spot, according to the ABC calculator. Labor will need some serious catching up.
Now it’s 7,018. Okay, that’s promising.
And now it’s 3,490. Apparently the HEMP party shifted around the exclusion counts somewhere, so its preferences changed things a lot for the final count.
I’m going from the results at the bottom of this page here for the 6th spot:
http://www.abc.net.au/news/wa-senate-2014/detail/
And now Labor has taken the lead and is 826 votes ahead. But it’s moving around so rapidly I don’t think it’ll be clear who gets the 6th spot tonight.
Good morning Dawn Patrollers
The Greens have a top candidate at the top and look what happens. The ALP however . . . .
Morriscum continues to look after the underdogs.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/no-way-to-block-student-sex-visa-scam-scott-morrison-declares-20140405-365r3.html
Another example of small business ethics. And I wonder which party the owners vote for.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/australasian-college-under-investigation-over-subsidy-claims-20140405-365pu.html
And the stratification continues.
http://www.smh.com.au/national/education/selective-schools-the-most-socially-exclusive-in-nsw-20140405-365r8.html
An interesting judgement with the wellbeing of the children being central. I wonder if this could be a precedent with respect to kids being religiously brainwashed by their parents.
http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/father-wins-the-right-to-vaccinate-his-children-20140405-365qf.html
Wendy Squires is well worth reading this morning.
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/looks-like-weve-done-it-again-ladies-20140404-zqqqc.html
ICAC is netting them left, right and centre!
http://www.smh.com.au/comment/icac-no-safe-haven-in-storm-on-john-robertsons-horizon-20140404-zqqcz.html
This is scandalous – but would be music to Pyne’s ears.
http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/state-schools-funding-in-retreat-20140405-3661v.html
Michael Gordon on Abbott’s unwise expenditure of political capital.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/the-conflicting-confusing-narratives-of-tony-abbott-pm-20140404-zqqu3.html
David Marr on “the race vote”.
http://www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/opinion/topic/2014/04/05/david-marr-race-votes-and-free-speech/1396616400#.U0BkyPmSyQk
And from the Land of the Free –
You’ve gotta laugh!
http://thepoliticalcarnival.net/2014/04/05/paging-cheney-pro-gun-gop-lawmaker-accidentally-shoots-hunter-in-head/
Sex education in Mississippi.
http://crooksandliars.com/2014/04/mississippis-sex-education-schools
Bill Maher contrasts MH370 coverage with that on the loss of the middle class.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/maher-slams-rich-deluded-nitwits-obscenely-rich-at-the-expense-of-middle-class/
And Maher on the recent SCOTUS ruling on campaign financing.
http://www.mediaite.com/tv/maher-alex-wagner-battle-conservatives-on-campaign-finance-idiots-are-breaking-the-system/
BK, but he was a ‘safety guy’!
I agree with Kirsdarke’s sentiment
and I too hope that Louise Pratt gets up.
However the Labor Party have bought this on their own heads as
Traditional blue collar workers are employed as sub contractors, earning above award wages, thus they don’t join unions and they vote for Clive Palmer.
Unionists are typically public servants, teachers, nurses, shop assistants, they are predominantly female, university educated and they are likely to vote Green. Health workers and shop assistants have been let down by their union leadership, a leadership that steals from them or lobbies for policies that hurt their interests.
I am disappointed in the Senate result but it was a hope against hope to expect an electorate with a massive chip on their shoulder about carrying the easterners to vote for anyone they are asked to
The Labor Party must treat the Greens as partners not their enemies if they want to govern Australia again. This means that Senate tickets must give preferences to each other. In the Victorian Senate election most Greens voted below the line, 80% of below line ballot papers are deemed informal as ballot boxes are opened and we now know they are never looked at again
That piece on slective high schools is very misleading. There’s a lot more involved in getting into these schools than parental wealth, social status and ambition.
Parents might want their kids to attend selective high schools, but that does not mean those kids will get there. There is a process for that selection. The problem these days is wealthy parents can afford the intensive private coaching that will give their kids an advantage at primary school and more importantly get their kids through the selection exam. Last year, in NSW, there were 4,164 places at selective high schools on offer and 13,572 applicants. That means a lot of disappointed parents, many of whom will have spent a fortune on tutors.
Here’s how it works in NSW – parental ambition and social advantage does not guarantee a place. It’s all about school reports and marks in placement exams.
Click to access selectivehs.pdf
Back in the dark ages I was packed off to a NSW selective high school. Back then you did not do special exams. Selection was based on your school record, a report from the principal and a personal interview with a panel.We also did some sort of non-school based IQ-type tests every year or so, I suppose those results went into the process too. I still remember my interview. with three strangers and my principal. Your parents’ education, wealth or lack of it and social class had nothng to do with it. Mr Parameshwaran might have ‘always intended to send them to one of the top-performing selective schools for high school’ but that does not mean he would have been able to do that if his son and daughter did not get the required marks in their placement exams.
no surprise with Ludlum getting the gong!…what can one say about the right-wing of Labor that has not been said about the right-wing of the LNP.?
I’ll tell you honestly..I wouldn’t have voted for Bullock..I would for Pratt, but never for Bullock…even I would’ve gone Greens instead of Labor in that case….He’s an anachronism…a dinosaur.
The right-wing Labor has cost the party much too much to remain involved in policy decisions…it must be purged and purged with “extreme prejudice”…it has cost the women’s vote, the refugee sympathy vote and has lost the confidence of Labor voters in general…a lot of us are now voting from past alliance and belief in the better ideals…but I tell you what ..; they gotta get rid of the right-wing.
Lonetwo, it is all about the competition to get the best students into your school. Socio-economic background is responsible for student achievement in the main, with a good teacher or two thrown in for good measure. The NSW Secondary Principals Council recognised this years ago and sporadically others realise it when pressed; but those with an axe to grind will apportion the reason disproportionately to teaching, social values etc.
I personally don’t favour selective high schools as I teach in a mid-sized rural comprehensive high school and see selectives as just another drain on the student diversity that makes comprehensive public schools great.
Undoubtably the greatest strength of public education is its inclusivity and student centred focus, contrasted with the competition amongst private schools to lure parents and their socioeconomically advantaged offspring by being parent focused instead.
Am I correct in reading the ABC. WA. senate votes site that the Liberals have got the last seat?
ABC thinks very likely that the Liberals have 3 seats in the Senate.
The ALP no longer represents the interests or political views of Australia’s unionists. The Greens is more likely to address the interests of Australian unionists.
Blue collar workers work as sub contractors, they don’t join unions and they vote for Palmer
Victorian selective high schools take 1 in 7 applicants and if your child hasn’t done coaching – don’t bother applying. Many parents won’t let their daughters attend MacRobb as it’s all girls of Indian and Chinese descent – often born overseas
It seems a lot of Labor voters in WA preferred Ludlam to Bullock, and who could blame them for that. I don’t think too much of Labor’s vote went to PUP – Palmer just stole the Liberal vote.
And why all the hoo-haa about Louise Pratt voting below the line?
Why wouldn’t she? I’d be wanting to give myself the #1 vote if i was a candidate. I’m sure Ms Pratt wanted to put herself ahead of Bullock and the only way to do that was vote below the line.
The moral from this election – always vote below the line. So much better than just following the party line and voting #1 for a dinosaur like Bullock then maybe electing someone like Steve Fielding with your party-allocated preferences. You only get one vote, why allow some party official to tell you how to use it?
I think people need to take a deep breath re the Senate election result in WA.
Both major parties lost a big slice of their vote so to put all the focus on labor is a bit over the top.
What caused the move away from the majors ?
Who knows. Perhaps voters lodged a protest vote in the belief that it was safe to do so as government was not on the line.
This election was unique so all sorts of reasons could be at play. I have no idea but I think no one else does at this point.
Bullock ? Perhaps,but if postals and pre post fall the same way as the current split then other reasons could be at play with Bullock hitting the headlines only a few days before the vote.
Perhaps people just had a gutful of it all and went for the high profile option.
The entrails will be examined over the coming days, ‘informed ” opinion will be delivered and just like the location of and assorted theories re the missing plane most will be bullshit.
To call for the removal of the right wing from the party is absurd based on this one result.
It must be remembered that the deal stiched up to get Bullock at number one was supported by the left leaning United Voice union in WA.
Have a good day all.
Cheers
“To call for the removal of the right wing from the party is absurd based on this one result.”
ONE RESULT!!….doyley’…can I draw your attention back to the last election?
Oh!…s.s.s..sorry, doyleym…I meant ; federal election, NOT the Tassie one and NOT the SA. one which was won by a left-wing bloke..OUSTING the interfering right-wing faction who sought to disrupt the lead-up to the election!
“…by the left leaning United Voice union in WA.”
That wasn’t “left-leaning”…they were just resting on their left leg!
The ALP should have learnt from their SA senate selection debacle where Penny Wong was initially placed behind a bloke. Thank goodness that ridiculous decision was reversed. What a shame they didn’t make Louise Pratt No 1 in WA instead of some old bloke who had done a deal. Too many of us are lazy voters who like the easy option and just vote 1 above the line and leave it at that.
Is it arrogance on the part of Labor, assuming their first and second candidates will both get elected? Is it stupidity? Is it sexism, with female candidates being booted back to make way for a male? is it factional? Whatever it is there is a desperate need for change.
In the 2013 election Melbourne Ports printed 3 lots of election material
– first for Gillard as PM
– second for Rudd as PM
– third for Danby as he noticed his supporters handing out Greens How to Vote cards
So I don’t think that Labor lost voters to the Greens.
Scott Ludlam stamped his authority on his Senate place when his speech went viral and was seen by all the educated Western Australians who know that their eco system is being trashed by global warming, they can taste the salt in their drinking water, they see the salt pans as they fly across the land. My friends in WA vote Green, they come from Liberal/National families.
The workers of Australia do need strong representation in the Parliament, if the ALP want to be that party, they have to represent today’s union members not the union membership of the dim and distant legendary past. Gillard was great.
leone2
I agree and it makes my blood boil. Why should women have to make way for men using their Old Boys Networks to get ahead?
I am so angry I could kick a pillow.
Leone, voting below the line is very risky.
I have scrutineered elections in Queanbeyan and Melbourne Ports and 80% of below the line ballot papers are informal. Most Greens voted below the line, so if the Greens had had a better ticket the Green vote in Victoria would have been much higher.
I would expect in less educated electorates more below the line votes would be informal – although they may be better at filling in forms as they deal with government agencies without help
As for “take a breath”…f#ck that!…I don’t mind “taking a breath” it’s just that the behaviour of the Labor right “take my breath away!”….and these are “educated people”….well…screw my dog with a can of “pal” and call him “Ream Tin Tin”!….If I have seen more incompetent politicians than the right-faction of Labor, it must have been on the LNP. front bench!…as to why those very right-wing Labor do not just join the LNP. I would suppose it is because they can vote in a better retirement package for themselves within the Labor movement!
I personally have had a gut-full of the excuses that pass for “political context” and “protest vote” and “unique situations”…the long and short of it is that they are completely out of touch with the social ideals that motivate not only those ‘welded-ons” within the perimeter of the Party, but those voters looking to the future that will effect their children….the LNP. doesn’t offer it….does Labor?….I would bloody well hope so!!…so it is about time they stopped trying to “sell” the candidates and started to “Hard-sell” the future.
jaycee,
If I read you right you blame the last federal election loss on the right wing of the party ?
How do you arrive at that ?
BTW, name me one left wing labor PM since WW2.
The labor party is not a left wing party It is a progressive centre right party. Always has been, always will be if it wants to get in and hold government,
Cheers.
[BTW, name me one left wing labor PM since WW2.]
Julia Gillard from the Left of Victorian party
jaycee,
The ABC site is doing the counts as if there are no more votes to be counted.
“Percentage vote counted: 68.72%”
Abbott in presser in Japan was just asked if aged pensioners would lose the higher rate of pension indexation and he waffled. He could have said no, but he did not.
I take it that this measure is in the Commission of Audit report and Abbott won’t rule it out.
He was wearing his “I am lying through my teeth” smirk as he spoke about it.
doyleym…; “BTW, name me one left wing labor PM since WW2.”
Joe f#ckin’ Stalin!….that absolute f#ck-around with the jerk Fitzgibbon , Bowen, Marles et all, lost us the last election….if that prick Fitzy’ , by any faint stretch of the imagination was to turn up on my doorstep, for the most unlikely of reasons, I wouldn’t say hello, I’d smack him about the ears with a dead fox!……that’s what I think of the Labor right-wing!
billie,
JG may have had her formative years in the left but by the time she progressed through caucus to become PM she was not left wing.
Her views and policy direction were centre right not left wing just as Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke, Keating Rudd were.
All with a strong progressive economic and social policy focus but centre right one and all.
jaycee,
Whatever rocks your socks.
Albanese and others from the left were strong Rudd supporters and up to their arm pits in his battle to return as PM.
Don’t blame the right wing for the actions of individuals from both sides of the equation.
The ALP is not a left wing party.
Never has been,
Cheers.
A pretty good rundown of Roger Ailes and the phenomenon of FOX News
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2014/apr/03/roger-ailes-king-of-foxes/
“The labor party is not a left wing party It is a progressive centre right party. Always has been, always will be if it wants to get in and hold government,”
UTTER BULLSHIT!!!!…It may contain a lot of (fuckwit) “progressive right” members, but it skates in on “progressive left” policy programs…and perhaps what we are seeing with Labor losing out is that the electorate are waking up to the “double dealing” of the right-wing machinations within the party…eg; the Gillard double-cross..: exit the women’s vote…the refugee/Manus island double-cross..: exit the sympathy vote…you don’t need much more to lose the election.
One good thing to come out of the WA election – voters have ignored Abbott’s pleading.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/breaking-news/abbotts-plea-to-wa-voters/story-fni0xqi3-1226875372351
These right-wing dinosaurs prosecuting an out of date religion based agenda need to be out out to pasture. They represent an ugly part of the ALP’s past, where women were oppressed and suffered from religious-based agendas.
It is totally inappropriate for the 21st Century and a total turn-off. Penny Wong being put second on the SA ticket was a strong example, luckily it was changed. In WA it was not, I would love to see the gender breakdown of the
WA vote, but of course that is not possible.
jaycee,
Current Australia wide polling has labor in a very good position at a federal level.
The result on WA was not good for labor but it was not good for the coalition as well.
Labor could still get a second seat and the libs retain only two which would be their worst result in WA in over 25 years.
To engage in a witch hunt against the right wing of the party based on the WA Senate poll is a bridge too far in my opinion.
Perhaps voters in WA just did not give a ratz and saw the election as a waste of time.
Who knows.
Cheers.
More on Abbott’s ‘dob in a public servant colleague’ thing.
Colleagues told: Dob in political web posts
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/colleagues-told-dob-in-political-web-posts/story-fnii5s3y-1226875635588
doyleym…; “Her views and policy direction were centre right not left wing just as Curtin, Chifley, Whitlam, Hawke, Keating Rudd were.”
I see you need a bit of instruction in rowing a boat..; “When in command of rowing a boat, consideration must be given to the strength and direction of the current. Attention to the desired objective or destination can best be obtained by the application of either left or right oar in a vigorous or delicate manner to adjust the prow toward the target. whit due consideration of these instructions a steady course, if not always a direct course, will allow one to obtain the objective.”
I suggest you try it sometime doyley’….”…there’s nothing quite like messing around in boats”
“To engage in a witch hunt against the right wing of the party based on the WA Senate poll is a bridge too far in my opinion.”
Didn’t I just write that it was NOT ONLY based on the WA. senate results?
BTW, I do not think Bullock was the right person for the times in this particular election where I would think for the first time ever focus was on who the individual Senate candidates were.
However, he was voted in as a labor senator at the 2013 general election,
Should he have been dropped after being elected ?
The WA senate election re run was unique and to read anything into it re federal implications for labor is wrong.
doyleym
Should Bullock have been dropped? In a heart-beat.
jaycee,
The labor party is not a left wing party and when in government ( post war at least that is as far as my memory goes )has never had a left wing PM.
I think that is pretty clear.
If you think the left wing of the party is pure as the driven snow, so be it but no caucus member with a left wing agenda will ever lead the party because if they did labor would not be elected.
Anyway, have a great day.
Time to head off,
Cheers.
I have always been mordantly amused by the claim that the Democratic Republic of East Germany was a “leftist” government.
This latest idea that public servants should ‘dob in’ (how very un-Australian) their colleagues for holding a personal opinion, just confirms to me that the concept of “stasi” is alive and well where ever there is a government that is somehow unsure of its legitimacy.
Not only that, but sports and sporting prowess is something to be lauded and trained for. And possibly cheated for too?
Just goes to show that there isn’t much difference between some “leftist” and “rightist” power grabs!