Julia Gillard's 'bungalow politics'
Abraham Lincoln had his log-cabin. Julia Gillard has her bungalow in suburban Melbourne. And already one of the defining images of her brief term in office was her return there over the weekend, when Klieg lights illuminated its red-brick facade as she fumbled in her handbag for the door-keys and then let herself in.
It looked like something out the 1950s, like someone returning from an afternoon at the bingo hall. But perhaps that was the idea. It is hard to think of how her arrival home could have been more successfully choreographed to portray the new prime minister as part of mainstream Australia.
There's been a lot of commentary here about how Julia Gillard is not married (her boyfriend since 2006 has been Tim Mathieson, a hairdresser whom she met in a salon in Melbourne), and how she is open about her atheism - both of which arguably might make her unelectable in the more conservative states of America. But here, neither has caused much of a stir.
Since she had conviction when talking about her lack of religious convictions - and was respectful of compatriots who have a faith - the debate stopped there. Ditto the boyfriend factor. There's been the suggestion that she has delayed moving into the PM's residence, The Lodge, until - and if - she wins an electoral mandate because of the fear that Australians are not yet ready for an unmarried couple living under the same prime ministerial roof. But again, you wonder how many people would truly care.
At least she has now taken up residence in the prime minister's office, and again you sensed the hand of her image-makers when she added her own personal touches - a Sherrin football, the type used in Aussie Rules, her Western Bulldogs scarf (the Bulldogs are her Aussie Rules team), a Melbourne Storm scarf (a nod perhaps towards the rugby league-loving states of New South Wales and Queensland), some gumboots and an Akubra hat. You can get the full list here
Admittedly, she did not bring along a barbeque or Victa lawn mower, but it's still a pretty good collection of Australiana. And again an attempt, you sense, to make Australia's first female prime minister come across as the Australian everyman.
Over the weekend, she went further by saying that Australians who were worried about the arrival of boat people, the most paranoiac issue in Australian politics, should not be labelled intolerant or racist. She also said that "political correctness" should be "swept out of the way" in the national conversation about immigration.
While it may strike some urban Labor supporters as a strong blast of the dog whistle - as opposed to a fair shake of the sauce bottle - it will doubtless have resonance in some of the suburban seats, like Lindsay in Sydney, which are always seen as a bellwether on contentious issues like immigration. She'll unveil a new asylum seeker policy later in the week, and appears to be preparing the ground for a shift to the right.
To end where we started, with Lincoln's log cabin, the Americans have always loved their presidents to personify a uniquely American story. The strength of a personal narrative has often been the key to their political success. From her pride at her immigrant "Ten Pound Pom" roots to her Western Bulldogs scarf, from her red-brick suburban bungalow to her Akubra hat, Julia Gillard is presenting a quintessentially Australian story - and therein lies much of her appeal.
I'm 
~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~57~RS~)
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The more I hear about this lady the more enthusiastic I get. A Paper Australian who was chosen to give the hoof to a REAL Australian. An avowed atheist who doesn’t hide her views for political expediency. Honest about her Family relationships. Compare her to a certain ALP PM who kept his wife in harness for many years, while many knew about his long term mistress, and then dumped his wife after he was dumped. I just wish Julia had kept that beautiful Welsh accent though.
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Nick Bryant wrote: "Julia Gillard is presenting a quintessentially Australian story - and therein lies much of her appeal".
You're absolutely right Nick.
Sure the photo-op with the "log cabin" plays well...is it staged? Probably.
But what great staging!
She is just so...genuine!
And remember...we have had 57 years of watching the Queen of Australia.
About enough time to accept an Australian leader...with a handbag.
Can't wait to see what kind of hat she'll wear to the Melbourne Cup : )
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She should get a couple of corgis too...she's Welsh isn't she?
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I’ve already submitted the following as 167 under that heading. However, I think I’ve raised some very important issues as to how posts are being moderated so I’m also submitting it under the most current heading which most other posters are now using. After all, most would agree that dealing with these issues in an open manner should be in everyone’s interest.
Ladies and gentlemen of the BBC moderation team.
I'm very disturbed by the way 165 and 166 are being handled. Both appeared for many hours before being removed for further consideration and there they remain, and I suspect will remain for a long time without resolution. Neither contains material that could be considered as any form of attack on other bloggers (unlike other material which you have previously allowed through). I believe the contents are historically accurate and the conclusions are appropriate so they should not be considered as offensive (unlike other material which you have previously allowed through). These are the latest posts in an ongoing debate between Greg Warner and myself on the Malaya/Singapore campaign, the issue of the conduct of Australian soldiers during that campaign and the issue of ‘ pommie bashing’ by Australians in the context of that campaign. Of course, you could then easily label them ‘off topic’ but, if so, why these posts and not the previous ones in the debate? Furthermore, a very large percentage of posts on this site could be labelled ‘off topic’ so why choose these particular ones? I think you run the risk of being unreasonably biased in your moderation activities which then becomes an infringement of free speech rights. You are also opening the door for many more future challenges to posts under the ‘headings’ mentioned above which could greatly diminish the value of this blogsite.
Respectively submitted for your consideration and action.
I also hope you see fit to allow this post through without being referred for 'further consideration'
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4 above.
I should have stated 167 under GILLARD GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS. Sorry for any confusion caused :)
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From suburban 'bungalow' to The Lodge is much more representative of Australian politics than 'from log cabin to the White House' is of the American system,most recent US presidents have been millionaires.So there's nothing unusual about Gillard's social background in the Oz context.As we don't have an equivalent of the ridiculous US proscription against foreign-born heads of government an immigrant can aspire to the top government position.(Yes,I haven't forgotten we have a foreign head of state).
Peter D,
I wish she had kept the Welsh accent too.However, lately her voice seems less irritating,so either I'm getting used to it or she's 'doing a Thatcher' and trying to moderate the more grating tones.
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PeterD (post #1) is right about Kevin Rudd not seeming genuine to the public. This because he allowed his spin doctors to contrive a calculated persona for him - every interaction with the public had to be rehearsed in advance. This was not the actions of a confidant man. Rumours of behind the scenes temper tantrums suggest that Rudd was a brittle man, a man that didn't possess that killer ability to sense other peoples' true feelings that all great leaders have. Julia Gillard at least seems to have the confidence he lacked. Who cares if she doesn't come across as domestically inclined or feminine? Well, only Senator Heffernan (when he accused her of being 'deliberately barren'). Female political precedents have bad news for Senator Heffernan. Margaret Thatcher may have been a mother and a homemaker but she didn't talk about this to the media. Instead, she was a controversial, conviction politician- and she won 3 elections as UK prime minister. Helen Clark was NZ PM over several terms. Neither of them were particularly feminine but they were both strong leaders.
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6 Treaclebeak
Thatcher's big problem was that she never moderated anything which led to her being hoofed while her party was still in power - a very unusual event in UK politics. She waa a lucky politician though. I don't think she would made it to a second term without the assistance of a dumb bunch of Argentinian generals and a particularly dumb Miners' Union leader, Arthur Scargill, who played right into her hands.
Give our Arthur his due though. Like a lot of prominent Lefties, he was very smart when it came to money. He was still able to keep his job and his Rolls Royce until 2002 even as his membershio and the coal mining industry generally went through an almost terminal decline,
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It seems that ‘Julia Gillards Bungalow Politics’ has now become the active thread. I’ll therefore post some views on immigration and tertiary education on this thread instead of ‘Mining, Masterchefs and Masterstrokes’. It seems common anyway that many posters don’t pay much attention to thread labels when they have something they wish to say.
Since me son took a job transfer to OZ from Canada nearly 13 years ago and decided to stay on, I have visited frequently. From the outset, I enjoyed my stays very much (with caveats already well aired in other posts) and considered OZ as a prospective place of abode. (no longer the case) Therefore, mainly for personal reasons initially I spent of lot of time studying immigration policies and procedures. These are very comprehensive and well crafted and have changed little over the intervening period; the main changes being levels for quotas, fees, income requirements, etc. I also understand that these policies have been studied in other countries seeking to revamp their own immigration policies – the UK being the latest example.
The policies have been designed almost exclusively with Australia’s interests in mind – and rightly so. The burden of proof for anyone wanting to enter as a refugee is very high. Family related entry is also very restrictive. An Aussie citizen can only sponsor parental immigration if a majority of the parent’s children are already residents and, even then, there’s an annual quota for such entries. The policies are overwhelmingly designed to focus immigration on persons: in the 20 - 45 age bracket, who have a sound social background, who are healthy, who have adequate English language skills and who possess work-skills and qualifications for which there is a domestic need. The screening process can be long and arduous as other posters have noted. Also well targeted are prospective entrepreneurs, investors, and retirees with appropriate assets, income levels and healthcare insurance.
I remain extremely critical of 11pete11’s views in the area of immigration
114 11pete11 GILLARD GETS DOWN TO BUSINESS:
“We need to grow our migration at a level that doesn't cost us more than we can afford, and we need to use the talent we already have, not import same. With 22 million, why are we importing doctors and general health workers, just to name one area?
We have just had the Jayant Patel trial here in Queensland and the doctor is about to be sentence after being found guilty of manslaughter as a doctor...a first I believe. He wouldn't have got a job here had Howard not stopped training our own doctors, and importing skilled workers from other places.”
The policies are specifically designed to direct immigration to where there is a need. The need is not only in terms of skills but also LOCATION. There are many locations, usually in remote or otherwise less attractive areas, that qualified Aussies choose not to work in, particularly in professions like healthcare, education and a range of social services. Unsurprisingly, immigrants are often used to meet those requirements. This is also the case in countries like Canada. Even in the UK, it can be difficult to get Brits to work in undesirable locations, even with financial incentives. There’s no problem getting a teaching job in many unpleasant inner city locations but try getting the same job in Bath or Winchester. 11pete11’s use of the example of Jayant Patel is a typical of the sort of scare tactics used by those with hang-ups over immigration.
As to Patel’s immigration, there could be two problems: the immigration screening process failed in this particular case and/or Patel was a very slick operator who was able to game the system. However, the bigger problem was a prolonged failure in hospital administration and oversight procedures.
Also overlooked by the 11pete11’s of this world is that many well qualified Aussies work overseas where they have generally acquired a good reputation. So does that mean ‘big brother’ policies are put in place to keep well qualified Aussies at home and immigrants out?
11pete11 again from 114:
‘Wouldn't you be better served, if you can't understand my many explanations,looking up the internet to see how other Australians feel about how very British we are down here? Better still, come for a visit and find out for yourself.
We were heading for an identity of our own in the 80's and early 90's, till John Howard removed higher educational assistance, increased skilled migrants, mostly from Britain, and pushed strongly to keep Australia British by nature.’
WELL I HAVE VISITED AND TRAVELLED OFTEN AND I USE THE INTERNET EXTENSIVELY. The notion that the Howard government deliberately pursued policies to inhibit tertiary education as a means of encouraging immigration from the UK to keep Australia British is absurd beyond belief, too put it very mildly.
The Howard government presided over a period of economic growth that made Australia the envy of the world. In part, this was due to it adopting policies of fiscal prudence and eliminating indebtedness, the interest payments for which represented a significant tax burden. Part of this did involve efficiency measures that involved expenditure cuts. It also required applicants for tertiary education programs to contribute more to their own education and thereby make better choices and value it more. Other states have adopted similar policies out of fiscal necessity, including the UK under a Labour Government. If anyone wants to see a good example of ‘freebie tertiary’ education (not really free given high taxation levels) delivered within a civil service structure, look at what has happened in places like France and Germany, both with long heritages of educational excellence. Now tertiary institutions are often overcrowded, facilities decaying and administration inefficient. Libraries are open for civil service hours, even though most students wish to do a lot of study long into evenings and on weekends. It’s small wonder that universities from such environments are rapidly falling in international assessment tables.
Overall and by contrast, Australia has an excellent and expanding tertiary education system which well serves domestic needs. I entertained the idea of trying for a PhD there at one time and conducted fairly extensive surveys. OZ has a very strong presence in the growing global education market. Nationals of many countries flock there to study while paying much higher fees than Aussies and thereby subsidizing the tertiary education system. Small wonder, therefore, that the Commonwealth and state governments were so alarmed by the recent spate of attacks on Indian students and the reactions in India and elsewhere which could lead to a serious decline in ‘overseas customers’. Australian universities are also very active in setting up joint ventures with universities overseas, particularly in Southeast and East Asia.
In sum, I believe the evidence is overwhelming that Australia’s immigration and tertiary education policies serve Australian’s very well. They are not perfect but it’s difficult to find better elsewhere.
As for Howard, he paid the price of staying too long. Not unusual in politics. There was the unseemly spat with Costello, spurred by Mrs H’s dislike of old Pete. Jono was offended by the smug self-righteousness and political correctness that surrounded saying the ‘Big Sorry’ and supporting the Kyoto Accord. However, it would have been politically smarter for him to put his stubbornness aside, hold his nose and go along in both cases. Jono was a classic example of UK Tory radical Enoch Powell’s dictum that ‘All political careers end in failure’. That said, his government left the fiscal condition of OZ in excellent shape which greatly helped Kev and Co. successfully mitigate (so far) the impact of the global
All for now………
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Good Lord, is it possible to read the Australian and European blogs without some mention of anything to do with America?
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From the Rudd bunker to the Gillard Bungalow. Can Julia can see East Timor from her house? She is looking and sounding more like Sarah Palin every day.
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I don't know if you noticed AllenT2 but the references to America here are not especially positive. They are factual, though, so I'll be interested to see how you introduce anti-Americanism to this blog as a way of justifying your venom. It's only people like you and your political group that believe people should be judged on their marital status. Why do they have to be married? Is the theory that if their personal life is 'sorted' they can dedicate themselves to their country? Well that's been disproven over and over and over again.
I would see this as a big positive. I hate the way all Britain's prime ministers are pious Christians, grabbing their twee little photo opportunities outside their little, flower-adorned, country churches. All that says to me is that this person does not represent me. This person WILL allow God to play a role in their decision making, and God has NO place in politics.
At least Cameron said something about organised religion often getting things wrong. Shame I disagree with almost every other aspect of his politics...
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Looking forward to the speech at the U.N. by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Should be some interesting insights from someone who has known them all...from Churchill to Cameron...Eisenhower to Obama.
No matter how much you like and admire her, from an Australian Republican's perspective we have our own female icon now in PM Gillard.
Perhaps it is time she abdicated in favor of the Prince Charles.
Perhaps it is time for a UK inspired "game changer".
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With the exception of that terminal snob, Julian Burnside, the silence on the left with regards to Gillard's Timor Solution is deafening.
Where are the busloads of shrieking ferals and other assorted useful idiots who would turn out en-masse at the slightest whiff of this sort of policy being implemented by the Howard govt?
Nowhere. What a pack of stinking hypocrites.
If ever there was proof that democracy, freedom of speech and protest are merely vehicles for the left to achieve power (rather than an end in itself), one only had to look at the muted behaviour of the Australian left whilst their ideological bedfellows had indulged in the greatest exercise in mee-tooism in Australian political history.
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12 stirling22
On a hopeful note, David Milliband, despite his Jewish heritage, is a declared atheist. He's now a front runner to lead the Labour party although he may have a long wait before he gets the PM job, if ever. The late Robin Cook and former Foreign Secretary was also a declared atheist.
13 Greg Warner
I can't remenber ever hearing any of the Queen's speeches that contained useful insights. Mind you, it's been many years since I've ever bothered to listen to them. Given her genes, she's likely to be around for some time to come and not retire to walking the corgis and spending more time at the racetrack. Good for her but not for republicanism.
She was in Canada to celebrate the country's 143rd brithday on 1 July. The Government had the delightful Haitian-born GG take an overseas trip so she would not be around to overshadow HM.
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It's nice of Gillard not to move into the Lodge until she becomes the official Lodger.
As for her “bungalow” diplomacy, I’m not so sure.
The Australian government made major concessions to the mining industry. The new schedule includes a reduction in the rate of the tax to 30% from 40%, but this only applies to iron ore and coal mines – not all mining businesses. Of course, the deal left the nation's biggest miners, giddy with happiness; so (to me), it looks like Gillard doing a corporate curtsy.
I’m not Australian, but I felt this mining deal was a major concession from Gillard; it smacked of corporate pull. I don’t understand why this quick deal marks an endorsement of Gillard’s leadership. To me it seemed more like the easier route, please the big guns and get on with an election.
For those of you that may be interested, the deal incoprated
- BHP Billiton Ltd.
- Rio Tinto Ltd. and
- Xstrata.
The 30% “Minerals Resource Rent Tax” (MRRT), allows all mining except coal and iron to escape the new tax. Under Rudd’s plan, the mining tax would have applied as soon as any project's rate of return reached the long-term bond rate, which is @ 5%. The reworked MRRT sees this threshold rise to the bond rate plus 7% = @ 12%. It’s a major concession to the mining sector.
Then comes depreciation. The government will allow companies to use the market value of a mining project rather than its book value to calculate depreciation against the MRRT. This will make a significant difference to the MRRT that will be paid by the giant iron and coal companies.
The MRRT also features an extraction allowance of 25% which will apply across all projects BEFORE the 30% resource tax is applied; this means the effective levy from the new mine tax would be @ 22.5%, little more than half of Rudd's proposed 40%.
The good news: the tax laws aren’t assured, need passage through parliament into law.
It gets worse:, mining investments made after July 1, 2012, can be written off immediately, rather than depreciated over a number of years, allowing coal and iron ore producers to access deductions immediately. The government said this meant a mining project won't pay any MRRT until it has made enough profit to pay off its upfront investment. The new regime will also allow miners to transfer deductions from one mining project to another.
It gets better: The government has set up a policy transition group led by Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson and former BHP chairman, Don Argus to oversee the development of a more detailed technical design for the scheme.
Well, let’s see what Gillard does from her bungalow with the boat people.
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I would have thought a bulldog would be favoured by a Western Bulldogs supporter, but why not a Blue Healer as it is essentially Aussie. I believe that Abbott is a political hypocrit. All he talks about is the Pacific Solution, yet all of the asylum seekers placed on Pacific Islands are now settled in Australia. Therefore, they have arrived at their preferred destination. England is not as big as Victoria yet they take immigrants from former colonies in Africa, Asia and America, and since the Soviet Union was broken up, from all of her Eastern European States. What are we bitching about, they only come here because they know of our freedom? My ancestors left England, Scotland and Ireland in the middle of the 19th century to get away from people like Abbott (Aristocrats) who were greedy, arrogant, and were removing their freedoms due to conservative governments. They came to a paradise like Australian and New Zealand and ensured that we would never be anything but free.
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Regarding aspects of dealing with nuclear waste which was discussed in Nick's previous blog, the following from today's BBC news makes interesting reading.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science_and_environment/10528937.stm
Regarding the East Timor "solution"...the Coalition isn't the only one complaining...now the Indonesians are worried.
They are concerned that the "boat people" waiting to be processed in East Timor would walk across the porous Indonesia/East Timor border and create problems for Indonesia.
The whole issue is a tough one.
One thing I do find to be nonsense is the idea of a "Pacific" solution somehow applies to boats and people that sail across the INDIAN ocean...perhaps an "ocean too far".
I believe the East Timorese will accept the new Labor plan...the East Timor economy needs all the help it can get and Australia will pay for the privilege of processing illegal immigrants there.
Any complaints from East Timorese politicians can be seen as the first steps in the negotiations on the price.
And besides, East Timor owes Australia a few favours after Aussie troops were sent there to bring stability after the massacres and mayhem which followed their Independence Referendum.
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"least she has now taken up residence in the prime minister's office, and again you sensed the hand of her image-makers when she added her own personal touches - a Sherrin football, the type used in Aussie Rules, her Western Bulldogs scarf (the Bulldogs are her Aussie Rules team), a Melbourne Storm scarf (a nod perhaps towards the rugby league-loving states of New South Wales and Queensland), some gumboots and an Akubra hat."
Which just shows how totally cynical the whole exercise is.
Because I belive she was brought up in South Australia, so she would hardly support a 'foreign' football team.
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Good to read that Julia has "...a lack of religious convictions...". We had far too much religious sanctimony and hypocrisy from Howard and Rudd. Also refreshing is her fresh thinking on boat people. If East Timor doesn't wan a UN asylum processing centre there is always Nauru or Papua New Guinea... People should know that Julian Burnside, who frequently comments on asylum issues, is an immigration lawyer therefore has vested interests in this issue.
Many good comments associated with this blog.
With respect to a possible time for an Australian republic, I think the best opportunity would be when Queen Elizabeth dies and Charles takes over. Charles is controversial and has been named the 'Prince of Lost Causes'. Such 'lost causes' include a certain style of architecture, organic farming, homeopathy. This would be the best time to for Australia to strike out on its own and become a republic.
Greg Warner had a good link on possible solutions to nuclear waste. Here is another one, Synroc, and it's Australian!!
http://www.ecosmagazine.com/?paper=EC127p6b
Essentially it incorporates different types of liquid radioactive waste into a type of artificial rock.
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Nick wrote: "There's been the suggestion that she has delayed moving into the PM's residence, The Lodge, until - and if - she wins an electoral mandate because of the fear that Australians are not yet ready for an unmarried couple living under the same prime ministerial roof. "
Yes and there have been suggestions that she is the reincarnation of Genghis Khan, among many. Why not put all the 'suggestions' and source, not just pop an irrelevant piece such as this without substantiation.
It is this kind of media material that sways people and it has absolutely nothing to do with facts. Can you name one person willing to claim this is truly Julia's reason for not going into the Lodge?
Come on Nick, you can do better than that.
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Interesting opinion on PM Gillard's performance...
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/time-running-out-for-tony/story-e6frfhqf-1225889147443
11pete11...give Nick a break mate : )
He may not be quoting sources regarding the "living in sin" (meant as a joke) aspect of life in the Lodge...however, I believe it is wise for Julia et al to consider it.
Anyway...it is only ONE aspect of her not taking up residence yet...I feel most Australians will respect the reasons for her decision.
The "I'll only take up residence after winning the next election" aspect is worthy of head nodding respect by most people...it plays to the "Aussie fairness gene".
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22 Greg Warner wrote: "Anyway...it is only ONE aspect of her not taking up residence yet...I feel most Australians will respect the reasons for her decision."
No I totally disagree, but then you knew I would :)
I don't think anyone in Australia, other than some members of the media, are interested in the marital status of our PM moving into the lodge.
The reason for her not making the usual change was simply that there wasn't any point in her moving Kevin out until after an election is held.
My point is that a simple and decent act is being turned into something else by 'there's been the suggestion', which so far that I've only seen mentioned by Nick.
Thankfully we don't have the prudish mentality of some in the UK or the US who want a squeaky clean leader of their party.
One only has to look at the antics of many of our past PM's to see we really don't care about their martial or other status, so long as they can run the country.
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22 Greg Warner wrote: "Interesting opinion on PM Gillard's performance..."
Yes this is an excellent description of where Julia has taken us in less than a month.
Of course we will hear a heap of criticism by the LLW inc...Liberal Letter Writers Inc...I would mention the Nationals, but they seem to have difficulty writing or using a keyboard....concerning how East Timor are putting forward some concerns in Gillard's proposed asylum seekers plan.
However, considering it was only here intentions she voiced yesterday, not the actual action, I think we can expect to see discussions and compromises coming from both her and East Timor over the proposal between now and the election date.
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23 you: An obvious and serious spelling mistake in this post. "One only has to look at the antics of many of our past PM's to see we really don't care about their martial or other status, so long as they can run the country. "
It should have read marital, not martial.
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"19. At 08:25am on 07 Jul 2010, john wrote:
I belive she was brought up in South Australia, so she would hardly support a 'foreign' football team."
No, but she may want to support a good one ;)
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26 Michael: Ha, ha top response.
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11pete11:
Actually I feel "martial" is OK...I'm sure all couples have the odd tiff : )
But seriously...East Timor...check my #18 post above...negotiations on the "price".
Now today I see it is mentioned as A$26 million...the number makes sense to me, as part of a constructive solution, but already it is getting a lot of heat...check out some of the comments in the Courier Mail.
Damned if you do...damned if you don't.
Just a note...one comment made a lot of sense...hand Christmas Island over to the UN (or lease it for 25 years) and let the UN do all the refugee checking there.
This UN solution also makes sense to me from the POV of the Spatley and Paracell Islands in the South China Sea...with so many nations claiming them I had come to the conclusion that the best way to handle these claims would be to make the islands UN Mandates with any oil or other revenues shared equally between the claimant nations.
Not sure if that kind of solution is in the UN charter or if the UN would want them...or if the Chinese Navy might have something to add.
However, perhaps it IS a solution for Christmas Island and our illegal immigration situation.
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28 Greg Warner wrote: "Actually I feel "martial" is OK...I'm sure all couples have the odd tiff."
Ha, I'd actually thought of leaving it unchecked, but then realised that some of the 'lets get 11Pete11 at every opportunity' brigade just might decide to take a snap...and the last thing I want is to see another happy poster getting a 'red card'. :)
Your idea re Christmas Island is a brilliant idea. I wonder why the respective Governments haven't thought of that. Probably something to do with the UN convention etc.
Yes I think the 'unrest' in East Timor is more to do with finances rather than out and out objection to the concept. Personally I think we should pay the East Timorians so as to make it worth their while. Especially after Howard successfully did a Peter Stuyvesant on them concerning the Timor sea oil and gas discoveries.
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23 11pete11
‘Thankfully we don't have the prudish mentality of some in the UK or the US who want a squeaky clean leader of their party.
One only has to look at the antics of many of our past PM's to see we really don't care about their martial or other status, so long as they can run the country.’
You say ‘we’. Did you really mean to say ‘I’ or ‘some of us’. If so, no problem.
Also, there’s no problem if you meant to say:
‘Thankfully, in my view, we don't have the prudish mentality of some in the UK or the US who want a squeaky clean leader of their party.
I further believe that one only has to look at the antics of many of our past PM's to see we really don't care about their martial or other status, so long as they can run the country.’
However, if by the word ‘we’ you mean: All Australians, All REAL Australians or even All PAPER Australians, then this begs the question: how you can claim to speak on behalf of so many millions of people? Of course if you can justify that claim, no problem :)
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the comments about a log cabin are neither postive or negative, merely a hook to hang a blog on.
The text for QERII was barely quoted in the media - guess I'll have to search for it.
Ferals to the left of me, rednecks to the right - an us and them, a meme that plays and continues to hurt us.
BBC, why can't I find AFL on your website? Not that I really care, the blues underscore my mood sometimes.
#18 Them's arguing words for gratitude. Sunshine rose under Howard for Timor-Leste - more than Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke or Keating.
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Re #19 John, you may not be aware that it was not until 1987 that the then VFL (Victorian Football League, which included 1 Sydney side, formerly based in South Melbourne), became the AFL (Australian Football League. This meant that if you were an already an Australian Rules supporter & enjoyed watching the most successful of the state leagues, that is the VFL, you would need to support a Victorian team.
The Adeliade Crows (& the West Coast Eagles, based in Perth) joined in 1987. Julia therefore might have had a favourite Victorian football team already.
Julia may have chosen to support the Western Bulldogs (formerly Foostcray Bulldogs) as a child, or chosen to support the team once moving to Victoria in the 1980's. Julia might have choosen to support the Bulldogs, like many people choose to support a team, becuase the team is/was based near where she lives.
It is also expected that in Victoria you will support an AFL team, and thus some people pick team from thin air purely to avoid any hassles with friends and work collegues.
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Why did it not matter with Amanda Vanstone, a leading Liberal for years, that she had no children? She used, from memory, nearly the same words as Julia G., like it's not for me, I'm happy to be a good aunt to my sister's (or was it brother's?) children.
Is it not better for those people, and society as a whole, that people who do not like the lifestyle or the commitment which children bring don't have any? I can tell you from experience that being born to parents who are not sufficiently devoted to their children ain't no joke.
Why it is called paranoic to be against unvetted arrivals, is quite weird. Have you not heard that some people here recently advocated to allow a little bit of female genital mutilation because the refugees do it anyway? Who checked the attitude of these people when they went through immigration? We'd like a few less of that kind. We also feel uncomfortable when women walk around like black ghosts, because we don't know if they don't carry knives or guns underneath. Just two examples.
I remember driving through Brixton in the seventies, looked like a normal suburb then. The Brixton riots came as a shock, and some of us simlpy like to prevent this kind of development or delay it until after we have bitten the dust. We like the lifestyle as it is and it is not our fault that some peoples have neverending civil wars.
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I Have always loved watching PM Gillard perform much better than anyone else in Parliament. And I'm ecstatic that a respectful atheist who is unmarried is Prime Minister. However I don't fully understand her stance on gay marriage. In my experience, those opposed to gay marriage have some sort of belief system which informs them on their decision. I applaud her for saying she will be campaigning for equality, and I will be watching for the result of that, but I'm not entirely certain she has examined the issue from an entirely secular perspective. To say that marriage is between a man and a woman unequivocally is hard to understand. In the past marriage laws have changed. Monogamy was not always the norm. Outside of the scope of religion, I do not see why she has this definition. I'm not sure how many of the gay community would marry given the chance. I do know that some want to, and some definitely consider their relationship akin to marriage. One thing about claiming to be an atheist/rationalist is that you must give reasons for your convictions and ideas, or at least acknowledge the places where you have none. So, Julia, as an atheist and presumably a rational person, what is your reasoning behind that statement?
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