From my time in Oz I got the impression that Australians are very easily scared politically. It was quite a weird feeling that they talk so tough, but are such sooks about some things.

Yeah, that's about true. It's partly a symptom of their electoral system, which sees them relatively…

Altogether now...."Breaking the AAA-bbott..."

Just as long as the LNC realise that this is the twenty
first century and replace…

Unfortunately, La Gillard is one of the…

But the fortune cookie looked so delicious!

I call dibs on Lady Haden-Guest's body.

That was weird: Craig and Russell appear to have Freaky Friday'd themselves.

But the fortune cookie looked so delicious!

screwing miners...
the whole tit-for-tat ad campaign
doesn't bode well for NZ's proposed
venture into wealth by…

Seriously? Run the fucking ads — taken every opportunity to call out the mining industry as the real threat to Australian jobs and prosperity who are stone cold liars.

And that was working so well.

But do you really think anyone could go out and argue for the mining industry…

What would you have done?

Seriously? Run the fucking ads — taken every opportunity to call out the mining industry as the real threat to Australian jobs and prosperity who are stone cold liars. Seriously, I find it hard to believe the mining industry ones I've seen (and I don't…

No. Clearly the key to winning an election is not to pick a fight with a uber-powerful lobby (their ads have been playing more or less non…

I hope I'm wrong and Gillard isn't going to turn out to be an abject doormat, but forgive me for not feeling over confident at this point.

Before she was even sworn in she got BHP to withdraw its advertising campaign and they're talking. What would you have done?

Presumably, it would have been better to have accelerated towards the brick wall.

That's silly, Russell. It might have been better if the mining industry hadn't been sent such a clear message that flat out deceptive scare campaigns work. And, as I said, given that industry's previous form there's entirely…

The Left narrative is already set, by the look of the comments: she's a dirty corporate sellout. I/S's verdict is that she is "tainted from the start" after seeking to start again on the mining tax.

Presumably, it would have…

Clearly the key to great polling (and presumed electoral success) is to open your country up to mining, and demand next-to-nothing in return.

Who would have picked Brownlee as such a master political operative?

Eventually Key will have to be on the defensive about something, and the media…

1. No real power base in the ALP; and a tendency to centralise power which made him unpopular with many MPs.

...which would have mattered much except that:

2. There were policy stuff-ups (particularly the insulation thing), which tarnished his image.

3.…

I beg to differ. I think that's brilliant politics.

I agree that it's brilliant electoral politics for the ALP who'd rather not have a contentious policy debate in election season. Whether Gillard's done jack shit for those "Aussie battlers" who pick up the tab for the mining industry's idea of…

That'll lower the temperature right there.

She promised to throw open the doors of the government to industry for consultation, if the mining sector throws open its “mind” to the views of the government.

Gillard can't be that naive, can she?

I beg to differ. I think that's brilliant politics.

She's pointed at the elehphant in…

The real relevance to NZ politics is that some in the NZLP will look to how Abbott revived the bloated corpse of the Liberal Party, and wonder whether someone (i.e., Cunliffe) might do the same for them.

But whoever it is has to be able to pull off those budgiesmuggler…

RuddRolled..

Australia......Rudderless.

I've had a terrible Led Zeppelin earworm

Same band, different earworm.

Hey, hey, mama, said the way you move
Gonna make you sweat, gonna make you groove.
Oh, oh, child, way you shake that thing
Gonna make you burn, gonna make you sting.

As for the guts, one does wish the LibNats could have exhibited some in ditching the Poison Dwarf before 2007 made it academic...

By "before 2007 made it academic" I presume you mean "before those stupid peasants went to the polls and changed the government (and Prime Minister) all by…

CR: As for the guts, one does wish the LibNats could have exhibited some in ditching the Poison Dwarf…

But then the mining companies had time on their side this time with an election looming and the ALP was…

I'd wager that its a pretty safe bet (to continue the gambling theme) that Gillards "lady bits" are unlikely to be the main rationale behind the ALP's strategy in replacing an increasingly unpopular and potentially election losing PM with the current (and relatively popular) deputy prime minister...

You might be…

I agree – who'd get their political analysis from Centrebet or the TAB... when you can get it from POLITICAL commentators in the plethora of media outlets who have been disecting every part of this drama on this side of the ditch as it has unfolded over the…

Gone in a puff of smoke, leaving the field open to the Guardian and the Torygraph...

Tough shit Rupert, what is your next try?

I don't find Viacom very appealing at all.

They have some damn fine shows tho'. Daily Show and Colbert are but two.

Or, y'know, you could actually have a look at their site.

I could, but like Kiwibog the reek of decomposing hack bullshit makes my eyes bleed.

the commentators over here are saying that Gillard will destroy Tony Abbott in an election.

Ah, yes... I always look to Spotsbet and the…

Gutted I missed the Maori game, trawled some of the rugby newsgroups and Twitter later in the evening and realised I'd missed a classic.

Hunt down the haka, it was totally aws! At one stage during it the maoris suddenly marched forward 3-4 paces in unison, tv camera was perfectly…

Today is a very interesting day. One other thing to note is that Google has won the copyright case Viacom brought against it.

Okay, it's a big deal for I.P. geeks like me.

That sure is a huge victory for Google, although Viacom is appealing. So it's really only Round…

There's a lady who's sure
They were nuts to tax gold.
And she's climbing the stairway
to Kevin.

So, Kev is proud then?

Of the fact.

Evidently.

Gutted I missed the Maori game

Bloody marvellous game. As good as when they beat the British Lions a couple of years back. Lovely, swirling rugby--with Gear, Sweeny, Messam, McAlister just superb.

"This crypto-fascist made no effort to build a base in the party. Now that his only faction, Newspoll, has deserted him he is gone."

OUCH!

I wish someone would apply the same results orientated blow torch to Goff, it is increasingly clear that while he is an effective machine politician,…

Also, he does not know the meaning of consultation – not at all (although…

Okay, it's a big deal for I.P. geeks like me.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/06/24/2935679.htm

mummy's boy versus strong-minded female? Easy.

John Howard lived at home until he was 32. Didn't seem to hurt his career any.

the commentators over here are saying that Gillard will destroy Tony Abbott in an election.

Well, Rudd destroyed the pox that was the Howard government, and look how far that got him! ;-)

Julia Gillard

this should help sales of Pampered Menial
or at least give Pavlov's Dog some extra needle money...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6uexPmL0fk

or The Beatles for that matter

the commentators over here are saying that Gillard will destroy Tony Abbott in an election.

From my limited viewpoint, it looks like a no brainer: mummy's boy versus strong-minded female? Easy.

We're all looking forward to The Standard explaining how Julia Gillard's rise to the top of the greasy pole

Or, y'know, you could actually have a look at their site. Where they simply note Rudd's almost inexplicable fall from record popularity, and light-heartedly wonder whether the same fate might…

I hope he goes somewhere bigger such as international relations or the UN where he can make use of his intellectual and…

Betting agency says Labor's odds of election win have shortened to $1.38. Coalition out to $2.95

Gutted I missed the Maori game, trawled some of the rugby newsgroups and Twitter later in the evening and realised I'd missed a classic.

Yeah, it was. It was just magnificent.

Big games, interestingly, from McAlister and Brett — who both looked to be on a whole 'nother level of…

At least Gilliard had the grace to mount a coup whilst the PM was in the country.

ah well. i guess his political obituary will read: "John Howard – i knocked the bugger off".

PS, @craig, at least gillard might actually win an election...

Bit of sport overload going on in our house....

I hit the worng thread...

Yep, and I tried the save, but scored an own goal.

"leadership spill"

spill your guts...?
or a technicolour yawn
all very Ocker, very Barry McKenzie

And so did the 15.

We looked at the changing cinema business, and at the likelihood of cinemas becoming venues for non-feature-film content – especially in 3D.

I note my local Reading cineplex (Palms, Chch)
hosts evangelical church meetings on Sundays...
the other 3D – the Trinity?

will read deborah's link with this hypothesis in mind.

Think you could also argue that for all the sound and fury, the protests against the '81 Tour did not hasten the fall of apartheid by a single day, let alone stop The Tour.

Yet they made this country significantly more civil. Go figure, eh?

Leadership challenge: how has it come to this?

In any case. most Aussie LGBT expats I've talked to reckon that Rudd was too much of a backward Queenslander redneck to continue to lead a modern centre-left political party.…

Aussie politics is a toxic mash-up of Neighbours and I Spit On Your Grave at the best of times

Gold. I'm going to pass that on to Mr Wallington, who was explaining the matrix of Labor factionalism to me this morning.

I gather his indecision over an emissions trading scheme, the hostile attentions of the mining lobby, and a fairly nasty public mood over refugees all contributed, but it still seems bizarre to me.

OK, am I the only Kiwi who suspects this is just the usual Australian political party factional…