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BrisbaneexPom

Listed below are comments made by BrisbaneexPom between Tuesday, 19th August 2008 and Tuesday, 23rd December 2008.

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The Howard Years 05:59am on 23 Dec 2008 When Rudd's term as PM has finished he'll be compared to his predecessor, Jo
After only 13 months in office at least 3, and possibly 4, of the major issues on which he won office have been seen to be failures and perhaps reinforcing the belief that he was making up policy 'on the run'.
FuelWatch, GroceryWatch and the lie about every school child being given a computer are already recognised for what they were - cheap politics to get elected. Soon we'll be told the plan for a fast country-wide internet connection has been put on hold - in other words cancelled.
Throw in his plans to wriggle out of his climate-change election commitments and even his supporters will soon agree that the man is a fraud.
And as for Swan, after a short 13 months in the job it looks well beyond his capabilities. Already he looks like being labelled Australia worst Treasurer since Frank Crean.
Lucky, Lucky, Lucky? 05:59am on 02 Oct 2008 Aussiened, I've been in Australia for over 40 years and am aware of Australian history and the way in which taxes are raised.

My point is that Premiers of all political persuasions like pretending to be politicians.
A proper politician accepts his duty to levy tax and then spend it.

The state premiers like spending the public's money but don't have the guts, or the skill, to go out and persuade the public that higher taxes are needed and in the public's interest. So they take the ALP way out - blame someone else for their own shortcomings.

The state premiers are 'want to be politicians' - they are self-seeking glory hunters. And the present lot are as bad as they get.

Still, lets support the federal system, otherwise the incompetent state premiers might be looking for a comfortable sinecure in Canberra.

"As to which party is best suited for running States, just look at the history of any State and you will find both parties are as bad as each other. Ever heard of Henry Bolte, Bob Askin, Jo BjelkePeterson, just for starters. They were all Liberal Nationals by the way."

You conveniently forgot the ALP leaders put away for crimes committed.
Lucky, Lucky, Lucky? 04:48am on 02 Oct 2008 Aussiened gives a somewhat sanitised version of Federal/State financial matters.

It's easy for the ALP-run State governments to criticise the Federal government for not giving them sufficient funds to carry out their programmes. The answer to that is easy. Let the states raise the money they need themselves. Let them introduce a state income tax - after all they've had this power since Fraser was PM - or else a state GST.

The reason why Howard was careful not to give the states too much was because ALP Premiers are notoriously bad with finances.

Look at QLD. When Goss came to power in the early 90s, his government, acting on the advice of his principal advisers Rudd and Swan cancelled the construction of a much needed dam and saved themselves $200million which was then spent on more 'popular' projects to help him win subsequent elections. Remember Lang Park.

Now in recent years the Bligh government has had to spend $9.2 BILLION ensuring the SEQ has enough drinking water. And she's boasting what a competent premier she is!

QLD labor overspent by $9 BILLION on a project that could have been for $200 million. Economic madness.

And the labor premiers are claiming they still want more money. And the suckers still vote them back in.
Lucky, Lucky, Lucky? 04:33am on 02 Oct 2008 For those who are familiar with Rudd's term as the chief public servant in Queensland under the Goss state government would know quite well the man has his limitations. Severe limitations. Lack of economic nous; unable to get the 'ball rolling'; inability to make positive decisions. Already we're seeing committees make recommendations but Rudd and his government unable to take the issues further. Remember the 2020 nonsense?

Rudd and Swan have had it lucky. They've done nothing to the financial regulatory system yet are reaping the benefits of Australia being seen to be economically sound.

Compared to Peter Costello, the man responsible for Australia's strong economic, Rudd and Swan are a pair of Economic Virgins.

And given time it will show.
Malcolm in the middle 07:30am on 23 Sep 2008 I'm glad this is being moderated by the BBC.
No Australian news organisation would ever tolerate any adverse comments about the Papacy.
Letters I've written to local newspapers over the years prove that.
Malcolm in the middle 07:27am on 23 Sep 2008 The republican debate is much more than having our own head of state.
It's also about where do we give our allegiance - to someone who resides overseas, or someone who is part of the Australian scene.
If republicans resent having to give their allegiance to a person who lives outside Australia and is not Australian, then not only should the Queen and her descendants go, but also the Pope.
Malcolm in the middle 07:18am on 23 Sep 2008 Kevin Rudd was always going to be a one-term PM. A person so short of original ideas backed up by a team beholden to their political factions was always going to be a seen as a stop-gap until the coalition got its act together.
Now that that seems to be the case Mr Dudd must be having sleepless nights. He perhaps feels a holiday overseas would fix his problem.
My own thoughts on Turnbull are mixed. It could very well be that one year out from the next election if the coalition is still behind in the polls then Costello will be drafted in.
And Kevin747 will really be in panic mode.
Malcolm in the middle 07:10am on 23 Sep 2008 During the republican debate from the early 1990s onwards, one particular word was used to describe the monarchy. That word was 'anachronism'. In fact it was used so often by republicans that it begs the question: if we are going to get rid of the monarchy because its an 'anachronism' then why don't we get rid of all anachronism?
That being so, then the first to go is the Papacy.
So lets have a referendum, and if the Queen is dumped, then so is the Pope.
For those who suggest that the monarchy is totally irrelevant to Australia, then how would you describe the Papacy?
Losing to the Brits 03:14am on 21 Aug 2008 SydneyKate, comment 42.

I don't know where you got your info from regarding Nobel prizes (Ch7 I guess) but it's wrong.
GB wins more Nobel prizes per capita - the US only wins more in total because of the overseas people it attracts to its universities.
Last year GB shared in 2 prizes - how many have Australians won in the last 10 years? One is all I can think of.
Intellectual achievement will always be superior to sporting achievement.
However, forget the Atlanta games, how many did Australia win in 1976?
But all joking aside both GB and Australia could be doing better in Olympic gold medals and Nobel prizes.

Cheers.
Losing to the Brits 04:29am on 19 Aug 2008 Nick Bryant's comments about what the SMH reports should be taken in context. The ruling government in NSW, the ALP, is in such a mess, and has been supported in the past by the SMH, that any news other than state politics is reported. Hence the interest in Team GB. It keeps the SMH's favourite political party off the front page.
However, as an ex Pom living in Brisbane for over 40 years my retort to any sporting sarcasm from the Aussies, my children included, is simple. Talk to the Aussies about the Nobel prizes they've won, or should I say failed to win. That usually shuts them up.

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