Oh dear !

Australia is not the land of milk and honey that our favourite left-wing loony Hedda keeps telling us it is !

Only 6 weeks into the job and the (loony) Labour leader has had to call an election AND he's expected to lose !

===

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has called an election for 7 September, six weeks after defeating former PM Julia Gillard in a Labor party vote.

The date was announced after he visited the governor-general, a formality preceding an election announcement.

The head of the party faces stiff competition from conservative opposition leader Tony Abbott, who is favourite to win.

The economy, asylum seekers and climate change are among the key issues.

===

What happened, Hedda?

Did PM Rudd (giving away all that dosh so the dolers could spend, spend spend) backfire ?
Have the banks asked for their money back?

Why are the Aussies about to ditch (loony) Labour for the Tories ?

(PS - Time for yet another name change, perhaps?)

half armed with Tory press info...

governments in Oz have a 3 year term. An election had to be held by October.
Elections are traditionally held on a Saturday, September 7th is the only date left that doesn't interfer with a host of other activities. We all expected to be then or late August.

He will win.

hedda wrote:
governments in Oz have a 3 year term. An election had to be held by October.

Isn't it true that he only ousted Gillard six week ago?
Because he knew they were heading for electoral disaster?
By surplanting a new leader they can blame the past on the old leader and *hope* for a better result?

(Labour in London - take note ! Dump the silliband !)

"Opposition leader Mr Abbott welcomed the election date, telling reporters "it's really about who is more fair dinkum", using an Australian phrase to mean honest.

If elected, he said his government would build a stronger economy and get the budget under control.

The latest figures show a slowing of economic growth, which was downgraded to 2.5% compared to a forecast of 2.75% in May.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23565387

So, the Aussies don't think Labour are "fair dinkum" (honest) - well there's a surprise LOL !

And the economy is weak and the budget needs getting back under control - sounds like Labour to me !!!

Australia's Daily Telegraph newspaper sparked controversy after its front page headline told voters to Kick This Mob Out, criticising the Labour party for causing "political chaos and economic decline".

The paper, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, had supported (Labour's) Mr Rudd in the 2007 election.

the media which now includes the BBC all sing from the same song sheet and parrot like a chorus line.

The election in Oz comes down to a few seats with both sides of politics fairly evenly split no matter what the meejah says.

It becomes a raging battle to persuade around half a million people to switch votes.

The real fight is in the Senate as no bill gets passed without them and currently the Greens control the upper house (proper old fashion lefties) and Julian Assange's Wikileaks Party may pick up 1-3 seats.

hedda wrote:
the media which now includes the BBC all sing from the same song sheet and parrot like a chorus line.

... and may just be telling it how it is !

The election in Oz comes down to a few seats with both sides of politics fairly evenly split no matter what the meejah says.

It becomes a raging battle to persuade around half a million people to switch votes.

No change there then ... much the same as everywhere else - its always the floating voters that select the winners.

I see you are failing to acknowledge the Labour-effect ... a few years of a Labour government and ...

(a) they have to switch leader a few weeks before an election, in order to try and blame someone else, and

(b) the economy is failing (which you would expect from a Labour government).

In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
the media which now includes the BBC all sing from the same song sheet and parrot like a chorus line.

... and may just be telling it how it is !

The election in Oz comes down to a few seats with both sides of politics fairly evenly split no matter what the meejah says.

It becomes a raging battle to persuade around half a million people to switch votes.

No change there then ... much the same as everywhere else - its always the floating voters that select the winners.

I see you are failing to acknowledge the Labour-effect ... a few years of a Labour government and ...

(a) they have to switch leader a few weeks before an election, in order to try and blame someone else, and

(b) the economy is failing (which you would expect from a Labour government).



Julia Gillard faced one of the ugliest attacks of misogyny I've ever witnessed.

The Opposition and the Murdoch media bayed for her blood...every single day of the week for 3 years.
The problem was- they succeeded !.

KRudd returned..he is hugely popular. Murdoch and his pet party, the Opposition have been taken by surprise like stunned mullets.

This election is being fought by Rupert Murdoch who is terrified Labor & KRudd will complete their super fast broadband to every house which will nullify Murdoch's piss weak cable TV network.

and thus, it will come to pass and poor Rupert's tettering empire will collapse. The Yanks are after him.....it is just a matter of time.
## but even the local Tories are to the left of Britain's Labour. Both are competing to give away more social security....you would hate it ITK..it's like living in one giant Shameless episode but with kangaroos !

hedda wrote:
....you would hate it ITK..it's like living in one giant Shameless episode but with kangaroos !

indeed ... but what could you expect from a nation built by deported criminals and the sons of criminals ? (Got room for any more?)

PS - I quit like kangaroos

In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
....you would hate it ITK..it's like living in one giant Shameless episode but with kangaroos !

indeed ... but what could you expect from a nation built by deported criminals and the sons of criminals ? (Got room for any more?)

PS - I quit like kangaroos

interestingly the actual number of convicts- mainly from the hard-working North of the UK , the crafty East End and nutty Ireland was about 165,000.

I'm still looking for descendants of the man who shot dead my great great grt bank manager grandfather in Ireland and got transported rather than being hanged.

These days Oz exports crooks as their gift to the world....shop lifting gangs and media moguls

hedda wrote:
These days Oz exports crooks as their gift to the world....

Got THAT many, eh ?

hedda wrote:
K Rudd returned .. he is hugely popular.

Care to tell us what the latest opinion polls say, hedda?

I thought not LOL !

In The Know wrote:
hedda wrote:
K Rudd returned .. he is hugely popular.

Care to tell us what the latest opinion polls say, hedda?

I thought not LOL !

Newspoll (owner : R.Murdoch) puts Labor & Rudd at 48% yet as experts have pointed out time and time again, they conduct their polls on a Thursday (late night shopping)and only call landlines, thus all they poll are the over 60s...60% of under 40s no longer have landlines.

Credible Polls...such as the Essential poll today puts Labor on 50%.

Labor won last time on 49% but actually got about 700,000 more votes than any other party under the preferential system.

Hedda as always, spot on.

hedda wrote:
Newspoll puts Labor & Rudd at 48%

Hedda as always, spot on.

MPs lose hope that Rudd can deliver -
www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affair...9qr68y-1226703142221

On Thursday, a Guardian Lonergan poll reported that Prime Minister Kevin Rudd stands to lose his own seat of Griffith in a 10.5 per cent swing against Labor. If you haven't heard of Lonergan, it's because they are brand new; their accuracy is untested.
But Lonergan is on a roll. Last week it stunned us by reporting that Labor's other big name in Queensland, Peter Beattie, would lose Forde in a swing of 8.5 per cent to the Coalition. And it told us Assistant Treasurer David Bradbury stands to lose his western Sydney seat of Lindsay in a swing of 11 per cent.

Uh-huh. Lonergan's own national poll reports only a 2 per cent swing against Labor. Yet in the three seats it polled individually, it found an average swing of 10 per cent. That's huge, far bigger than we have seen in any Federal election since 1943.

Read more: www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-...7.html#ixzz2d67YtYXc

AT last Labor has had some good polling news during the election campaign - the steady decline in its primary vote has reversed and the fall in voter satisfaction with Kevin Rudd has steadied.

But the fundamentals for Labor remain dire and a relative improvement from a near catastrophic result to a merely honourable defeat is cold comfort.

www.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/columni...frg75f-1226703752930

Words like "at last" (there is some good news) seem to indicate that polling has not been good?

stick to subjects you know about and save space on the internet.

quoting right wing trolls like Murdoch arselicker Denis Shanahan (who incorrectly picked the last 4 elections) is not fact.

Quoting newspapers that quote other newspapers is not fact.


it's all opinion on behalf of Mad Rupert.

Rodney E. Lever who was so close to Rupert Murdoch he went on his second honeymoon agrees with hedda...Rupert is now in Dream Land and his underlings are humoring him.

Will it work ?. Who knows.

Conviction politics and the monkey’s uncle

With Tom Watson out to Australia to take on News Corp’s unrestrained bias, Rodney E. Lever reckons Rupert Murdoch is being kidded to by his entourage and staff.

CURRENT Newspolls from the Murdoch press and Rupert Murdoch’s praise for Tony Abbott’s character in his extraordinary tweet, leaves me with the suspicion that the old guy in New York is being kidded to.

If Tony Abbott is a “conviction politician” then Rupe can only be described as a monkey’s uncle.

The late Maggie Thatcher was a “conviction politician” too, and we all know what Maggie did for Rupert and Rupert did for Maggie.

I suspect that what is going on within the walls of News Limited Australia is a campaign to keep the chief happy. If he is not happy he has a serious ability to scare the daylights out of everyone concerned. To be a jobless ex-News Corp journalist or pollster in the current climate is a fate I would not wish on anyone.

www.independentaustralia.net/2013/politi...d-the-monkeys-uncle/

hedda wrote:
it's all opinion

That's why they are called Opinion Polls !!!!

(and they don't look good for Labour !!!)

hedda wrote:
stick to subjects you know about

Well, as my ancestor virtually single-handedly made Australia civilised, I think that is a relevant subject for me !

Have you not heard of Eyre Mountain, the Eyre highway or the Eyre peninsula (all named after MY ancestor Edward John Eyre)?

Below are extracts from his life story ... you can read the whole story on the link below.

(PS - We don't talk about his later life as Governor of Jamaica ... quite alot of the locals got slaughtered, and someone tried to kick-up a fuss about it !)

===

At this juncture, a friend advised his going out as a settler to Australia, where, at that time, there was an excellent opening for industrious, active young men. And so, at the early age of seventeen, with a good outfit, several introductions, and about 4.00?. in his pocket, he went forth from his father's house to seek his fortune in a new world.

He proceeded first to Sydney, and afterwards joined a settler in that colony, paying for his board, to enable him to acquire a practical experience as a colonist.

Whilst living with this gentleman on the River Hunter, it happened that two men arrived one evening on the opposite side of the river from a very considerable distance. They were without food, and, as the river was highly flooded, sweeping along in a furious, boil-
ing stream, carrying huge logs and trees with it, there was no possibility of the men crossing, or of any assistance being given to them that night. The following morning the river was higher and more furious than ever, and the question was, what should be done to aid the two men.

At that time, Mr. Eyre, who was scarcely eighteen, could not swim ; but, as none of those who could would face the raging stream, he volunteered to put on a mackintosh swimming belt, and try to carry a rope across.

One end of a very long rope was accordingly tied under his arms, and the other made fast to a tree on the bank, whilst several men stood by to pay out the rope as he progressed. He plunged in and struck out manfully for the other side, as the current swept him rapidly down-stream. At first he progressed very satisfactorily ; but after passing the middle of the stream, the curve of the rope below him, pressed by the current, kept dragging him back, and his utmost exertions could not enable him to reach more than three-fourths of the way across. He was then completely exhausted. The party on shore, noticing this, hauled in the rope to drag him back ; but when about half-way, the rope got entangled in the projecting part of a tree that had lodged in the river : here he stuck for some time, the rushing stream bubbling over him and all but drowning him. Eventually he managed to work himself free, and was dragged ashore almost dead. The men were obliged to remain starving until the river subsided. He learnt to swim almost immediately afterwards.

Mr. Kingsley, writing of Mr. Eyre's great march, says :

"Of this Mr. Eyre, who made this unparalleled journey, I know but little, save this : He knew more about the aboriginal tribes their habits, language, and so on than any man before or since. He was appointed Black Protector for the Lower Murray, and did his work well. He appears to have been (teste Charles Sturt, from whom there is 'no appeal) a man eminently kind, generous, and just. No man concealed less than Eyre the vices of the natives ; but no man stood more steadfastly in the breach between them and the squatters (the great pastoral aristocracy) at a time when to do so was social ostracism. The almost un-exampled valour which led him safely through the hideous desert into which we have to follow him served him well in a fight more wearing and more dangerous to his rules of right and wrong. He pleaded for the black, and tried to stop the war of extermination, which was, is, and I suppose will be, carried on by the colonists against the natives in the unsettled districts beyond the reach of the public eye. His task was hopeless. It was easier for him to find water in the desert than to find mercy for the savages. Honour to him for attempting it, however."
===

IN the year 1845 Mr. Eyre returned to England on leave, after an absence of twelve years from his native country. To beguile the tediousness of a long voyage, he prepared, from his journals, two large volumes giving an account of some of his explorations in Australia. These volumes were published almost immediately after his arrival in England.

Mr. Eyre brought home with him two ycung aboriginal Australian boys, and kept them in England at his own expense. They went with him to Buckingham Palace, and were introduced to the Queen and the late Prince Consort, who seemed much interested in them.

One of the boys proving of a vicious temper, Mr. Eyre sent him back, the other the home Government took charge of and put to school, under the care of the Quaker philanthropist, Dr. Hodgkin. Eventually he caught cold and died from a pulmonary attack when about seventeen years of age. He was well-conducted and intelligent, and though not clever, read and wrote very well, and was learning the business of a saddler very creditably when he died.*

www.archive.org/stream/lifeofedwardjohn0...n00humeuoft_djvu.txt

'The apple does not fall far from the tree'

sounds like a right old bastard and a typical Tory lunatic.

In case anyone had any doubts, it is now very clear that old ITK has lost the plot, totally.