And the circus goes on...
It seems I'm getting a reputation. My boss called me at work today specifically to ask what I thought of the party room decision, and also to say "Ha, you were right!" because I told her on Saturday that I'd back Abbott for a win.
Actually it confused all my coworkers when I went "Yes!" at hearing that Abbott was leader. My excitement was purely of the "I called it!" variety, though. I expected this to happen for reasons that would take a long time to think through logically enough to type into a reasoned arguments. My reaction is more straightforward as it can be done in points:
- The Liberal Party just handed the 2010 federal election to the ALP.
- This is not a final decision, something that will be here to stay, or something indicative of a general trend within the party. It's one more step in the long process of the post-Howard Liberal party's journey of self-discovery, and I firmly believe that the end of that journey will find them far closer to the left than Tony Abbott ever will be.
- Joe Hockey will be leader one day, and he will be a far better leader than Tony Abbott. I don't believe Tony Abbott will ever be Prime Minister.
- The only thing about all this that concerns me is that I would like to see the ETS passed, even if it is a weak piece of environmental legislation and I would much rather see something more straightforward like a flat tax on carbon.
- I am holding out the hope that this will lead us to a double dissolution, but I doubt it will happen because I think Labor are afraid of losing ground to the Greens, who would win more Senate seats in a DD election than in the half-Senate election we'd have in a regular election.
Hmm. Yep. I think that's everything.
I got my weekly letter from Kelly O'Dwyer today. (FIVE DAYS UNTIL THE BY-ELECTION OMG.) (No, that's not what she said, that's me.) It appears that this week, Kelly has decided to Get Serious. I can tell that she is being Serious because this week's letter is on textured, buff-coloured paper and contains a full A4 page of writing instead of basically being a big glossy photo of her face.
Some excerpts (emphases hers):
"Frankly, there has been a great deal of confusion in Federal politics lately... I believe you have the right to know where I stand." (I liked the bold. PS, Kelly, we all know where your main competitor stands on climate change, and you've repeatedly refused to talk about it.)
This is followed by the list of her favourite campaign promises (crime, health, development, education) only one of which falls under the jurisdiction of Federal Parliament. Then she says she believes in man-made climate change, but "We must remain economically competitive while dealing with these challenges at both national and international levels."
"Some people think that the Higgins community can be taken for granted. I don't. I live here and I care about our future."
"PS Please look out in your mailbox for a booklet titled 'What Kelly O'Dwyer Stands For'."
I can't wait.
Actually it confused all my coworkers when I went "Yes!" at hearing that Abbott was leader. My excitement was purely of the "I called it!" variety, though. I expected this to happen for reasons that would take a long time to think through logically enough to type into a reasoned arguments. My reaction is more straightforward as it can be done in points:
- The Liberal Party just handed the 2010 federal election to the ALP.
- This is not a final decision, something that will be here to stay, or something indicative of a general trend within the party. It's one more step in the long process of the post-Howard Liberal party's journey of self-discovery, and I firmly believe that the end of that journey will find them far closer to the left than Tony Abbott ever will be.
- Joe Hockey will be leader one day, and he will be a far better leader than Tony Abbott. I don't believe Tony Abbott will ever be Prime Minister.
- The only thing about all this that concerns me is that I would like to see the ETS passed, even if it is a weak piece of environmental legislation and I would much rather see something more straightforward like a flat tax on carbon.
- I am holding out the hope that this will lead us to a double dissolution, but I doubt it will happen because I think Labor are afraid of losing ground to the Greens, who would win more Senate seats in a DD election than in the half-Senate election we'd have in a regular election.
Hmm. Yep. I think that's everything.
I got my weekly letter from Kelly O'Dwyer today. (FIVE DAYS UNTIL THE BY-ELECTION OMG.) (No, that's not what she said, that's me.) It appears that this week, Kelly has decided to Get Serious. I can tell that she is being Serious because this week's letter is on textured, buff-coloured paper and contains a full A4 page of writing instead of basically being a big glossy photo of her face.
Some excerpts (emphases hers):
"Frankly, there has been a great deal of confusion in Federal politics lately... I believe you have the right to know where I stand." (I liked the bold. PS, Kelly, we all know where your main competitor stands on climate change, and you've repeatedly refused to talk about it.)
This is followed by the list of her favourite campaign promises (crime, health, development, education) only one of which falls under the jurisdiction of Federal Parliament. Then she says she believes in man-made climate change, but "We must remain economically competitive while dealing with these challenges at both national and international levels."
"Some people think that the Higgins community can be taken for granted. I don't. I live here and I care about our future."
"PS Please look out in your mailbox for a booklet titled 'What Kelly O'Dwyer Stands For'."
I can't wait.