Tag Archives: Debate

Debates, Policy Nitpicking and now the Candidates are Dropping Like Flies

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With the public holidays now out of the way, the election campaign is finally gaining some steam and things are happening.

You may remember from last week, there was an anti-Adani convoy driving around Queensland and they’d arrived in a town that was fairly pro-coal mining. Well, in the early part of this week, while camped near the town there were reports of gunshots in the area. Even more shocking, during one of their rallies a man on horseback came tearing through the crowns and ended up knocking over a woman and injuring her. Organisers, including Bob Brown are very concerned about these actions, but they’re also somewhat relieved that more people weren’t injured, especially as there were children travelling with their parents on this convoy.

Meanwhile, people are trying to get clarity on Labor’s Early Childhood policies. Labor wants to increase the subsidies for parents sending their children to childcare, making it free for low-income earners and increasing the rebates for those on higher incomes. Labor has also said they will increase the income of Early Childhood Educators by 20%, apparently using taxpayer money. There will be no difference between the private and the public childcare centres however there are some questions over whether government intervention might stop private providers from raising their employees’ wages of their own volition. Labor says that it won’t finalise everything until they’re in government and they’ve consulted with everyone.

There were two debates this week, one on Monday in Western Australia aired on a Seven Network multichannel and the second later in the week aired on Sky News (a pay TV channel). Bill Shorten won the audience in both debates, which suggests his 80 or so “town hall” style events have also served as good practice for explaining things.

The second debate also gave us this moment:

Tanya Plibersek called it Morrison’s “Mark Latham Moment” – a flashback to the 2004 election and the rather aggressive handshake then Labor Leader Mark Latham (who is now a One Nation MLC in NSW) gave John Howard after leaving a radio studio that Howard was about to enter.

There have been a few things that have become apparent during these leaders’ debates. First, the government really has painted itself into a corner on their campaign points – all they appear to have is economic management and an anti-Labor sentiment, while the Labor party appears to have this war chest of promises, offers and policies. ABC Political Editor Andrew Probyn has suggested that the government’s campaign appears hollow and that they need to start inspiring voters rather than scaring them.

Second, the Labor party does need to be more clear on some of their policies. More than once, Labor has had to clarify a policy, and they are constantly questioned on the cost of some of their other policies. Now, as the Opposition, they do get cut a bit of slack when it comes to promises and their costs – but they have promised to release some costings in the next week.

Finally this week, eight candidates have either resigned or been disendorsed from their candidacies. It is now too late to replace any of them, and so they will still appear on the ballot paper. One Nation lost Steve Dickson over inappropriate behaviour at a strip club while on the infamous NRA trip to the USA. Al Jazeera, who put together the NRA sting say that the footage from the strip club was never part of the program because it wasn’t in the public interest. They also said that the footage from the strip club was aired without their permission. Regardless, Dickson is gone, along with another One Nation candidate Ross McDonald for inappropriate sexist Facebook posts.

Meanwhile Liberal candidates Jeremy Hearn, Peter Killin, Jessica Whelan have all resigned or been dumped for anti-Muslim and/or homophobic comments, and Labor candidates Luke Creasey and Wayne Kurnorth who have lost endorsement for sexist and anti-Semitic social media posts respectively. Finally the Katter’s Australia Party candidate for Dawson Brendan Bunyan has been disendorsed for comments that sort of cover all of the above. I’ll admit, Annabel Crabb’s election emails have helped me keep track of this, and you can sign up for the emails here.

Tweet of the Week

At the first debate, people were poking fun at the staging:

https://twitter.com/leachitup/status/1122789573082222592

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

If you haven’t done Vote Compass yet, give it a go – ABC Vote Compass

Vote Compass shows the key election split is now age, not left and right – ABC Online

Zoë Norton Lodge on winning your seat “like a man” – ABC Online

The Week That Was – May 29 to June 4

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The week began with a debate at the National Press Club, which was reportedly the least watched thing on Sunday night, and as a die hard politics nerd who watched the debate (along with forcing those in my home) I can see why that was. It was a mostly a talking points fest, where Shorten and Turnbull to various extents failed to answer the questions asked. It got interesting about three quarters of the way through when Turnbull suggested that people smugglers in Indonesia were going around telling prospective customers that if Bill Shorten becomes Prime Minister, the boats will be ‘back on’. It was a low blow, and resulted in some snarky exchanges for the last 10-15 minutes of the night.

This week was also the start of what would have been a normal five-week election campaign, and the movements of the leaders show that they’ve been hitting the marginal seats, mainly in NSW and Queensland, but also a few in other states. There were promises for the arts, the environment, transport and child care. There is also concerns over superannuation, which left Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Greens Senator Sarah Hanson-Young in trouble in radio interviews this week.

As we hit the halfway point in this election this weekend, the Liberal Party has finalised its Senate ticket, which it had to re-do after the double dissolution was called. In the last ticket, prepared for the usual half-Senate election, Concetta Fierravanti-Wells was in a position on the list where she would never have one. In this new list, Fierravanti-Wells is in fourth spot, which gives her a far better chance of retaining a seat.

Finally this week, it’s believed that it could cost somewhere around $16 billion to implement changes to help save Great Barrier Reef from bleaching; Australia was pleasantly suprised by a higher than expected 1.1% March quarter growth rate; and the scaremongering has begun over hung parliaments, especially with it looking like at least one lower house seat in South Australia could go to the Nick Xenophon Team.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

The young woman who is running against Tony Abbott – Triple J Hack

Liberal-Labor Meme Wars – Buzzfeed

The Week That Was – March 13 to March 19

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This week was dominated by the drama in the Senate. The Senate voting reforms, which were always going to pass with the support of the Greens and Nick Xenophon, were debated for 40 hours (28 of which were uninterrupted) before being successful. While there were some legit questions in the debate, such as Family First’s Bob Day’s question about exhausted votes, but it was a very long night. At 9pm, Labor was giving Greens leader Richard Di Natale a hard time about his GQ Magazine photoshoot…

 

..and by 2am it had all got to the point where NSW Labor Senator Doug Cameron quoted Monty Python’s Holy Grail…

…David Leyonhjelm suggested that the government was acting like Zimbabwean dictator Robert Mugabe, and the Senate Chair was exhausted. It did pass the senate, however, Bob Day, with some support from Leyonhjelm and the Liberal Democrats, will now bring a High Court challenge over the whole exhausted votes thing, as Day’s amendment would have stopped people from putting “Just vote 1 for X party” on their how-to-vote gear.

Once again the Labor party still has a bit of an upper hand with the whole election talking thing – despite the minor distraction from WA involving former defence minister Stephen Smith – while Turnbull and the Coalition continue to deal with double dissolution speculation. It didn’t help that all of the Liberal MPs retiring from Parliament, like Theresa Gambaro, Bruce Billson and Ian McFarlane, began making their valedictory speeches – which is basically where they talk about their achievements and make some warm and fuzzy parting comments. Parliament now has a seven week break until the May 10 Budget – at least if it stays being on May 10, they might come back a week early – during which they’ll probably make some policy announcements and finalise their tax plans.

Religious leaders have announced that they will provide sanctuary to refugees due to be returned to Nauru once their medical treatment is completed. Several congregations across the country also pledged to assist their church in providing sanctuary, including preventing officials from entering their church. It’s possible that they risk arrest for their actions, but they don’t seem to be phased by that. They say they are not sure when they will need to provide sanctuary, but they will respond when the time comes.

This week, some people stormed and protested the Adelaide office of SA Liberal Senator Cory Bernardi over his issues with the Safe Schools Program. This week, the Education Minister Simon Birmingham announced some big changes to the program, with it only being used in High Schools, changing the content of a few of the lessons, requiring parental permission for each child to participate, and making some information only available to “certain students” and delivered by “qualified teachers” – essentially cutting some of the most crucial information that helps students understand what their LGBTQI classmates are going through.

Finally this week, the Iranians had their go at criticising Australia’s treatment of refugees; Concetta Fierravanti-Wells has been dropped to #2 on the Coalition Senate ticket in NSW; Australia might follow the UK’s lead and have a “sugar tax”; and former Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson has won preselection in outgoing MP Andrew Robb’s Victorian electorate of Goldstein.

Tweet of the Week

Things I’ve Been Looking at Online

American colleges taking Aussie Rules players as kickers or something – Washington Post

Senate photo rules lead to a Buzzfeed Journalist’s phone being searched – The Guardian

A listicle on the weird stuff that happened in the Senate – Buzzfeed

The Week that Was – August 18 to August 24

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This week, the election got a bit boring. There were some good bits, like the debate, but not much else.

There was some more interesting stuff on Monday when it was revealed that there would be no ‘new’ funding for the Arts Sector from a Labor Government or a Liberal Government. Labor is claiming that Tony Abbott wants to have the ability to veto arts projects – but I don’t know if Labor is telling the truth, and ABC FactCheck hasn’t said anything either, so I can’t be sure. The Greens have said that they will give more money to the arts – and that’s about it.

If you are a fan of Annabel Crabb and/or Kitchen Cabinet, then you, like I, will enjoy this tweet:

Yep, Kitchen Cabinet with both the PM and the Opposition Leader on the 4th (Tony) and 5th (Kevin) of September. I am looking forward to it. There has been a bit of a controversy though, as the Murdoch papers have been saying that when Kevin Rudd halted his campaign to find out more about what was going on is Syria, he the delayed the Syria briefing to film Kitchen Cabinet. According to the ABC, he left himself enough time to film the episode, and the only time that the briefing could be held was in the evening, so there was no big deal anyway. I’m not sure what to think, and to be honest, I feel that the Murdoch papers are being overly partisan.

Oh well, two weeks to go.

Quotes of the Week

“My responsibility, as the PM, is to ensure that all the caretaker conventions are applied. And I intend to do that. These are troubling times in the international community, and we need to focus carefully and squarely on unfolding events and as they affect Australia’s core national interests. When you are talking about the use of weapons of mass destruction, potentially, against large civilian concentrations, this is a matter of concern for all decent human beings, and a concern for our future,” – Kevin Rudd on the issues in Syria after the brouhaha about the briefing.

“There is no need to apologise for what is an absolute charming compliment between friends” – Fiona Scott on the ‘sex appeal’ comment from Tony Abbott.

Tweet of the Week

Debate 2.0, Who’s Aggressive and Buy the Boats

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Wednesday saw another debate, and while it did start off boring, once the undecided voters started asking interesting questions. Someone asked why there were such terrible candidates. Kevin Rudd agreed but essentially said that all the good people that would be great were not in politics, while Tony Abbott tried to spruik his candidates. Later in the debate, it got feisty:

That saw people (in politics) on Thursday asking if Abbott was aggressive or in Rudd talked too much.

Abbott also released his health plan, in which he says he will expand GP training. However the news was mostly about his announcement to no longer accept donations to the Liberal Party from big tobacco.

Also on Thursday, with reports of chemical weapon use in Syria, both Abbott and Rudd said that they condemned the use of chemical weapons – it may be the only thing they have agreed upon.

Friday saw Tony Abbott with another plan for border security – buying back the boats. The plan, in a very small nutshell, is to pay fishermen for boats so that people smugglers cannot buy them, but also to pay for informants – Labor is not impressed.

Speaking of Labor, Kevin Rudd spent his Friday on a whirlwind tour of Western Sydney, which started at about 5am at the fish markets.

We now have only two weeks to go – it’ll all be over soon….

The Debate, NoteGate, The Suppository and Sex Appeal

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Well, It’s been an entertaining few days.

Sunday saw the debate, and while Tony Abbott ran the City2Surf in Sydney, Kevin Rudd went to church with his family. Mr Abbott had a press conference with Malcolm Turnbull at Bondi Beach. The debate ensued. You can find my account of it here.

Kevin Rudd had a bit of a problem when two candidates pulled out of the running for their seats. The one in Queensland was dumped for some unknown reason, and the one in Victoria pulled out after being rude to or about a disabled person a few years ago.

Tony Abbott still hasn’t talked about his budget plans or costings, which does put the Liberals in a tough position, and to be frank, I just wanted answers – and that was what the four random Queenslanders that the ABC talked to after the debate were annoyed about – there weren’t any. The only thing of note was Kevin Rudd’s pledge of a same-sex marriage bill within 100 days of his term if elected.

Of course, on Monday, came the controversy of all possible controversies – NoteGate. Kevin Rudd had notes! Why on earth would someone making a speech or taking part in a debate have notes or facts? Apparently they were only allowed to use the notepad given to them by the National Press Club, but if Kevin and/or Tony had a page or two of notes, I wouldn’t kick up a fuss. In fact, I’d be glad that they were prepared.

The amusement came from Tony Abbott saying:

“No one, however smart, however well-educated, however experienced … is the suppository of all wisdom”

Technically, that’s true, given that a suppository is a drug administered through the rectum. Not a nice image, is it? The general assumption is that he was meant to say “repository” – which is a storage vessel. Oops.

Also, there’s been some asylum seekers who nearly got through the Torres Strait – and Campbell Newman, at least according to the Labor Party, tried to scare people about it – and to be honest, if that’s the case, he’s not being a nice guy.

Then there was the NBN Debate on Lateline. Neither Malcolm Turnbull nor Anthony Albanese did very well at all. There are two very different broadband plans and I didn’t understand a word. The stellar performance came from Emma Alberici – the anchor of Lateline – and she earned herself a stiff drink.

Tuesday just got weird. The Pre-election Economic and Fiscal Outlook (PEFO) was released and the Labor Party called for the Liberals to release their budget costings. Apparently the Treasury used the word “uncertainty” thirty times. Wow.

Then Tony Abbott was asked about how his female candidate for Lindsay compared to the candidate (who as also female) beck in 2010. He said that they both had sex appeal.

Oh well, we still have three and a half weeks of this to go!

Tony vs Kevin – The Debate

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KR – Kevin Rudd TA: Tony Abbott

6:30 – We begin. Scott Bevan looks the wrong way and after turning to the correct camera tells us that Peter Hartcher, Lyndal Curtis and Simon Benson will be on the panel.

6:33 – The PM begins. He talks up the economy and says everyone is very important. The election is on who is the best for the future. Talks about interest rates and the positive things they have done for Australia – They got rid of Work Choices!

  • We need to transition – we have before and we can again
  • Better schools plan, hospital funding
  • Great future for Australia and I can do it.

6:36 – Tony Abbott states the obvious – it’s a debate between him and Kevin

  • We can make future secure
  • Job safety
  • Good for you
  • Stronger economy
  • Scrap the tax but keep the compo
  • Get the economy under control.
  • Upgrading major roads
  • STOP THE BOATS – apparently we shouldn’t be letting the people smugglers do our job.
  • We can’t have a another three years like the last six
  • A new way means a new govt.

6:39 – Kev is asked about economy

  • We invested in our future to avoid the GFC
  • We saved ourselves and stopped our debt being HUGE

6:41 – Tony is asked about his economic plans

  • Lots of waste
  • Brought up insulation scandal
  • China boom kept us out of recession
  • You will see closer to polling day how our numbers add up

6:43 – Kev rebukes

  • Surely Tony could be open about the money 4 weeks before an election
  • They keep evading the economy questions – legitimate to ask them what they’re doing

6:45 – Tony looks like the smarmy cat that got the cream as he bitches and moans about the Labor party.

6:47 – “THE GST CAN’T CHANGE!” Tony says, over and over and over

6:48 – KR asks about Tony’s policies again. The host is trying to move it on. KR then goes on about Pacific Solution.

6:50 – TA asked what his problem is with Pacific Solution

  • We will try to fix what we can
  • Coalition invented offshore processing
  • PNG Solution is not what KR says it is
  • If safe to do so, on the orders on the Navy, like they do with pirates – he gets cut off

6:52:

  • Under international maritime law, nearest ship is meant to help boats in distress
  • TA has not answered the question at all
  • TA then rebukes and says that KR needs to get his facts right

6:53 – Lyndal Curtis asked about taxes and trust

  • KR says that under Coalition last time, taxes were at 25% related to GDP – it has been 22% under labour
  • Abbott wants to give big business tax breaks
  • TA says that the Carbon tax will help the families who are suffering terribly

6:56 – Peter Hartcher asks about tax revenues – What programs will you cut, what taxes will you increase

KR:

  • That is not the appropriate action
  • it will transfer the pain to families
  • Budget management is fine – we just released info
  • We will responsibly over time return to surplus
  • We do not want to create problems while trying to keep the economy stable

TA:

  • NBN is way behind schedule and over budget
  • Yes, revenues are under pressure
  • We need to grow a stronger economy
  • eliminate unnecessary taxes
  • No specific plans that will decrease productivity
  • Stronger economy means we can fund systems
  • NEITHER ANSWERED THE QUESTION!
  • TA: I am being honest – KR is running a scare campaign
  • KR: there are real economic pressures on families – we are supporting them!

7:03 – Simon Benson asks: Surely after 30 years of debate we should just build a second airport in Sydney

TA:

  • We should do it
  • It will take time because Labor has been useless
  • I will make a decision in my first term if I win
  • Let’s build WestConnex too!

KR:

  • Yay! Fair work Act!
  • We are investing in infrastructure
  • we can increase productivity that way
  • Where will it be???
  • recommendations and decisions will be made at the right time
  • Ask Albo about it – he’s the transport minister
  • Mr Abbott won’t invest in rail systems

7:08 – Lyndal Curtis asks about legislation policy for aged care

TA:

  • My relatives were in aged care centres – they’re good and we can make them better
  • We need to ensure that the workers are doing their amazing jobs not dealing with paperwork

KR:

  • we need to deal with it effectively
  • We are dealing with how we are funding it
  • help people to age with dignity in care and in homes
  • Nurses do a good job
  • There need to be more people working in aged care – not just in care centres but at home
  • It’s only fair to seniors

7:12 – Peter Hartcher asks about Climate Change and cutting emissions

TA:

  • I want to deal with the facts not hypotheticals
  • reduce emissions by 5% by 2020
  • We won’t use a tax
  • we will go to the market and buy cost-effective way to help reduce emissions (Trees!)
  • We will adjust to changes.
  • No one else in the world has a carbon tax

KR:

  • We need to deal with it now to help the future generations
  • The impact on the Great Barrier Reef is scary to think about
  • We are moving to an emissions trading scheme and away from a carbon tax
  • Emission are not increasing

7:17 – Simon Benson asks about the economy and rhetoric.

KR:

  • We need to transition our economy and diversify it
  • We have terrific agriculture – lets sell it to the chinese

TA:

  • He said the same thing six years ago
  • It’s the same waffle
  • If the mining boom is over because of the mining tax, carbon tax and other things
  • We will stop the carbon and mining taxes
  • a strong resources sector is good

KR:

  • We have to prepare for the day and we need to be prepared!

7:22 – Same sex marriage

TA:

  • it’s an important issue
  • My gay sister is in the audience
  • Will he give it a conscience vote

KR:

  • I support it!
  • It is a mark of decency for same-sex couples
  • Within the first 100 days of the Labor Govt will have a bill for same-sex marriage and have a conscience vote

7:24 – KR Closes

  • I am happy to talk about my plans about the country’s future
  • we’ve kept the economy strong
  • we’ve invested in everything for our future
  • We’ve invested in hospitals
  • We need to create new jobs
  • We have the NBN and the Better schools plan
  • We want to put evil bitchy politics away and have nice talks about the future
  • People don’t want to see a stronger economy by killing things off
  • We are going to deal with the challenges of the future

7:27 – TA Closes

  • KR is wrong
  • I have to get back to basics
  • No limits on what Aussies could achieve
  • It’s hard to be optimistic about the government
  • If there is an LNP govt elected we will solve all your problems
  • STOP THE BOATS
  • I believe in my team
  • I believe in YOU! (OH YUCK)
  • I am ready , the team is ready the plans are ready and we will be strong and united

7:29 – The end. Thanks to everyone. Back patting ensues.

Tony vs Kevin – The Debate – Prologue

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Sounds like a boxing match, doesn’t it?

Mind you, it’d be far more entertaining for my family that way, given that I’m commandeering the TV come 6pm.

There was a coin toss this morning for who will start the debate, and Kevin will be starting it. I’m also hoping The Worm will make an appearance, but I doubt it will.

Instead, I bring you joy from Twitter.

Tee hee. I’ll see you soon….