I wonder of he will ditch Nova Perris ?

I don't think Shorten did himself any damage at all.

After two votes, I think at the end he had to go for the benefit of the party
over Julia otherwise it would have been deadlocked all night.

He had already committed to Rudd before the spill.

Rudd and Albanese now sworn in, wearing blue ties. :E

Bowen sworn in as Treasurer, wearing an appropriately red tie.

Well, if Shorten hasn't damaged his brand, then the ALP is shallower than even I thought they were!

You know as well as I do that they are as shallow as they come.
And the Libs aren't much better !

Remember, it wasn't that long ago the Libs went through
exactly the same thing except it went on for longer.

Anyway, I wonder if Julia will come home to Altona with Tim.
She could probably afford to upgrade a bit now !

On another site (Bolt or Tim Blair) someone posted a comment that the first vote was 51/51 and it went to four goes before they got the final numbers. If that proves to be true, (which I must admit, doesn't gel with Shorten having gone public before the evening spill meeting), Shorten's seven votes will have been vital to the Rudd victory.

It was David Marr ('interviewed(!)') by Tracy Holmes on 702 who was giving Gillard and her 'legacy' the fifteen course degustation treatment. There have even been a few Labar Pardee true-blues who've called in saying that he was laying it on a bit too thick.

Wasn't it a joke though?
Ooh, they're shallow all right; IMO most of them are basically pond life. I think they'd support public floggings if they thought it would get them over the line at the next election :}. Anyway, I don't think this has done Shorten any harm. Sitting on the fence was doing him more damage.

Good point re the polls 500N, but it looks like a bunch of people found time to hit Sportsbet in between Queensland's tries.

OK. Just to add some balance and perspective! The 'smarties' are questioning the validity of Rudd's win because his majority was 'just 12 votes'. Have these commentators overlooked the fact that Abbott defeated Turnbull by ONE vote? :E

Worral

No, I don't think the 51/51 was a joke.

It came out last night DURING the vote from the ex Rudd staffer
(I heard it live) as an explanation of why it was taking so long
so anything today is just regurgitating that.

Re the Poll, if they did a Poll last night, they must have been damn quick about it because they don't like calling people after 9 or 9.30pm so it was either a very low numbers poll or it's BS.

I'll wait until the poll that is taken this weekend come out on
Monday or Tueday next week, that will show any true bounce.

I see Abbott has decided against a No confidence motion and
wants the people to decide.

I reckon that is a good move for the country.

Fair enough if it was legit. Thanks.
Re the poll; 2530 voters via SMS. However, I agree with you (as do Roy Morgan I suspect :suspect:) that it will take a while to get a true picture. It also depends on Kevvy and the new Ministers' behaviour post bloodletting.

Discover your edge - Roy Morgan Research

On Channel 7 (Sydney) last night, while it was all happening, they were running a poll in 'real time' at the bottom of the screen on who should be PM. In the early stages, it was 65% Rudd.

I for one can't believe that was anywhere near an accurate reflection of the general public's opinion. Like much to do with Rudd, I suspect it was spin - a dozen Rudd staffers sitting in front of their laptops banging away on the 'vote for Kev' button.

Andu

If Ch 7 did it, it wasn't representative.

You also have the "winner" effect as in everyone likes a winner.

Morgan does tend to get that right as much as possible
but 2500 votes, mmmmmmm, not sure how accurate it is.

From Larry Pickering's site (from the Michael Smith site):

OK, the BIG question.

Will Rudd call an early election, at some date
PRIOR to the 14th September ?

What do people on here think ?


I am not sure but think he may go mid to late August
but will make a better call on it next week.

ALPBC Sydney this morning reported that he said he's sticking with Sept 14th.

But of course, that could change.

One thing you can be sure of - it won't be before Aug 10th, which would involve a full Senate election. Labor won't put half their Senate team at risk unnecessarily. Pity, as I think a full Senate election would see the Greens gutted (and deservedly so).

Aboard the good ship "ALP Titanic" the power-brokers frowned and rubbed their chins.

They'd re-arranged the deck-chairs but the polls were showing the passengers in First Class still weren't happy. Chief Steward McTeirnan strode to the bridge-wing and gazed out over the promenade-deck.

"Do it again!" he barked, his Scots accent barely concealing his contempt for all and sundry around him. Party hacks started running around, pushing deck-chairs hither and yon, making chaos out of order, then order back out of the chaos. When they finished the deck-chairs were exactly as they had been previously.

The Chief Steward nodded in satisfaction. "That's much better!"

"Iceberg, dead ahead!" cried the lookout from above.

McTiernan's gaze slowly swept upwards until he had the lookout firmly fixed in a reptilian stare. "You say that to me once more and you'll never work at sea again!" he said.
"Tell that to the bloody iceberg," the lookout muttered under his breath.

McTeirnan spun around and walked inside the wheelhouse. "Full speed ahead!" he growled at the apparatchik working the telegraphs.

The iceberg waited, patiently.

Isn't McTernan gone yet :ugh:? I figured that would be the silver lining.

Ken
Agreed Abbott won by one vote but he has at least managed to establish some evidence of party discipline behind him.

Labor has failed to do likewise and the comparatively close vote does not offer any confidence that the divisions will not continue to bite.

Rudd wanted to be drafted by an overwhelming majority. He didn't get it.

I'd suggest the Channel 7 poll may have been influenced by Rudd supporters hitting the phones.

However, there is as danger that, if the libs run their campaign on regurgitating his 'colleagues' view of Rudd, it will prove counterproductive.

Rudd is now, to a certain extent, the Peoples' PM. Criticism of him by his labor enemies will not resonate with the voters who see his return as some sort of win.

I just see it as a chance to do what I was intending at the 2010 election. The intervening 3 year nightmare has just been a sideshow.

Cooda

Good summary and agree.

I think I said earlier that the Libs need a new message
for attacking Rudd.

Judging by the first few minutes in the House, the libs message is "Different Leader, Same Union Control".

The ship of state sails on.
The iceberg is patient.

ABC afternoon show looking for Daily Telegraph headlines

"Kevenge"

- and his team, "The Kevengers" ("with a firm hand on the RUDDer".)

"Kevin 57" (for the 57 votes)

Kevin is tugging at the heart strings already, setting himself
up as the softy of the two !

"Rudd calls for a 'gentler, kinder' Parliament"

"his first address to Parliament to call on MPs to be a
''little kinder and gentler with each other''.


FMD, I think I better send a box of Tissues to him, one for wiping the blood
off the blade and the other for the tears :O


I say one thing, he certainly knows how to play the media well
and use them to get at or to the voters !

I'll say. I reckon Murdoch sold the Courier Mail to Rudd when no-one was looking; today's edition is a veritable fanzine. :rolleyes:

And there I was thinking we were going to get pummelled at the next election and now its looking 50-50. Abbott will have to start broadening the content of his speeches now and we all know what that means (foot in cakehole I predict). Bishop might also have to start saying something, maybe even a policy plan.
Roll on the election Ye haa

I think Smith is pulling the pin...
Being a pollie it's a bit hard to tell.
Watch Parliament ? Parliament of Australia

EDIT: confirmed.
LIVE COVERAGE: Stephen Smith resigns during Question Time | News.com.au
They're going to have to extend the backbenches so everyone can fit. :E

From my perspective as an American, married to an Australian, a conservative with more than a passing interest in Australian politics, Gillard was an embarrassment; a presumptuous, insufferable, opportunistic, divisive insult to civility and grace. I didn't like Rudd, either, mostly for his leftism, but he didn't just have that tendency to annoy me that Gillard did.

If you vote for either, you're voting for high taxes, a withering economy, lousy schools, union strangleholds, and other manifestations of long-term decline. Why so many choose to vote that way baffles me both in Australia and here in the States.

I just read the news. Does this mean Big Bird's fantasy girl is gone?

If that proves to be true, there'll be records broken in ADF bar sales throughout Australia and anywhere else an Australian military unit is based.

Has has quit and I agree with you. Mess tabs will balloon tonight.

Probably the most despised Def Minister we have had in 20 years.


I saw something that said 18 Pollies are not contesting seats
at the next election ? That is a huge number.

It's true. He's staying minister until the election but he will not contest.

And, back to buisness as usual, 79 shoppers have just been stopped off Christmas Island. What's the plan Kevin?

"What's the plan Kevin?"

Tell them their rights.
Hand them a huge wad of money.
Tell them they will be fed, watered, accommodated
in nice warm houses or units.
A small bit of paperwork will need to be done but
other than that, everyone runs around after them.

And finally, they are told that the game is called
"Fcuk Australia up the arse and bleed it dry"


Oh, sorry, was I supposed to write something about Asylum Seekers ?

Very interesting article in the Age

Blood on Julia Gillard's guillotine | Kevin Rudd Australia PM

I may have made a mistake about Bill Shorten not being damaged.
I forgot he has now knifed two leaders / PM's !

Interesting. Time for congrats to people around here? ;)

Not until the day after the election!

Methinks there'll be a huge gulf between Bob Carr talking tough on country shoppers and Kevni actually doing something about it.

:cool: true words of wisdom:

Funny you mention that. I'm not in the habit of watching Question Time (if I were into hair pulling and name calling I'd volunteer at the local primary school :hmm:) but I was on the phone to an AJ mate who was idly flicking through the cable news channels at the same time.

Suddenly I could tell that I was relegated to background noise; there was a pause in conversation followed by a ":mad:, I think that little pr!ck Smith's resigning! Gotta watch this, call ya back...'

I believe cognac has been purchased. :E He liked Beazels, so it's not a Labor thing.
I think this shows their true colours. A total bunch of wusses who are legging it off the sinking ship (the ship they sunk) as fast as they can find a parliamentary pension funded life-boat. :yuk: IMO the party is better off without them.