Lost in Spades

Nice, wishful albeit, thought that the bloodletting ended: only a matter of time before there will be more, exactly because, we  reap that which we sow . Regardless of our 29th Prime Minister's bona fides, he too is now and forever destined to his just deserts . While many yearn for an Australian republic---to cut, finally, the purse-string from mother Britain---Mr Turnbull's adroit grab of the reigns means we may well get more than we bargained for. Three of our elected foremost leaders have now been forcibly removed from office, kicking and screaming, within a period not all of five years , as Australia looks to have, for all intents and purposes, fixed its eyes on a republic style of governance. But what these folk perhaps had not counted on was a republic fixed in the style of Rome. Where are all the haruspices ? Where, those trained in the art of reading the entrails? The entrails are laid bare on Par...

Tony Abbott attended primary school at St Aloysius' College at Milson's Point, before completing his secondary school education at St Ignatius' College, Riverview (both are Jesuit schools). He graduated with a Bachelor of Economics and a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney where he resided at St John's College, and was president of the Student Representative Council. He then travelled via India to Britain to study at The Queen's College, Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, where he graduated with a Master of Arts (MA) in Politics and Philosophy. Following his time in Britain, he returned to Australia via Africa and advised his family of an intention to join the priesthood . Bill Shorten was born in Melbourne and educated at Xavier College (a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus ) and Monash University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws. During his time at Monash,...

Not wanting to be negative and more than happy if the market goes up from here till Christmas (here to Timbuktu if it can), but my amateur cursory view from the proverbial bridge (i.e. from distance ), says that the elephant in the (trading) room is the paper thin volumes traded. Low volumes (and these have been  stubbornly low for some time ) ring alarm bells for me because over the years market gurus seemed to have always agreed (and common sense tells me) that small volumes are fundamentally a sign of weakness in the market regardless of price trend.   I guess momentum has to build from a low base to start but these volumes "feel" (because I am no technocrat when it comes to the market, so often 'feel' is all I have) incongruent with market value. Indeed these volumes are dire for such an inflated market.   I did some brief research and found this:   GOLDMAN: Here's Wh...

One thing should be abundantly clear, after tonight's "Q&A" on ABC Television, to those of you who were befuddled during the election campaign: the LNP Coalition have no plan and never did - just a bunch of slogans and policy aims; but no detail of policy. Australians voted for an Aero-Bar party - more air than substance. Why do you think Tony Abbott was so quick to get to work? Yes, it is camouflaged behind words like: "slowly"; "methodically"; "carefully"... but they are winging it Big Time! No policy. No Plan. NFI. You get what you vote for - nebulous, superficial, unprepared, sloganeering. Make no mistake: Australia  IS the laughing stock of the world. Now Mr Murdoch, send in the clowns!

Only Australians are stupid enough to vote out a government presiding over an economy the envy of the world just because the Opposition said they weren't; and to which end they were backed by the media. Whatever female voters thought of Tony Abbott was effectively nullified by having his daughters stick to him like shit to a wet blanket. Furthermore, Blue Collar males are the demographic that deserted Labor - they never liked Julia Gillard and they preferred a man's man like Abbott over Rudd. And therein lies the irony: those most likely to lose from a Coalition government have just voted them in as the next government. Can't believe we made him Prime Minister. Well guys, you get what you vote for.

The Liberals have played 'Magic Cup' with the 'Mug' Punter   Yes. Labor really annoyed me when they deposed a sitting Prime Minister.   And then they did it a second time. Ropable, I was. Still am. I consider my politics to be just left of centre (prudent, but not a fanatic), but because of their twice deposing of a sitting prime minister, and also because of the Green's more humane asylum seeker policy (and strong climate policy), I was considering voting the latter ( they have been quite transparent ) and perhaps preference Labor, or, believe it or not, the PUP. Sound ridiculous? So fed up was I that I was considering a vote for Clive Palmer (mind you, you could do worse in this election – how dull would it have been without him). But this is no laughing matter – this is our future. And here’s the rub… Aware of Labor heartland disaffection, the Liberals are using this as leverage to wager an increasingly right-wing agenda; bu...

For f---'s sake Australia. If you vote or preference the LNP you'll be voting for the far right wing and a whole big f---ing world of pain and embarrassing stupidity .

Gabrielle Chan , political correspondent theguardian.com , Friday 6 September 2013 19.22 AEST Campaigning on the central coast, the prime minister insists the election is still there to be won, against all polling data.

After preaching doom and gloom for years, the Abbott honeymoon has started already, Michael Pascoe reports .

September 6, 2013 - 6:54PM by Jane Lee , Legal Affairs Reporter for The Age Indigenous Australians could be more likely to go to jail under an Abbott government in light of Coalition plans to cut $42 million from indigenous legal services .

You might be able to accuse the Greens of a few things, but avoiding scrutiny is not one of them. Posted by  Greg Jericho , Thursday 5 September 2013 13.51 EST theguardian.com   

Tony Abbott's climate policies are about removing the social and environmental protections enjoyed by all Australians to allow the filthy rich to become richer – and filthier. George Monbiot, theguardian.com , Thursday 5 September 2013 11.35 AEST

Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb gave us a list of numbers but no explanation of how they add up . The Coalition's Joe Hockey and Andrew Robb – playing us for mugs. Photograph: David Crosling/AAPIMAGE

Australian voters face an uninspiring choice. We won't try to tell you how to vote, but there is much at risk from an Abbott victory. Depressing though it is, this is nevertheless a vote that must be taken seriously, as much is at stake. Labor is broken; the Liberals are hiding – but they are not the same. Mr Abbott has asked the Australian people to trust him, but he doesn’t trust them enough to give them the facts they need to make an informed decision. Those who choose the Coalition because they think Labor don’t deserve it might soon feel regret; those who vote on Saturday for change may be surprised what that change entails.

I cast my ballot without really knowing what the Coalition intends to do, writes an anonymous postal voter.

Tony Abbott – the man likely to become Australia's next prime minister on Saturday – has given his most enthusiastic endorsement of Rupert Murdoch since the election campaign began, describing the News Corp Australia chairman as a “hometown hero”. Oliver Laughland , theguardian.com , Friday 6 September 2013 16.41 AEST

JOE KELLY  , The Australian   September 06, 2013 3:15PM KEVIN Rudd says he needs to win over 300,000 to 400,000 Australians before tomorrow's election, as polls point to a convincing Coalition victory .  

by Michael Gordon, SMH Abbott's been criticising the Fair Work legislation that Labor implemented that protects people, when it's a little known fact that labour productivity has been improving quite significantly over the last couple of years and is almost three times as high under the Fair Work legislation than it was under WorkChoices. We've now got the benefit of the clean energy package and the carbon price being in place for over a year and, putting politics aside, it's worthwhile considering facts – and the facts are showing us that emissions in the national electricity market are down and that emissions from the emissions-intensive power stations in Victoria are down significantly and that renewable energy generation is up 30 per cent.