Australia General Discussion 4.0: It ain’t easy under Albanese

[Cassius]

Given that none of the ministers who were sharing posts with him at the time actually appear to have been aware that they were doing so, it’s difficult to believe that this decision had any significant impact… at all.

[Cassius]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/dec/16/i-went-cross-eyed-australias-former-deputy-pm-taken-to-hospital-after-drinking-entire-bowl-of-kava

The Lucky Country

[Cassius]

Just what exactly is an ‘indigenous voice to parliament’? Everything I’ve read about it seems to be incredibly sketchy on details.

[Cassius]

You’re not a modern Labor PM if you don’t end up falling out with your own faction (Rudd, Gillard, arguably Hawke towards the end, Whitlam). Even Keating did a great crossing of the desert from the very right wing of the NSW right to being… very much not as PM.

[Cassius]

author=AustralianSwingVoter link=topic=446578.msg9025378#msg9025378 date=1680340577 uid=16107]
For the first time in 100 years the government will gain a by-election seat from the opposition. On a very solid 6% swing in a suburban representative seat. We‘ll see tomorrow, but this may be the beginning of the end for Dutton’s leadership.

Who could conceivably replace Dutton as leader (and do a better job)? I know he’s unpopular but I can’t think of a list of candidates that isn’t just listing of random senior shadow frontbenchers (Taylor, Tehan, Fletcher, Wood, Ley et al).

[Cassius]

There hasn't been a contested spill federally in either major party since 2018. Which is quite amazing if you look at the period from 2007 to 2018.

It helps that both parties have changed their rules in order to heighten the threshold for the calling of a spill (I think in the case of the Libs you’d need two-thirds of the party to sign onto a spill motion if the target was a sitting PM who’d won an election), unlike the good old days when, as far as I’m aware, all that was needed was for one disgruntled MP to strut into the party room, slap down a spill motion and you were on like Tony Abbott’s thong.

[Cassius]

This isn't the sort of thing I relish pointing out, but it strikes me as instructive in this context that Peter Dutton is, simply put, a creepy-looking son of a bitch, and that for better or for worse people physically similar to him tend to struggle with electorates other than that of Florida.

He and the party are comically aware of this btw. What a nice husband and wife photoshoot.

Just don't call him Voldemort.

Better Voldemort than Mr Potato Head.