http://www.democraticunderground.com/1086173Oh my.
One had to dig and dig and dig.....and dig.....to find the primitive reaction to the elections of Saturday, March 24, in northeastern Australia (Queensland), which was, uh, more than a rout, more than a Custer's Last Stand, for the left-wing government.
Queensland is our esteemed member LC EFA's stomping grounds.
I think they went from 52 seats (out of 89) in the legislature to.....7.
The winning conservative party got 78 out of those 89 seats.
Some of those seats had been held by socialists for more than a hundred consecutive years.
Anyway, so after much digging, I found this buried in the Australia forum of Skins's island, way down under.
Matilda (5,270 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
The fall and fall of Queensland Labor
On reflection Labor's impending resounding election defeat is not easy to explain. While there have been many policy debacles and scandals under Labor including some very recent ones, the Queensland government has not resembled the shame of its New South Wales counterpart prior to its defeat last year.
The real turning point for the Bligh Government seems to have been after the 2009 election when it announced major privatisation that had not been mentioned during the election campaign. And Labor's long term in office seems to have been the other tipping point.
(snip)
It means the amalgamated LNP experiment has worked. There will be pressure for amalgamation of the National and Liberal parties across Australia. A long held dream of a single non-Labor party might at last be fulfilled.
If Newman wins Ashgrove, then the idea of having a leader recruited from outside the parliamentary wing could be used elsewhere. Incumbent opposition leaders should watch out!
http://www.eurekastreet.com.au/article.aspx?aeid=30630
I'm hoping against hope that Kate Jones can hold Ashgrove. Nothing can stop the LNP winning, but at least if Campbell Newman doesn't get in, something will have been achieved. He's like an even uglier Tony Abbott, with his mad eyes and ugly mouth. (How's that for a subjective opinion?)
Too bad for the primitives.
Perhaps a harbinger of things to come elsewhere later this year?
Dawson Leery (5,334 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
1. Which states does Labor still control?
Matilda (5,270 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
2. South Australia and Tasmania.
Tasmania in coalition with the Greens.
Sad.
Dawson Leery (5,334 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
3. Sad
Matilda (5,270 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
4. The more I see of Campbell Newman, the more I feel he's unbalanced.
The prospect of him heading a government anywhere is extremely frightening.
I dunno; Campbell Newman looks like a wholesome American cowboy to me.
One wonders what the primitives have against cowboys.
pink (31 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
5. By now you should know the result.
Admittedly the "Its time" factor was a major contribution, but it also seems that the Labor Government was the blame for the floods, droughts, cyclones and GFC. When they privatized public assets to pay off debt, they lost a lot of support. The part that I dont understand is that if the LNP was in power, they wouldn't have hesitated to sell off assets.
The Labor Party did not deserve that kind of a landslide. Admittedly, there were scandals over the years, but that always comes with longevity in government. It was said on The Insiders this morning that Queenslanders dont like female leaders and I would tend to believe that. I lived there when Joh Bejelke Petersen was Premier and believe me, they're a different race north of Tweed Heads.
Bruce Hawker has proved to be a bit of a dud as a campaign director. With 2 absolute thrashings in a row, I think he should start thinking about hanging up his boots. After how he carried on with Krudd, I'll always think of him as a spiv.
Can-Do is going to have a few problems with the boofheads that he had run in Labor blue ribbon seats and then accidentally fell over the line. The more MPs you have on your team, the more chances there are for scandals. I believe that Can-Do is a control freak like Krudd so it will be interesting to see how this new government evolves.
Matilda (5,270 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
6. Queensland is a different country.
(No disrespect to people like Esra Star.)
The most Labor will get is seven seats - why bother showing up? Greens got no seats, and there was a drop in support for them. I would guess that has a lot to do with Queenslanders buying the spin about the carbon tax and the mining tax. Even Katter's party managed only two seats.
I have grave doubts about whether Campbell Newman can effectively run Queensland - by his own admission, he's clueless about how the parliament operates. But perhaps Queensland deserves what it gets; my concern is for the Great Barrier Reef, one of the world's most beautiful natural wonders. Newman has already announced he will open it up to dredging, with no environmental impact studies and no restrictions. He will destroy it, and he really doesn't care.
I think he's mad, and Queensland will come to regret what they've done, but by the time they wake up, it will be too late.
And yes, I agree - Bruce Hawker is a dickhead. Reducing the campaign to personal slurs was a mistake that rebounded on Labor, and it was as inept as his advice to Kevin Rudd a few weeks ago.
And rather than face the music, Anna Bligh is resigning from parliament, which will mean a byelection, and another seat Labor will probably lose. Nothing like putting self before party.
pink (31 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
7. If I was Anna Bligh
I would do the same thing. She has worked very hard for Queensland and if she had stayed on, it would have taken the focus of the new Opposition Leader. It gives the party a minute chance to renew itself. She's tired and they need someone like Andrew Fraser or someone else with the potential to drag the party out of the doldrums.
Its a gamble to have a bi-election almost immediately, but I think the seat will be won for Labor with a better margin. When the people of Qld see what they have done (re the election result) I think more thought will be put into their next vote. But there again we're talking about Queenslanders, aren't we.
If Labor only has 7 seats now, whats one seat less.
Politics will be very interesting now. We thought Labor was the big loser, but its not. Its the people of Queensland.
Tanelorn (228 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
9. Newman is arrogant he will become very unpopular very quickly
I dunno.
Campbell Newman looks like a pretty friendly chap to me.
Tanelorn (228 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
8. WOW I just found this group. I feel out of my depth commenting on US politics
At last I found a friendly place to post.
Wow. What a wipeout. This is classic get rid of the incumbent mood.
Careful what you wish for Campbell. Imagine the task of corralling over 30 newbies with little or no parliamentary experience. Including many existing members who were miffed that they had to endure several bruising election cycles now being told what to do by the unpreselected , unelected mayor of Brisbane. Newman is the first urban liberal to be voted in as Premier. The swing in the bush was much smaller and of course Katters Krazies polled very well. What happened was we voted for the mayor of Brisbane. (People forgot that the local elections are next month).
This could actually be quite good for Federal Alp. This may have been a venting of steam that needed to happen. Anthony Green says that Gillard could benefit from a disastrous first year. Their will be a swing back in three years but where are the ALP's future leaders.
The mad monk was trying to say that this would be a referendum on the carbon tax. Talk about coattails.
How many of the newbies will blot their copybook in someway within the first six months?
When will they vote themselves a pay increase?
pink (31 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
10. Welcome Tanelorn to our little corner of DU
I am also trying to find some positives from the weekend's results.
Unless Tony Abbott is pulled into line, we will find it hard to get oxygen. Some things that need to be done
1/ When Tony Abbott suspends standing orders at Question Time, the telecast should stop. Afterall, its Question Time that we intended watching, not Abbott and one of his underlings spewing out lies and insults about Julia Gillard and the Government.
2/ We need to run an advertisement explaining why we have broken a promise on tax funded advertisements. The reason being, is so we can get across to the voters all the good things we've done and explain it in simple terms. (not refer them to an internet site).
3/ Also, explain to the voters that if Liberal Coalitions are in power across the country, it will give an Abbott Government an excuse to raise the GST to pay for its "richie rich" promises.
So much to be done and so little time !!!!
Matilda (5,270 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
12. As one of TAbbott's constituents, I am furious at the frivolous waste of time on ridiculous SSOs.
Abbott mocks the parliamentary process; SSOs should be for serious matters that call into question government handling of certain policy areas, or of misconduct by an MP. The Coalition have turned QT into a joke session, and thereby take up time that could be devoted to serious discussion.
As Albo rightly said: "This is the longest dummy spit in history".
Matilda (5,270 posts) Profile Journal Send DU Mail Ignore
11. Welcome, Tanelorn!
I also often find it difficult to post in the LBN and GD forums, partly because they move very fast, and being at the other end of the world, you miss out on such a lot that happens during the night here, and I can't offer much comment on US politics.
But we're quite active in our little corner, and I also post regularly in some of the special interest forums and groups, where it can be interesting to share another perspective.
Hope to see you regularly!
The primitive campfire might be a little alien to most here unless one has a college degree in the History of the British Empire and Commonwealth
, but I suspect most will get the gist.
The left is losing. Badly.
Too bad for the primitives.
