Clarke and Dawe with the PM and Brendan Nelson

Clarke and Dawe with the PM

21/12/2007 - John Clarke and Bryan Dawe with Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in the hot seat.

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John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Brendan Nelson

14/12/2007 - Clarke and Dawe with Brendan Nelson.

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Former PM Keating speaks about Labor's challenge ahead

From The World Today:

Keating sums up the Howard-Costello legacy and his hopes for the future.

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From The Age/SMH:

The Liberals must purge the reactionaries [link]

Coalition crumbles, leaderless and lamenting - Federal Election 2007 News

Michelle Grattan in The Age discussing the plight of the decimated Liberal Party.

Coalition crumbles, leaderless and lamenting - Federal Election 2007 News

How sweet it is...

The election result was a dream come true for me and millions of other Australians this weekend. It signals the end of the mean and tricky Howard government and the end of the political careers of some of its major players - including Howard himself, and his presumptive heir.

A record-breaking win for Labor was more than I would have hoped for. If only it came with a clear Senate majority, or at least a Green balance of power there.

Watching the Liberal Party self-implode as it regroups will be fun. The ideologues will split from the pragmatists and moderates and it will take years for a united party to emerge from the ashes of this monumental defeat.

Howard's concession speach on Saturday night was the only time I've ever sensed genuine human feeling in the man. Here's me giving him a compliment... It was dignified. There you go, the first and only nice thing I have to say about his political life.

The Labor party's adoption of "Friends" - seemingly replacing "comrades" was a bit of a laugh too. Nice though. I can't imagine the Liberals ever even trying to come across as warm and fuzzy.

This is the end of Howard's cynical manipulation of society and sections of it. The end of support for sectional interests that are designed to shore up Liberal Party support and the beginning of a new era of concensus, co-operative federalism and vision for the future.

Now is the time to get behind the new government and be grateful that the country has finally emerged from it's political coma.

Clarke, Dawe and the politics of fear

Clarke, Dawe and the politics of fear

22/11/2007 - John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and the politics of fear

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The PM shows himself up on The 7.30 Report

Kerry O'Brien's interview with John Howard last night was illuminating in that it was the first time that I've seen anyone in the media critically examine Howard's claims and assertions with regard to the Liberal's own supposed advantage in terms of economic management and Labor's supposed inability to manage the economy.

To mangle an old story, Howard looked like the emperor with no clothes.

Links to the video and transcript below:

The PM live with Kerry O'Brien

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Transcript

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Kevin Rudd

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Kevin Rudd

15/11/2007 - John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Kevin Rudd

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Why do Liberals hate their own?

Compare the Coalition campaign launch with the ALP's. There to support Kevin Rudd and Labor in the campaign were all living past Labor Prime Ministers. At the Coalition launch, there was no sign of anyone associated with the last Liberal government other than John Howard himself and Downer.

This discussion at Spin Cycle shows how the ex-Liberal leaders are either more concerned with their own lives and ventures post politics or ashamed of what the party has become. No longer liberal, but right-wing conservative (in a bad way).

The Age Blogs: The Spin Cycle

Me too!

The great deceiver is in a class of his own - Opinion - theage.com.au

We've always known that John Howard and the Liberals were dishonest and hypocritical, but this piece from The Age highlights the many examples of this since his 1996 election campaign while in opposition.

My great hope is that the Australian voters don't let them get away with it one more time.

The great deceiver is in a class of his own - Opinion - theage.com.au

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Peter Garrett

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Peter Garrett

08/11/2007 - John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Peter Garrett

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Income drops under WorkChoices

Interesting to read evidence today of real incomes dropping due to the Liberal government's WorkChoices laws.

Howard, Hockey and Costello have constantly told us - even lied to us in the pre election campaign taxpayer funded propaganda ads for WorkChoices - that incomes have and will go up under WorkChoices. It seems the opposite is true... What a surprise!

Joe Hockey doesn't seem to get that this is a problem. He seems to actually try to say it's a good thing towards the end of the article.

The Age: Real Wages Fall Under Howard

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Tony Abbott

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Tony Abbott

01/11/2007 - John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and Tony Abbott

Hilarious take on Tony Abbott's bad week. GOLD!

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Pillow talk

Coonan plays Doris Day to Howard's Rock Hudson.

He doesn't look sorry to me

So Tony Abbott apologised for his outrageous comment about Bernie Banton, the asbestosis campaigner and sufferer. Good. It's just that when I saw the footage of him claiming to have apologised, he couldn't get that stupid wingnut grin off his face. Not only that, he still had to refer to Mr Banton's "outburst" when he should have been more contrite.

Then to top it all off, this arrogant Liberal was 35 minutes late to his debate with Nicola Roxon and had the hide to swear at her when she politely chided him for having his priorities out of whack.

All in all, I'm sure yesterday is a day he'd rather forget - fortunately most of it was captured on camera for all to see.

Enough of this guy please. Hopefully we'll have a new government after November 24 and this clown can fade back into irrelevance.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/11/01/2078059.htm

Clarke and Dawe: Kevin Rudd and his pet worm

Clarke and Dawe: Kevin Rudd and his pet worm

25/10/2007 - Clarke and Dawe: Kevin Rudd and his pet worm

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Tax cuts

How can John Howard and Peter Costello all of a sudden, come up with $34 billion in tax cuts over 4 years? Easy - simply decide to reintroduce the practise of indexing the tax scales with inflation to eliminate bracket creep. Something that should be in place anyway and not held out as some benevolent gift.

Don't just index it over the 4 years, commit to full indexation in perpetuity. That would be some worthwhile tax reform that would actually benefit workers, business, society and the economy generally.

Looking forward to see what the ALP comes up with, tax-wise.

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and the PM

John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and the PM

18/10/2007 - John Clarke, Bryan Dawe and the PM.

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free time

It's great having two full days off work in a row. It seems like forever ago that I had this fortunate confluence in my week.

I had time to read the Green Guide from cover to cover in one sitting, do some domestic chores and stock up on supplies.

It made me wonder how many other people's lives have been taken over by work. Whether it's through the challenges of running their own business, or imposed on them by the federal government's WorkChoices policy.

At least the business owners knew what they were getting themselves into and made the choice... there's not much choice involved for employees on the take-it-or-leave-it deals on offer under WorkChoices.

Isn't it fair, that employees, who are just trading their skills, time and effort for wages are compensated for their loss of time to do the things they want to do in a fair way? After all, if a business owner can theoretically create huge profits for themselves, why shouldn't the employees who generate those profits be rewarded.

Bring on the Labor government and ditch this travesty against the working people of Australia that is WorkChoices.

propaganda

Is it just me or is everyone else sick and tired of seeing the avalanche of federal government propaganda everywhere on TV, radio, the papers and even the letterbox?

We're paying for this crap! We're being told how WorkChoices (the government's most loved initiative that dare not speak it's name) is good for us, when we know the truth. They offer token solutions to climate change to show us how they've finally, if reluctantly come on board. They claim to be protecting "families" online by implementing a filter and posting us all an expensive brochure.

The delay in calling the election is only cementing the public's view that it's time for a change. In fact it's long past time for a change. Howard should call the election today and let the Liberal Party pay for it's own advertising.