Posted on 07/16/2014 6:40:17 PM PDT by naturalman1975
TONY Abbott’s great big election promise to dump what he called the great big carbon tax was finally delivered this morning after a Government ordeal of frustration and embarrassment.
Negotiations with the Palmer United Party and other crossbench senators finally paid off for the Prime Minister with Labor’s price on carbon emissions dismantled.
The Senate voted 39-32 to scrap Labor’s carbon pricing scheme after securing the support of PUP senators and other crossbenchers.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
But Labor and the Greens (who together held a majority in the Senate) refused to accept the will of the people, and the mandate of the election and refused to pass the bill, meaning things had to wait until after the 1st of July this year when the new Senators elected last year took over (under our Constitution, after a normal election, all Members of the House of Representatives take office immediately, but the Senate has fixed terms and so the half of the Senate that were elected last year mostly had to wait until 1st of July to take over). This change meant Labor and the Greens no longer have a majority together, but the Liberal/National coalition still doesn't either - a group of minor party and independent Senators control the balance of power. And the largest of this 'cross bench' group - the three Palmer United Party Senators, and the sole Senator from the Motoring Enthusiasts Party (elected with 0.5% of the vote in one state because our preferential voting system and about 100 candidates exchanging preferences, somehow fell in his favour), have been playing around for the last two weeks, delaying things. They finally came on board on this today.
But the Senate is still blocking almost everything else. It hasn't reached deadlock yet, but it's not a good situation - and the way opinion polls are going, if the Prime Minister decided to go back to the people, there's a good chance, the socialists would get back in.
>> if the Prime Minister decided to go back to the people, there’s a good chance, the socialists would get back in.
What happened to your country? What is it always this pathetic?
Awesome!
and the way opinion polls are going, if the Prime Minister decided to go back to the people, there's a good chance, the socialists would get back in.
Yeah, I've read the Abbot government isn't popular right now. Hopefully over time this will turn this around. I assume he has a fair amount of space before he has to call for the next election?
Because, as in the US, the media rules many people’s thinking. This new administration has all the subtleness of a sledgehammer and so irks the lefty media and gives them plenty of ammo. They really need to manage themselves and their message better - they come across as arrogant and bloody minded!
No. And I don't think it is now.
Since last year, the socialists have mobilised their allies in the media and social media to deliberately spread a lot of misinformation about the current government and its policies. Made up quotes supposed from the Prime Minister. Made up statistics - we have a group called 'GetUp' that was basically helped into existence by Americans 'MoveOn' group and taught its tactics.
So far the conservative side of politics has not done a good job of countering this. That's partly because I think that we were caught unaware - politics has never been this dirty in Australia before and we weren't expecting it, partly because we're getting on with actually trying to govern the country, and care about doing that, rather than being popular, and partly because it's over two years until the next election needs to happen, and by then, the lies will be pretty obvious (for example, when people find out that pensions haven't been cut for the elderly and disabled - an example of one of the lies), and also realise that Labor doesn't actually have any policies to deal with the debt they created - at the moment Labor's tactics are to oppose any cuts, and ignore the debt situation. Eventually they are going to have to say how they'll solve it and at that point, they'll either not have a plan, or will have to propose cuts that will be even less popular than the ones the current government is proposing. People were assuming there was plenty of time to get the electorate back - and I think they are right - but it does mean right at the moment, Labor is ahead in the polls - and calling an early election would therefore be risky. I actually think once a campaign is under way, we'd get back a lot of people - but whether we could get back enough is difficult to say. It'd be a very close election.
Yes, over two years left of the three year term.
I don't know the situation in Australia too well. I remember the days when Howard won like 4 times in a row, much to the chagrin of my lefty Australian friends over in Thailand.
Right leaning governments are usually vehemently opposed by the media and entertainment establishments, so often they get off to a rocky start. I think the same is true throughout most of the West. If the Abbot government has 2 years left before having to call another election, it seems like he has time to recover. One thing is for sure, if people feel the economy is improving it tends to be a big boost for the incumbent. Perhaps dumping the carbon tax will help in this regard.
Thanks for the explanation.
I apologize to you and your compatriots for the generalization. At times, it seems like Australia is fast-tracking the Leftist agenda we see here in the States.
>> Because, as in the US, the media rules many people’s thinking.
Indeed. I consider it the country’s greatest threat.
Avalanche of Awesome!
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