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| Blue and red numbers respectively indicate booths with two-party majorities for the Liberal and Labor parties. Click for larger image. Map boundaries courtesy of Ben Raue at The Tally Room. |
Julie Bishop’s seat of Curtin covers Perth’s most affluent and Liberal-friendly areas, from Mosman Park and Cottesloe north along the coast to the southern part of Scarborough, and along the northern shore of the Swan River through the prestige suburbs of Peppermint Grove and Dalkeith. An area of relative Labor strength is provided by the area immediately west of the city. The electorate was created with the expansion of parliament in 1949, prior to which the Perth metropolitan area had been divided in highly variable fashion between Perth and Fremantle, with each consistently accounting for some of the area of modern Curtin. Curtin was originally limited to Perth’s inner west, with Fremantle continuing to extend up the coast as far as City Beach, before acquiring its coastal orientation with the redistribution of 1955. Fremantle was thereafter concentrated more to the south of the river, although its present northern limit at the suburban boundary of North Fremantle and Mosman Park was not established until 1984.
Despite bearing the name of a Labor Party legend, Curtin has been a blue-ribbon Liberal seat since its creation, being held first by prime ministerial contender and future Governor-General Paul Hasluck, and then by Victor Garland, a minister in the McMahon and Fraser governments. Garland’s resignation in early 1981 led to a preselection brawl in which the then Premier, Sir Charles Court, marshaled forces behind Allan Rocher to thwart Fred Chaney’s ambition to move from the Senate to the House, which he would eventually realise when he became member for Pearce in 1990. Rocher was defeated for preselection ahead of the 1996 election by Ken Court, son of the aforementioned Charles and brother of Richard, who was then Premier. This greatly displeased the newly reinstalled federal Liberal leader, John Howard, who did little to assist Court’s election campaign or to dispel the conception that he owed his preselection to controversial party powerbroker Noel Crichton-Browne. Rocher was thus easily able to retain his seat as an independent on Labor preferences, while a similar story played out in the northern suburbs seat of Moore.
Curtin returned to the Liberal fold in 1998 when Rocher was defeated by a new Liberal candidate, Julie Bishop, who had previously been a managing partner at law firm Clayton Utz. Bishop’s early career progress within the Howard government was reckoned to have been constrained by her ties to Peter Costello, and in the wake of the Coalition’s 2001 state election defeat she signed on to an abortive scheme to move into state politics to succeed Richard Court as Liberal leader. She eventually won promotion to Ageing Minister in 2003, and attained cabinet rank as Education, Science and Training Minister in January 2006. Reflecting the continuing strong performance of the party’s Western Australian branch, she was elevated to the deputy leadership in the wake of the 2007 election defeat. Her success in maintaining that position under three leaders reportedly led internal critics to dub her “the cockroach”, although dissatisfaction with her performance as Shadow Treasurer caused her to be reassigned to foreign affairs in January 2009. She retained the portfolio throughout the remaining years in opposition, further serving in the shadow portfolio of trade after the 2010 election, and was confirmed as Foreign Minister with the election of the Abbott government in September 2013.
UPDATE: Channel Seven has reported the ReachTEL poll conducted on Thursday night found only 28% believe the government’s new policies to stop boat arrivals were working versus 49% who don’t, while 56% say the government should announce boat arrivals when they happen. Last night it was reported that 53% think the Prime Minister should deliver the explanation for spying activities demanded by Indonesia, while 34% say he shouldn’t; and that 38% support Australia’s bugging activities with 39% opposed. It appears Channel Seven are sitting on voting intention numbers.
Wisdom from Fraser.
[There has been much public advice for the government. Hang tough, it will go away. Others have advised the government to follow the Obama model as he dealt with his own country spying on Germany. Obama said it would not happen again, and called for a review of how US intelligence operates internationally. This is the course Australia should take.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/nov/22/spying-row-australians-deserve-accountable-intelligence-services
YB
As TNI and Australian forces were involved in the same armed conflict over East Timor it would be more not less spying.
The Snowden knows.
FS
And apparently Indonesian pollies are headed off to Russia to find out. Gulp……
@prettyone/198
Now making excuses.
However, it is the release of the Top Secret documents at the heart of the problem.
It is odd that Mark Scott did not think that these papers would have no effect on relations between the two countries – trade, people smuggling etc. With the violence at the embassy with troublemakers wanting “Australian bloodshed”, he must be desperately hoping no tragedy happens.
[But this bugging of the President’s wife’s phone was something unusual and offensive.]
I don’t think it is likely to be unusual, but it is something you must take offence at when you catch the other side doing it. We got caught on Abbott’s watch because the americans dropped the ball. Hard for a sane person to try and pin that on labor.
Looks like it is too late for an apology PO.
Your comment begs the question of who was in cahoots with the then government of the day to facilitate the listening in?
Also, it is simplistic to believe that the previous Howard government was not doing the same thing and the Abbott regime is still doing it.
You must have a touching belief in the integrity of governments when it comes to this kind of stuff.
As our current government is built on lies and deceit with the PM admitting publicly he lies, why would anyone believe him on anything?
[It is odd that Mark Scott ]
Did Mark Scott release the papers, here I thought it was Snowden.
pretty
As a right wing commentator said on 24 this mooring you cannot blame the ABC for getting the television rights. Snowden leaked directly to the Guardian.
[As a right wing commentator said on 24 this mooring you cannot blame the ABC for getting the television rights. Snowden leaked directly to the Guardian.]
It is the government of secrets, coverups, lies and excuses, they wouldn’t take responsibility for anything they don’t have the courage or the integrity for it.
[From the Laurie Oakes article quoted by lizzie @ 150:
“Mr Abbott believes he struck up a genuine rapport with Mr Yudhoyono in his visit to Jakarta soon after the election, and he is determined to repair the damage that has been done to that personal relationship.”]
Must be those famous “people skills” of Tony’s hard at work.
The man is just delusional. The product of a lifetime of being a pampered protected brat.
Sorry Prettyone. I didn’t mean to be offensive.
It is relevant that the bugging was under Rudd. But the Indonesians know it was happening before, and is probably still happening. It’s the here and now that counts.
I doubt that processes have changed much in the past 11 weeks. It’s the commitment to changing the processes that’s important.
It’s one step in the healing process.
Abbott’s personal problem now is that as far as the Indonesians are concerned he’s got a lot of baggage from stop the boats. Don’t underesitmate how many issues are conflated in the Indonesian reaction. Mostly to do with Abbott himself. The bugging stuff has just burst the boil that was there already.
It’s his problem. Not Rudd’s (Kevin who?). Blaming Rudd will achieve nothing.
Apparently there’s more Top Secret papers out there, too, masses of them that Snowden stole, that Mark Scott has access to.
Whether he will publish them or not, let’s hope he thinks carefully about it.
[Must be those famous “people skills” of Tony’s hard at work.
The man is just delusional. The product of a lifetime of being a pampered protected brat.]
He is a clown and a loser with the same skill set as Bush II but without Bush II’s money, brains or international firepower.
Just me
Remember this happened just a week ago
Federal politics coverage The Pulse: Live from Parliament Comment: Speaker stumbles at first ruling
Prime Minister Tony Abbott has left a senior delegation of Indonesian officials, including its Vice-President, cooling their heels while he remained in Parliament for a debate about whether he could call Bill Shorten “Electricity Bill”.
http://www.theland.com.au/news/metro/national/general/tony-abbott-keeps-indonesian-officials-waiting/2678283.aspx
And fhis
[The rumour was confirmed when Abbott turned up late for two important gatherings at APEC where SBY was in the chair, and in case there are some who would to contest this, when the egos of heads of state are on the line the attendance at all meetings of conferences such as APEC are important.]
http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/10/24/abbotts-tin-ear-for-diplomacy/?wpmp_switcher=mobile
pretty
Its not Mark Scott. Its Greenwald and his husband of the Guardian.
“Sorry Prettyone. I didn’t mean to be offensive”
No worries, Outsider.
But I do think it’s the episode of the wife’s phone that has upset the President and hence the people. They feel violated.
Abbott is to Australia as Billy Bunter is to Grayfriars school ….
Further to my 162 (Abbott bracing for more revelations), the following are distinct possibilities:
Abbott was briefed on the spying story before the Guardian and ABC went public (it’s the job of our spooks to find out these things).
Murdoch was probably aware of the spying revelations, as this is a tiny part of the documents leaked by Snowden to the media.
Abbott/Peta and the Murdoch journos consulted and agreed to keep the story secret to protect Abbott from anticipated trouble. If the PM had been Rudd or Gillard the Murdoch media would have proclaimed the story loudly.
When the Guardian and ABC released the story, Murdoch media predictably claimed they were being unpatriotic.
Now that Abbott is in a great pickle of his own making, Murdoch in league with Abbott/Peta “reveals” that worse is yet to come, thus softening us up for even more.
This strategy is predicated on the assumption that Abbott will be able to emerge on the front foot and seek to pacify other heads of state before any spying details become public. On performance to date, good luck with that!
This paragraph is particularly pertinent
[According to sources close to the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono (SBY) is less than impressed with Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Foreign Minister Julie Bishop. It is said this view was formed before the election, when Abbott, Bishop and now Immigration Minister Scott Morrison talked loud and long about turning around refugee boats and sending them back to Indonesia.]
[Whether he will publish them or not, let’s hope he thinks carefully about it.]
So he is supposed to take into account how stupid and hopeless the PM is? Laughably pathetic attack / diversion / joke. Bit like our PM is turning out.
[Prime Minister Tony Abbott has left a senior delegation of Indonesian officials, including its Vice-President, cooling their heels while he remained in Parliament for a debate about whether he could call Bill Shorten “Electricity Bill”.]
Holy crap, was that after all this stuff broke out?
He did the same thing at CHOGM, or some other international gathering from memory. Totally clueless.
This being an era in which laws seem to be being regularly named after iconic individuals (Zoe’s Law, Brodie’s Law etc), could I put forward the modest proposal that when Senator Brandis introduces his high priority legislation to restore free speech, the ALP make a point of referring to it, consistently, as “Textor’s Law”?
confessions
It occurred on the 12th Nov
Sorry Prettyone. That bit is just the icing on the cake. The Indonesians have been offended by Abbott for a long time now. The public messages have been pretty clear for a few months. Abbott has a lot of hard work ahead to get the relationship back to where it was before the election.
Indonesia is an extraordinarily complex society. How people behave and react is very different from the Australian way. Far more subtle and less overt than we are used to. It is his lack of appreciation for that which is now causing Abbott so much trouble at the moment. The Indonesian experts in Foreign Affairs must be in a collective state of mass depression this weekend.
Oh dear, a case of shoot the ABC messenger.
At least the right-wing hacks are consistent on this one.
We have PO mouthing exactly the same line as the conservative hacks in our local paper.
As Geoff Hutchinson on ABC morning radio responded when the Tory hacks tried to get him on this, he pointed out that the documents Snowden made available to the Guardian were already in the public domain. That is, no longer “secret”.
What the Tory hacks want of course, is for the ABC to be an arm of the Liberal government just as the LNP is a puppet of NewsCorp.
It was instructive that Paul Murray, the Liberal mouthpiece here in Perth came out with mush to the effect that he did believe in freedom of the press but that somehow, the Snowden stuff was outside this.
He too had a bash at the ABC, whinging about left-wing bias in his twice weekly propaganda item in the West newspaper.
He could not resist getting into the game on his morning radio programme with the opening that “The Guardian which everyone knows is a left wing newspaper, in fact a far-left wing newspaper….blah blah” to make sure his listeners could get his drift.
This, mind you from a commentator who, on a Fairfax radio station uses The Australian and his lead item for many issues.
I have not heard him once say something along the lines of…”The Australian is a right-wing newspaper and in fact a far-right wing newspaper….” as any kind of introduction.
The fact that the Murdoch press have brought themselves into disrepute with their own ideas of what the public should know, and who/what they would pay to corrupt public officials in the UK, is never mentioned.
What was that about hypocrisy and “playing the game” I hear from Tory hacks?
BB@172
Another excellent summary, thanks.
The clever strategy would be for Abbott’s letter to SBY to be delivered by an asylum seeker boat turned back to Indonesia by our three star admiral’s crew.
@Victoria/225
That’s only like last week.
Thanks vic.
And yes, it was APEC where he kept people waiting.
Talk about self importance.
I’ll repeat what I said yesterday: Shorten should consider meeting with some foreign officials from the region, just to contrast himself with Abbott who’s been less than stellar in the international relations department thus far.
It would also pay to highlight that the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd government enjoyed very warm relations with many of our neighbours and the two PMs (and their respective FMs) had good diplomatic skills.
The GG is a disgrace. She is being paid to be the Queens rep and yet she has the indignation to call for a Republic. She dhould be sacked immediately.
[After a week of argey bargey my mind’s eye has distilled the crisis down to a simple proposition: Abbott almost completely misunderstands Indonesia.]
BB Didn’t you forget to add Credlin and Textor to that post. Abbott does nothing without Credlin giving her 2 bob’s worth. She and Textor would be thinking only of how it plays here.
If you look at the photos of SBY and Abbott in October you’ll see that SBY’s mouth is sort of fixed into a smile but the eyes say something entirely different …. ‘I’m gonna do you slowly, matey’ and so he is.
I have been following events mainly on PB because I don’t have TV reception at the moment. It has left me extremely conflicted. On one hand I’d like to see Abbott suffer politically for some of the problems he has caused, the other doesn’t want Australia to suffer. My hope is that it damages the liberal brand enough for it to be a one term government and that sufficient outrage from Joe Public will force big business to factor in Australia’s best interests into decision making and for MSM to start reporting without bias. After rereading my comments I realise I’m not only conflicted but living in dreamland.
ST
See Abbott’s comments at this morning’s presser
Neilsen polling now
Voting intention
Abbott approval
Shorten approval
PPM
Carbon tax, should Senate repeal?
Mining Tax, ditto
Approve of government’s immigration policy?
MTBW Here’s a beauty for you – Nelson Mandela Choir impromptu in shopping centre
http://www.flixxy.com/shopping-centre-flash-mob-south-africa.htm
@Sean/233
Why are you allowed in after your disgraceful comments yesterday!
Carey:
Totally agree.
[151
briefly
But none of this will trouble Abbott. He sees himself as a fighter first and foremost. So what if he has one more fight to pursue? He is not a pacifier, not a unifier, not a conciliator, not even a builder. He derives his energy and identity from aggression – from attack.]
Abbott only understands and gets off on the act of conquering, of forcing submission, of domination. It is all about the gaining of power.
But it is an addiction, once the immediate rush of victory is over you have to go do it again, and again, and again…
And each time it is less satisfying, and more costly, and the need for another hit gnaws ever more deeply and urgent.
Falling prey to power lust rarely ends well, and Abbott is very unlikely to be an exception.
We all know Abbott lies and exaggerates. There are thousands of examples.
Some here admire him for it (“clever retail politics”) and others condemn him for it. But it cant be denied that he does lie.
Now, imagine him swaggering up to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, mangling him with a public hairy handshake that is considered impolite in Indonesia, and telling SBY that he’s “his best friend.”
And THEN telling the Japanese that they are our best friends.
THEN arriving late, twice.
Then ignoring a Vice-Presidential delegation because he wanted to be there when the parliament humiliated Bill Shorten.
THEN SBY goes over the Kerry O’Brien interview where Abbott confesses to saying the first thing that comes into his head.
THEN SBY cogitates on the “Better to ask forgiveness than ask permission.”
Imagine Bambang’s bemusement when he reflected on Abbott, Morrison and Mesma saying “we don’t need Indonesia. We’ll keep them posted, as a courtesy but we don’t care what they think. We’re escalating The Boats into a secretive military operation, right on the border with Indonesia.”
Then imagine what SBY thought when Abbott told him in Jakarta that he was just kidding, “robust domestic politics” and all that, and if SBY could just sign here, and here, we’ll get on with “co-operating”.
Finally, consider what SBY thought when he saw Abbott’s meeting with him written up as a diplomatic triumph, twisting the slow-thinking Indonesians around his little finger, Peace In Out Time, all garnered in an afternoon of bloke talk, employing the same double-speak tactics that have served him so well domestically, spruiked by the same compliant media.
Is it any wonder SBY seems to have decided that he can’t deal with this bloke on any basis other than a complete reset of Australia-Indonesia relations where just who is the boss will be forcefully made plain?
[Good job SBY isn’t a woman. Abbott might have been photographed peering down her front.]
Spelling Lizzie, spelling!
LEERING.
I don’t get the Paul Howes hate, he has never been charged with misusing members money and appears to be doing a good job as membership levels haven’t dropped off.
I’m sure the HSU would rather Howes than some of the spivs they have had in recent times.
[The GG is a disgrace. She is being paid to be the Queens rep and yet she has the indignation to call for a Republic. She dhould be sacked immediately.]
She is our head of state showing maturity and leadership when our PM is a useless bumbling fool.
[She is being paid to be the Queens rep and yet she has the indignation to call for a Republic.]
If Buckingham Palace have a problem with her stance, they know what to do.
BB
Bingo!
Good Article:
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/opinion/malevolent-shysters-are-damaging-australia/story-fni0ffxg-1226764657800
[WHAT self-serving, malevolent shysters – deliberately damaging Australia and blaming Tony Abbott for it. Who are these hypocrites who betray Australia, peddle a traitor’s leaks and demand we surrender to Indonesia, just to destroy a Prime Minister they hate?
Blog all day with Andrew Bolt
Let’s start with the clowns. On Tuesday, ABC managing director Mark Scott insisted the ABC was right to join the far-Left Guardian Australia in publishing secret intelligence stolen from the US National Security Agency by the American traitor Edward Snowden.
Scott said it was in the “public interest” to reveal Australia in 2009 monitored the phones of Indonesian leaders, even though he knew it would hurt his country.
“Yes, I appreciate that the release of some of this material might … cause some difficulties with the Australian-Indonesian relationship in the short term.”
That is putting it mildly. These reports from the ABC and Guardian, revealing Australia monitored the phones of even President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife, haven’t just led Indonesia to formally downgrade our relationship.
Nor have they simply goaded Indonesia into threatening to withhold co-operation in fighting terrorists and people smugglers, potentially putting Australians in more danger and tempting more boat people to risk their lives at sea. They will also boost support for any anti-Western nationalists in Indonesia’s presidential elections next year. God knows what that might cost us.
Scott airily waved all this away, but get this. The next day he discovered there was indeed one secret too damaging to publish: how much the taxpayer-funded ABC pays its star presenters.
Scott today raged at length about this terrible leaking of information the ABC fought for three years to keep secret.]
Read the rest on the link above.
prettyone
[However, it is the release of the Top Secret documents at the heart of the problem.]
The heart of the problem is that Abbott is not fit to be prime minister.
If there was a World Cup in diplomatic stupidy, Abbott would win gold, Bishop would get the silver and Morrison the copper. That is what is at the heart of this particular problem.
[It is odd that Mark Scott did not think that these papers would have no effect on relations between the two countries – trade, people smuggling etc. With the violence at the embassy with troublemakers wanting “Australian bloodshed”, he must be desperately hoping no tragedy happens.]
I know the Librals are desperately doing unicorn but really! It would only take a tweak in the cloud from Snowden and it would be the Jakarta Post, the Jakarta Globe and Kompass which would be publishing the documents.
I know the Liberals are desperately doing unicorn but really! If Abbott reverts to blaming Labor (as he did initially – so much for the bipartisanship* thing) then it is no holds barred. The Liberals’ definition of ‘bipartisan’ is: ‘We will screw you over every time you can; and when it is your turn, you should just roll over and die.’
Oh, and where was the bipartisanship in Abbott pologising for Labor governments in Jakarta when he did his bapak special?
You want a bipartisan approach. Here is one: if Abbott apologises for what Labor did in order to apologise for spying, Labor will release details of spying carried out by Howard governments of which Abbott was a senior minister. They would also assert that the spying did not stop when Abbott assumed the prime ministership.
This sort of game playing with the national interest is par for the Liberal course, of course.
The Liberals have spent six years wrecking the joint from opposition and the transition to Government, in that respect at least, has been seamless.
*This was the same bipartisanship that was so very much lacking when the Manning stuff embarrased the Rudd/Gillard governments and when the Gillard Government was dealing desperately with the abject failure of the live trade industry to regulate through the supply chain, leading to Australian urban dwellers vomiting over their dinners at the sight of gross cruelty.
[I’ll repeat what I said yesterday: Shorten should consider meeting with some foreign officials from the region, just to contrast himself with Abbott who’s been less than stellar in the international relations department thus far.]
CareyM Plibersek should join him. The sight of Bill and Tanya being statesmen would contrast well with Abbott and J Bishop