Sky News is broadcasting four “Voters Verdict” programs each night until Friday at 9.30pm EST. These feature American blow-in Frank Luntz and a 24-member focus group divided evenly between Labor-leaning and Coalition-leaning undecided voters. These voters will participate in “instant audience response dial sessions” that will measure their reactions to statements made by the two leaders. As you may have guessed, the instant audience response dial procedure is better known in this part of the world as “the worm”. Luntz was in the news yesterday after describing the Prime Minister as “a world leader for invective”, which suggests he is taking his time to acclimatise to Australia’s political culture. A preview program which aired last night can be viewed at The Australian site.
Are any of the betting agencies running a tab on which half-hour block Howard’s concession speech will come? I wouldn’t rule out 6:30-7:00pm if I were setting the odds.
Re Prosser…The issue of conflict of interest between ministers’ portfolios and professions is a vexed one. Overall, it makes sense for an ex-businessman to be the minister for Small Business, a farmer to be agriculture minister, and it’s pretty difficult for anyone but a lawyer to be the Attorney-General. Experience helps.
Tony 146
Maybe. My old man spent his working life giving technical advice to government ministers. He has always said that putting a minister in charge of a department related to their technical/professional background was a big mistake. They bring too much baggage and allegiances, and can’t see the forest for the trees.
Though I grant the Attorney General may be an exception.
Keep up the hubris and gloating guys!
All this talk of jelly, ladies and gents. Bad karma, very bad.
Just need to correct you on the Costello jello though, Nath. That`s no void in the heart region, just a little green pea.
May the Gods/Glen strike me down.
A-C, I wouldnt call it hubris and gloating, more like a release of a decade long frustration with many aspects of the current government.
Now is the winter of our discontent, made glorious summer by this son of Queensland.
Dear Just me…a ministerial adviser or public servant WOULD say that. Ministers can be easily snowed and manipulated by the public servants if they know nothing of their portfolios. But sure, there are pros and cons either way.
Why not HowardHater,
Lets go all out for the Big ocasion, after all we have waited almost 12 long years for this moment,
Ill fly the girls in from the Scores nightclub, New York,
We’ll say we are Labor suporters of Kevin Rudd and you never knoiw we might get a discount,
And while we are on the topic of Jelly moulds, we’ll get the girls to Jelly wrestle in a giant mould of Amander Vanstones face!!!
And I agree with you lang Mack, a Jelly Mould of Amanda Vanston would be one Tasty Treat, enough to feed a horse.
Thanks Just Me
Yes, baggage.
A-C
There is no “gloating” in this neck of the woods. It hurts to lose. Been there, done that. It seems it’s your turn now …
Nath (#156) – you hit the nail on the head. If I make any comments that look like gloating, or ARE gloating, they are the result from 11 years of pain and frustration.
A-C
At least John Howard returned hubris to the national lexicon, but remember the context. 🙂
No gloating here either; for me it’s eleven years of pure uncut loathing.
I think the face that Rudd has challenged Howard to call the election is significant. It will make it look like Howard is delaying the election because a) he’s worried about losing, and b) he wants to be seen with George Bush. It would be interesting if Howard called the election now, then was seen with Bush while in caretaker mode. I can’t see why that couldn’t happen, though I think the electorate would be very cynical about it. I reckon he’ll call the election straight after APEC, for a date in mid to late October.
ruawake, don’t be so cryptic, you profive the context.
Does anyone know what is going on with the ‘voters verdict’ on Skynews? The Australian has been reporting it as 9:30 tues/wed/thurs/fri, but last night it didnt start until 10:30.
He challenged him to call the election today because it’s three years today since he called the 2004 election. We really should have fixed terms. Leaving it to a PM is silly in this day and age. And that goes for all PMs not just this one. Hawke was terrible for going early if the polls said he was in front. He even called a Double Dissolution over the Australia Card and then never mentioned it once during the election campaign. It’s time we took this power out of the hands of the Pollies, whether Liberal or Labor.
Stop laughing – this is serious. Gloating is banned. You are allowed a quiet chuckle, but only outside with the dogs.
Will Howard rise to Rudd’s challenge – name the date? (ABC news).
Dear Just me…a ministerial adviser or public servant WOULD say that.
Cheap and quite defamatory shot, that demeans you more than anyone else.
No government on earth runs well without high quality advice from independent public servants. And you know that.
Am I allowed to make the same clichéd defamatory comment about business councils, for example? And politicians, ie ministers?
Are you seriously suggesting that heavily vested interests like business groups, or unions, or professional bodies (like the AMA), etc, should be the sole or even primary source of independent technical advice to governments?
With respect, I don’t think you thought that one through.
Just saw a Rudd IR ad on Ch 10 – straight and to the point. Very Impressed.
Re Election date, does the fact that Daylight savings start at different times affect the timing of the poll ?
I think Generic is taking the p*ss when he sings Downers praises.
When Downer was not long Foreing Minister, he was visiting Sotuh American countries and there were articles quoting him as saying “He was sick of visiting “busted arse” countries”.
I thought the “busted arse” comment was a fair enough comment for countries that were doing it tough, ie seat out their pants, until a few months later I found out the true meaning of the remark.
Since then I have viewed him as the truly revolting spoilt little boy that he is.
Howard can’t call it during APEC. It wouldn’t fit in his schedule. I predict he will call it a day or two after for October 27.
( putting a minister in charge of a department related to their technical/professional background was a big mistake )
So making Alexander Downer the Minister of Circuses and Clowns would be a mistake?
Nath
Howard accused Costello of hubris when he wimped his challenge last year. 😉
I think you Labor guys going for a great smashing election night party with strippers should cool it a bit. Yes, I’m predicting Labor will win 100 out of 150 seats, but that’s a prediction, not a certainty. I currently think Labor is an 85% chance of winning; that still means that there’s a 15% prob that the govt will get back. As I say, I won’t call it until election night, or unless the election day polls all say Labor Landslide.
hmm, 27th Oct is the eve of Daylight Saving for the rest of Aust (Tas had already started on Oct 7th)
I still reckon it will be in November as the extra hour in Tas will affect the count.
Frank, the last election was held on 9 Oct. That of course meant that by 6 o’clock, we already knew that Labor had lost two Tassie seats.
Well, let’s think about the timing. The APEC weekend is 7-9 September (the Friday is a holiday in Sydney), and then the PM of Canada is addressing the House (on the Monday? On the Tuesday?). It would be considered poor form diplomatically to call an election while so many foreign heads of state are present so that suggests the election won’t be called till the dust of APEC has settled, maybe by the following weekend (15-16 Sept).
An election campaign must be for a minimum of 33 days and must be held on a Saturday. Following the above timetable, that would make the election on 20 October, though personally I think either of the following two Saturdays (27 Oct & 3 Nov) are more likely. Calling an election in mid-September means that the first two weeks of the campaign will be drowned out by the footy finals (go the Rabbitohs!), time the government can ill-afford to lose.
Does anyone know who has imported Frank Luntz, why and what this may have done to our foreign debt? I think I fancy the Heffernan jelly mould, complete with Iron Bar. We all know what happens to jelly when it gets warm towards the end of the party.
[Frank, the last election was held on 9 Oct. That of course meant that by 6 o’clock, we already knew that Labor had lost two Tassie seats.]
I know, I was travelling to the Pearce/Hasluck Post Mortem with the Pearce Candidate and the local state member for Swan Hills and we heard it all on the ABC. Of course at the time there wasn’t daylight saving trials in WA, which made it worse.
Hopefully this year with WA in DS mode (personally I hate it), we don’t have to wait as long and maybe it won’t cause the WA vote to change cos people would start to know the result as early as 3.30pm WST.
Can i say that i think you are all being a little tough on Australia’s longest serving Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer…
He has done really well to bridge the gap with Asia and he’s been instrumental in bringing relations with Indonesia extremely close…he’s firmly supported the East Timorese Independence and been in favour of the RAMSI mission to the Solomon Islands…as well as supporting Iraqi and Afghani democracy…
To the Rudd Huggers your hubris astounds me…while you are ahead in the polls atm its still 3 months before election day and Labor is by no means guaranteed to win the election…i dare say you’ll be having a ‘Don’s Party’ if things dont go your way by the sounds of it…
I have seen Rudd’s new IR what a joke…no wonder he wants an election because they’ve spent so much on advertising already and they’ll be more to come…i wonder why the Libs havent put anything on yet…
Sorry Just Me, what I wrote wasn’t remotely defamatory, but I certainly don’t wish to criticise your father! Governments are elected to make the decisions, and the public service is there to advise them on how to implement their policies.
I stand by my statement that it helps if ministers know something about their portfolios. I would argue that it’s self-evident. Public servants may prefer ministers with no background in their portfolios, but that really just encourages this penchant for modern-day politicians to hide behind the public service, blame the “advice” they were given for mistakes they made, and not take responsibility themselves.
By the way, I’m a public servant.
( i wonder why the Libs havent put anything on yet… )
Why do the Libs need to spend money on advertising when they use tax payer funded ads to do their dirty work for them?
Fixed term elections seem to be enormously popular with everyone apart from the Libs and Labor.
How are we going to MAKE them enact them? If we don’t insist upon it, it’s not going to happen.
“i wonder why the Libs havent put anything on yet…”
‘Cause they are broke, they only have enough money for a short campaign. So they will use other methods. (govt. advertising)
“Australia’s longest serving Foreign Minister Mr Alexander Downer…”
Bloody hell, is he? How incredibly embarrassing. Australia’s face to the world.
I want to dig a deep hole and hide.
Lomandra,
we have fixed terms in Victorian State Elections and it hasn’t hurt the sitting government so I think it’s just a security blanket that the Federal Pollies can’t quite give up.
Taxpayer funded ads about drugs do not give the Government any boost Paul K and unlike Mike Rann who appears in SA Govt Ads, John Howard appears in none of the Commonwealth Ads.
Hugo
“Minimum of 33 days … and must be held on a Saturday.”
Is that in what Act?
Nah, don’t want the Heff one.
By the way, I’m a public servant.
By the way, I’m not. 🙂
Nath (118),
I knew that. He is also the highest ranking member of the NZ army. The only actual Australian to became a field marshal was Sir Thomas Blamey and that was well after the war – just before he died.
Conflicts are everywhere, like deciding on Oz IR policy after being the ACTU el-supremo.(Hawke), Setting alcohol laws.( fastest beer in the world, Hawke)
Keating was the one,grew up with dick, learnt dick at school, , did nothing before politics
Slammed it as a pollie, great guy, got nailed in the end though
Lets be fair here 😉
Glen,
You’ve been living under a rock if the only Govt ads you’ve seen are ones about drugs. Can’t you afford a TV set at Liberal HQ?
In regards to John H appearing in the ads. He can’t. It upsets the pets and makes the children cry.
Glen, I think you do a good job in keeping people cool here. I won’t say Labor’s won until at least election day; that should be the example other people follow. Much better to have our spirits a little dampened by people like Glen than to be completely over-confident, and then have the Rodent suddenly come back. Unlike 2001, when I was sure Labor was going to win through following the Morgan F2F poll, in 2004, I coped much better once election night was over. In ’04, once I knew Labor had lost at about 7pm, I just watched a huge amount of porn.
Derek I believe it’s in the Electoral Act of 1918, though I’m sure a better-researched contributor than me may like to expand on this.
the government ads are going crazy at the moment, IR, Super, Terrorism, bringing back the Drugs ads. Im sure there are more. Don’t they know they are pissing people off. Its like they refuse to beleive that it wont work this time and keep shoving them at us.
Hugo, how about Howard calling the election on Sunday Sept 9th or Monday Sept 10th, for a polling date of Saturday Oct 14th (or possibly Oct 21st)?
Howard keeps the sportlight through APC, and then a short parliamentary sitting, then visits the GG. That still leaves two weeks of campaigning after the footy finals. Howard would really have no excuse to delay calling the election once the short sitting, with the Canadian PM, has been completed. If Rudd is demanding an election now, he’ll be howling for it by then.
Frank et al,
All of the states that go on DST are moving forward this year to join with Tasmania. This move was set afoot by Steve Bracks earlier this year. It has been set in concrete since early this winter when the other premiers agreed to it. There won’t be any more DST differences going forward. One less excuse for chosing which poll date to call 😉 …. Julie
Peter Kemp at 134.
Menzies is rolling faster than Linda Blair’s head in “The Exorcist”.
You have to remember that although Downer is a fool and a buffoon, he is an establishment fool and buffoon.
It is entirely likely that he will end up as Opposition Leader in the new Parliament. Afterall, he will have all those special friendships and contacts he has cultivated throughout his time as Minister.
Could cement Labor for fifty years.
Go Alex!
the election must be held on a Saturday – Section 158 Australian Constitution
For those who are wondering why the Constitution specifies Saturday.
1/ Monday to Friday are work days
2/ Sunday is the Sabbath