71 comments

1. bjkelly1958January 11, 2014 at 10:31 am

   You are so damn right, Victoria. Many who do not support the Abbott government are fixated with “fixing” the Labor party. My Dad had my dog “fixed” and it did nothing for its productivity! There is also an element who say “We’ve lost and he’ll be there for a decade.” Not if you join the fight instead of whining.

   Pick up your rope, attach it to the mothership of the Left and pull like mad.

2. mars08January 11, 2014 at 10:50 am

   I can see what you are saying. And, for the most part, agree with you. The political left needs to united if it is to have any chance against the massive resources of the right. As far as the voters go… I am pretty sure most of them don’t give much thought to where they stand ideologically. For them it’s mainly short-term, self-interest stuff. Most don’t realise that environmentalism, feminism, human-rights, labour and equal-rights CAN all exist in the same tent.

   Now… this is where we differ. I believe that we DO need a hero. And so do those voters who would lean to the right. Both sides… need a hero with the courage to LEAD and inspire. We need leaders who will genuinely lead for all Australian. We do not need people who divide and conquer, pander to the rich and powerful, promote ignorance, are hostage to newspaper polls and build party platforms to impress western Sydney. voters.

   Good Grief! It’s ridiculous that we now have Malcolm Fraser and John Hewson sounding more moderate and reasonable than the so-called leaders of our major parties.

   We need heroes who have vision and courage to inspire us and bring out the best in us as a nation, not the worst.

3. paulJanuary 11, 2014 at 10:56 am

   There used to be a sign in the Labor caucus room in the Old Parliament House 40 years ago. It said “The unity of Labor is the hope of the world.” It’s Labor disunity that got us where we are today. I know some on the left vote green but in nearly all seats most of those votes end up with Labor because the other alternative destination for them under preferential voting is Liberal. Labor disunity is bad for Greens voters too as we can see by the situation we are in with the Abbott Government. The reality is that the left are already feeling a bit punch drunk at the audacity of the Abbott Government in covering up information once taken for granted and in its controversial in your face appointments such as Tim Wilson. Compared to Abbott, Rudd started by appointing Peter Costello, Senator Robert Hill and Brendan Nelson to various high level positions. It was all far more conciliatory. Now the left have much to work with but have already seen how confrontational the Abbott Government is going to be. Like Thatcher, Abbott may well thrive on conflict,

4. Kim WrightJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:05 am

   I agree that Australia not just the Labor party needs a Hero or Heroine( you were a little remiss there), someone who can be someone we can be proud of. Voting and supporting Labor for over 43 years came to an end for me with the treatment of Julia Gillard within and without the party. I could let go of infighting and devision and lack of action over those years, but not this time. This was about all women. The loss of Greg Combet and others..too much. SO now I am a very proud Greens member and have attended meetings lately where people in their 60s 70s 80s had also just joined. They needed to be part of something they could be proud of, they need to part of a party that is standing up and speaking out on issues dear to us, asylum seekers, the environment, education etc. No one is under any illusion that the Greens will hold power in the own right for quite some time, but its about feeing you are part of something that demonstrates its ethics and is prepared to find ways to be heard. I am still unclear about Labors position on Asylum seekers and I was dismayed though not surprised that Shorten agreed to the handing over of environmental powers to the State. Our country is going to hell in a hand basket and Labor fights with itself. The citizens though are getting active and restless. This does not necessarily equate to Labor winning next election though, unless they get a grip and start standing for SOMETHING

5. gailgoodwinJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:12 am

   I agree, Victoria and BJKelly. We need a hero to pull like mad so we can really get behind her/him and push. LNP’s extremism is yet to be outweighed by an opposing force.

6. dafid1January 11, 2014 at 11:12 am

   Thanks Victoria, you said it and I am desperately trying to add my contribution but I am sad to say I don’t see my hero in Bill Shorten. I voted for Albo but have tried to see Bill as the leader of the party to take the fight right up to the Tory’s face. So far I am deeply disappointed. Oh I know it is early days, but in four months, it seems as if a year has gone by in terms of the attacks on the way of life of the workers, families and beneficiaries of the country. Cruel, low blow, nasty, vindictive, attacks on the way of life of the great majority of Australians.
   When I would expect my Party Labor, to get stuck in, retaliate, get out of the trenches and front up to the foe, I see instead a slowly does it, carefully treading on broken glass, softly softly let them do their worst approach.
   Oh I appreciate it is no time to be calling for leadership change, hell that was our downfall last September. What I want is for the current leaders to start showing some retaliation, not a few lines on Twitter, not the odd email, but use every resource available to them. No doubt the old chestnut of the MSM wont tell the message will be thrown at me. Frankly that is rubbish. There are ways and means, plenty of them. God forbid I have to list them here. What are the Party advisers, the tactics people, those on the big bucks doing to earn that money.
   Its not brain surgery to work out how to get round the bias of the Murdoch media, the frightened pussys at the ABC, the mainly timid sit on the fence Fairfax outlets and even the shock jocks and their counterparts in free to air Commercial TV. Do your job you strategists, you surely are not up to now.
   Yesterday I Tweeted a fairly direct comment at Mr Shorten and Education Shadow Kate Ellis, lamenting their silence re Pynes latest education brain fart. I asked please respond, don’t let it just get into the media without at least telling the country his plans are not on, will do nothing to improve the education of our kids.
   To Kate Ellis credit she responded within the hour. Perhaps she had intended to, I hope so. It shouldn’t have taken a critical tweet to prompt action.
   So my thoughts on your splendid article Victoria, well some of them. Like you I want to have a hero, I had one but she was driven from office, much to my shame as a male….. I’m still looking for a new one.

7. Kay HarrisJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:19 am

   So much to say Victoria Rollison – I take it by ‘hero’ you mean strong, committed leadership, and I agree – We need to be united and stand as one for what we believe is right and just , a fair and equitable society where nobody is left out – Certainly, as you point, out no situation is going to be ideal and without flaws – But how we do we achieve this unity today – the odds are stacked against this happening – As a society we have been ‘taught’ to believe what we read in the press or hear on the evening news – does anybody question these days, or bother to seek out the truth – Journalism was once an honorable profession – now the bulk of journalists are simply the mouthpiece for their conservative, top end of town bosses. Trade unions have become a mere shadow of the socially conscious, strong, committed, representative organisations they once were…I recently had a discussion with some friends regarding the touted ABC sell off – they complained about the ‘rubbish’ programs on the ABC and thought it was time Aunty was abandoned.. They had no answer when I listed a dozen or so of my particular commercial TV concerns including the myriad of shows about weight loss, programs where people act as if their lives will end if they do not become the “Voice” or beat the opposition in the home renovation race, some who were prepared to eat cockroaches to be the “Survivor”, not forgetting the women who were seemingly prepared to prostitute themselves to win the “Bachelor” – I have nothing against “light” entertainment but really it seems if you feed people enough ‘rubbish’ they will obviously accept it as the norm, never being concerned about how mindless it really is… I sincerely believe that we have been ‘dumbed down’ – I believe it is deliberate – It works very well for those who control the wealth, they now have almost total control – not just in this country but the world over…I believe there are many ‘true believers’ and many who do great work but the progressive movement is fragmented and until we find a way to come together I think not a lot can be achieved….

8. JohnBJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:23 am

   We need a courageous outspoken leader who will publicly divorce all association with corporatism to truly represent the long term interests of Australian citizens.
   The irreversible catastrophic economic effects of ‘trickle down’ taxation policies on all but the top 1%,
   the tax minimisation trading strategies of global corporations,
   the exploitation of weaker nations to maximise profits further enhanced by selling in the markets of more wealthy nations, while contributing nil to the ‘nation building’ costs associated with stable governance, equitable social structures and sustainable environmental limitations,
   need to be emphasised, challenged and opposed.

   Avaricious powerful corporatism is taking over (already taken over?) our world – they have debased our democracies, insidiously targeted/infiltrated national governments and used their immense unregulated wealth and power to ruthlessly convert Earth’s resources/essential ecosystems to private profit – with no regard for citizens welfare.

   Domination is their aim,
   lies/media propaganda/political corruption is their weapon,
   wealth is their ammunition,
   life/humanity is expendable,
   profit is their ‘god’.

   Is there any ‘potential hero’ out there who can see the big picture and appreciate the dire consequences of not making a stand?
   This is a fight for humanities future – the fight we must have if our civilization is to survive much longer than the next few hundred years.

   The challenge is mammoth, the issue’s couldn’t be bigger or more important.

   We need a leader cast in the mould of Martin Luther King:
   “I have a dream….
   I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for [survival] in the history of our nation….”

   I have a dream.

9. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 11:30 am

   Victoria you had this conversation with someone from the left?
   In a particularly characteristic debate I had this week with a type of Tweep that represents the problem with the Left, I was told “Perhaps you enjoy being perpetually outraged or something. Fine, carry on…”
   I`m “Hard Left in my politics and don`t understand this.
   Also are you saying that Labor`s problems are from the Left?
   Please clarify

10. Joe BanksJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:39 am

    Indeed, we need a hero – even another Julia Gillard – for the time when Australian voters come to their senses…

    A lot of very ordinary Australians are living very well indeed at the moment. A lot of very ordinary Australians now have nice homes, modern cars, well paid jobs, all the latest gadgetry; they take for granted things like free education and low cost medical services etc. These heady times of plenty cause people, I believe, to mentally elevate themselves in society and quietly become part of a New Australian Elite. This new elite is comprised of very ordinary people who see themselves as ‘successful’; they believe their success is totally self-generated and is not connected with the Nations overall prosperity… Their self definition has changed.

    However, the extraordinary ‘good fortune’ that Australians have been experiencing in recent times may well be the cause of its own destruction….

    People in Australia were told, over and over, that their current success was threatened by Labor. We heard: “Dysfunctional government. Labor has caused a budget emergency. The carbon tax will bankrupt you. Asylum seekers will overrun Australia… Your success is threatened!”

    History tells us that the LNP only really care about the truly wealthy; the truly financially successful; big business and mining – not ordinary people who are just having a good run at the moment. The Liberals openly assert that wealth ‘trickles down from the top’ so the most important thing in their philosophy is to keep the top end financially secure (which is economic crap, of course).

    Relatively speaking, when most people see themselves as healthy, rich and successful, they tend to have less regard for the less fortunate in society (this is all too evident in America today). The people that Tony Abbott and his government represent are….. the truly rich and successful…… they are not the new Australian elite, not ordinary people who are lately experiencing a degree of success due to overall National affluence.

    The ‘New Elite’ who voted Liberal because of threatened and unfounded fears of future austerity under Labor, may well be doomed. As Abbott’s ‘redistribution agenda’ slowly strips away the undeserved affluence of the ‘New Elite’ it will return everyone and everything to its rightful place in society! The past years of prosperity under Labor will become a vague memory for the New Elite…

    And they will also pray for a new hero.

11. scotchmisteryJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:47 am

    Before the left can come up with a “hero” they really need to get their house in order.

    The last 2 Labor PM’s have been about themselves and their factions rather than about Australia “my country”{ as it were. I am a little shell shocked also that Murdoch was elected, but less surprised than I may have been. If all the “elected representatives” understood our hopes and accepted that high office is not about them, but rather about the country, we would be in a better place.

    John F Kennedy, in his inaugural speech said “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country”. It is still true today in terms of high office, but is far less likely to be important not only among the “parliamentary classes”, but throughout the population.

    Generations of people on unemployment, who, via the use of “focus groups”, shaped how the elected (or hoping to be), were going to put the process in place to get themselves there, made me wonder about Keating’s reference to “unelected swill” left me thinking about non-productive, multi-generational, unemployed trash, who probably shouldn’t even get the vote until they add something to the country by dint of some work, considering their capacity to do little but draw benefits, drink and breed more like themselves sadly.

    For the less than capable I am not a Labor voter and I am thoughtful about the Greens, who at least put themselves up rather than just whinging.

12. randalstellaJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:54 am

    It is quite clear what Victoria is referring to. She is not playing Left-Right deck chairs.
    But BH, seeing you ask – how about this example, which just occurred to me? Try making a substantive point on the IA site which does not completely agree with the matey bunch who spend their lives posting there.
    What happens to people who have tried? They are subjected to insult and concerted attack, from the pack of maaaaates..
    I don’t know about the need for heroes – I certainly don’t need one. But I do know about insular gutless wonders. I am confident that you won’t mind my abrupt language.
    What’s “hard left” about an inability to discuss issues, across a range of opinions? Seems a bit too precious to be anything but counter-productive. The band playing on the Titanic had no illusions that it was their last performance.

13. dafid1January 11, 2014 at 12:06 pm

    Oh Scotchmistery fear not, you qualify as a Tory, you left your credentials for all to see…”non-productive, multi-generational, unemployed trash, who probably shouldn’t even get the vote until they add something to the country by dint of some work, considering their capacity to do little but draw benefits, drink and breed more like themselves sadly”.

    Here’s Cory Bernardi’s contact details
    Post
    PO Box 2192
    Kent Town, SA 5071
    Phone
    Adelaide – 08 8362 8600
    Canberra – 02 6277 3278 (parliamentary sitting weeks only)

    He will welcome you to the bosom of Conservatory with open arms, and may God have pity on you.

14. ConcernedcitizenJanuary 11, 2014 at 12:13 pm

    I’ll try to inject some reason and common sense into the veritable cesspit of Marxism-Leninism that is this blog.

    http://www.lookintoit.org/Subverting-The-Public.html

    Greens to wither back to irrelevancy

    Communism proposes to enslave by force; socialism by voting, and that is the only difference there is between them………….Ayn Rand

    It is amazing that people who think we cannot afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication, somehow think that we can afford to pay for doctors, hospitals, and medication AND IN ADDITION A GOVERNMENT BUREAUCRACY TO ADMINISTER IT………….Thomas Sowell

15. randalstellaJanuary 11, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    It’s a good article, Victoria.You make your points well.
    I don’t think you need a hero. But the public do. It may provide the short-circuit needed to get inside the MSM circus if some sports celebrity is found who has the principle and cast-iron constitution to stand up on a culture-defining issue of equity. It would need to be someone widely accepted, to go into bat for the opinion cast as deviance by the Murdoch press in particular. It would need to be someone willing and able to take the hits he/she would receive repeatedly from the enemy alien’s flunkeys.
    Who could do it? So much of the sporting domain is dominated by reactionary boofheads. Perhaps someone coming out of the middle of that would then provide just the break open debate needs. What nation-identifying sports do we have? There is cricket, and…

16. randalstellaJanuary 11, 2014 at 12:23 pm

    Bloody hell. Put up a post or two; and get them surrounded by intellectual giants.
    I mean, for the love of mercy, Ayn Rand again? What complete crap. What a sick mental midget she was. Her writings are relentless dross. Good enough for Fraser the Razor.
    Dear Ms. Rand was found to be living off the State in her last years. Sums up the principles of the extreme Right.

17. randalstellaJanuary 11, 2014 at 12:36 pm

    “Surrounded”? No. My thanks to Victoria and the positive contributors.

18. John KellyJanuary 11, 2014 at 12:46 pm

    Perhaps it is an idea we need rather than a hero. Produce the idea and the hero will come. How did Kathy McGowan win the safe conservative seat of Indi? How did Clive Palmer win Fairfax? It wasn’t by accident. They worked to a formula.

19. jasonblogJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:53 am

    I was under the impression that, historically speaking, the ALP was considered to be the handmaiden of capital. Indeed, one of the things that marked the formation of the Amalgamated Miners Association back in the 19th century was its desire to avoid the confrontational hostilities that characterised the trade-union movement in Britain at the same period. So I’m not sure that the absolutism of “Labour versus capital” as the author states in this article is necessarily accurate in an Australian context. As an example my great-great-grandfather was not only a PLC (forerunner to ALP) representative but also a respected mine-manager. He successfully traversed the divide between “the worker” and the “the owner”.

    I also get quite annoyed with puerile characterisations of the “Left” and the “Right”. They are convenient labels for somebody – whether it be Rollison or Bolt – going on a partisan driven rant, but mostly are simplistic descriptors that conveniently avoid discussing issues with any depth, sensitivity and nuance. As such it would be difficult to know exactly what the ALP is and what it stands for today. Even the union movement as represented by Paul Howes seems confused, as this article from Bob Brown briefly addresses http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/ore-values-over-core-values-as-labor-gives-tarkine-to-miners-20130219-2epdp.html – People I guess can make up their own minds as to what are Left wing issues as opposed to Right wing issues and consequent points-of-view. All I know is that I’m stuck somewhere in the middle of the ideologues who forsake ideas for entrenched combativeness.

    The inference of this article by Victoria Rollison is that she would prefer a Totalitarian regime that enforced what she considered to be the “right” view. I’m not interested in any tug-of-war. I think if Bill Shorten offers anything to the ALP it is the ability to look beyond such non-sense and childish games and focus on what Australians have in common and can agree on and seek a mature way of negotiating on the bits and pieces of disagreement. What I would hope for Australia is that its politics becomes informed by a better sense of Australian-ness instead of simply aping the fashionable trends of the UK & USA and that policy is driven by evidence rather than expedience. Even if that means putting aside the Left & Right hash-tags.

20. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 12:57 pm

    I forgot to add most importantly Randalstella,the Left is for onshore processing of ALL refugees

21. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 1:03 pm

    I suggest Concernedcitizen you have a look at this,your own neo-conservative scam
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9IH-XKQpOI&feature=player_embedded

22. allenmcmahonJanuary 11, 2014 at 1:09 pm

    We don’t need heroes and while it is important to discuss issues what is more important is to get off our collective backsides and actually do something to further what we consider to be our ideal outcomes.

    Most of us have busy lives but if we feel strongly enough we can find an hour or two a day to spend on a cause, or causes, that are important to us. Spending all of our available time blogging or on Facebook just does not cut it. Most blogs are echo chambers, great for gaining information but not for spreading the message as we are generally preaching to the converted and as anyone whose ideas differ from the majority is likely to cop abuse rather than be debated.

    We don’t need heroes but we do need to act to meet our desired outcomes.

23. BacchusJanuary 11, 2014 at 1:12 pm

    “I`m “Hard Left in my politics and don`t understand this.”

    bighead – does it make more sense if you take Victoria to mean ‘the left’ generally (from hard socialist left to NSW right, including the Greens), rather than the more narrow ‘hard left’ of the Labor party you seem to be using?

24. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 1:37 pm

    I`m talking of my politics,my explanation is there,my politics are there
    My question to Victoria is there,where I asked for a clarification on a point in her article
    The article on the whole has merit and asks some very obvious questions and looks at some interesting angles.
    It was only her particular wording as to what I asked that I would like to see just what she really by it from her own mentioning.
    Thanks for your concern.

25. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    randalstella

    January 11, 2014 • 11:54 am
    Thank you for your reply and you are correct I don`t mind a bit of argy bargy at all.
    Hard Left is Socialism,the same types that equate themselves to this are Albanese and his inner group.
    Now I have no problems about any discussion about my politics with you or anyone else and the politics of the Left are social,they are for people to have a say in government,they are for government to act as fiduciaries to it`s citizens by looking after publicly owned services and infrastructure.
    They are against for profit prisons/detention centres,they are against corporate monopolies,
    They are for collective bargaining in the workplace,they are for a universal health/education system.
    They are for gender equality pay/career advancement,they are for same sex marriage,they are for women to have the right to do with their own bodies as they wish,pro choice and anti privatisation of assets and services
    They are for superannuation and the proper care of the aged to name just some things the political Left are for
    So Randalstella tell me your politics
    Now as far factions go all political parties have them be they Conservative or Socialist or any of the in between names applied.
    I read and contribute to a number of Left Wing blogs and sites and visit many others as I rarely watch TV and find my news on the net.
    Concerning your “Try making a substantive point on the IA site which does not completely agree with the matey bunch who spend their lives posting there.” I see no real difference here on AIMN as to regular contributors like yourself giving their own brand/version of ideology
    On the whole I`ve noticed about 20 such regulars here who do their thing here and that`s totally fine by me as it is on IA.
    Now my question was to Victoria and to see her explanation.

26. John FraserJanuary 11, 2014 at 2:04 pm

    <

    Had a go with "messiahs" and now we need a "hero" ?

    I think we just need someone with a bit of intelligence, a bit of charisma, a set of standards and some morals.

    Not likely to find that person in the extreme factions.

    Just as you will not find them in Abbott's cabinet.

27. Michael StarkJanuary 11, 2014 at 2:29 pm

    We need a hero? Probably – but more important than a hero or left or right is the message that encompasses much of what this article represents – DID YOU VOTE FOR THIS?
    Unfortunately only a small percentage of the population will actually get engaged in debate about what is happening. Of those who do it is quite likely that they are either left or right and too set in their ways for debate to make change happen.
    I have not given up debate but my message to friends and contacts, the middle ground where swings and opinions causing swings do matter in elections, is with every new outrage not debate – it is “DID YOU VOTE FOR THIS?”
    The “true believers” will most likely not change – but the middle ground? If we can get just 10% of those middle ground people to realise what they have done for the nation we don’t need a super hero – we just need an ordinary every day hero
    Lets get that simple message out – DID YOU VOTE FOR THIS?

28. diannaartJanuary 11, 2014 at 2:53 pm

    Thanks Victoria – when I used to post at OLO, recall being told I was “cheering on” (implying I was part of some kind of cheer squad) if I posted that I agreed with someone – even when I had written my reasons for so doing.

    As for the Labor supporters who remain fixed in/on the past – all ideologies have them. There are extremes on all sides.

    Right here and right now we have a government taking clearly defined steps towards authoritarianism – secrecy, harsh treatment and demonization of different groups of people, dismantling of welfare services, education based on ideology… the list goes on… we need more than a single hero, we need a concerted effort from all who believe in an equitable world to put aside minor differences and focus on the big picture.

    Our way of life is under threat – both from failure to halt pollution as much as a failure to treat each other as worthy of respect. We have a punitive government, that believes if people are not behaving as it would like – then harsher treatment is warranted.

    Kind of like flogging a horse – if it refuses to move keep on flogging it – to death.

29. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 2:57 pm

    John Fraser

    January 11, 2014 • 2:04 pm
    All factions are capable are capable of being extreme,even the centre JF.
    Possibly the best balance Australia had was when the Parliament was hung,it called for moderation and we certainly got that.
    It`s only a pity it didn`t happen in 2013.

30. VoterBentleighJanuary 11, 2014 at 3:01 pm

    Do you need a hero/heroine? My view is that you had one (well, a good competent leader, if not a heroine) in Gillard, with solid policy objectives, but the team work was not there. So, for the ALP, the best thing is to get behind your present leader and act as a team.

    Whatever the political party, those opposing the Abbott Coalition lost because they fell into the trap of playing by the very rules he does: life is a competition, a battle. How often do you hear, when someone comes up with a good idea or performs well: “Yes, but…they could have done X …or…I would have done X”. that one must outdo others or show how much better “I” could have done it. Instead, accept that others can be doing just as good a job as you do and give them credit for it.

    As far as the Abbott Coalition is concerned there is no “commonwealth”. Personal advancement and winning are all that matter; those who win deserve it and those who lose deserve to lose because of their own failings. The Coalition apply this not just to politics, but to all aspects of society. Perhaps business people like Clive Palmer are sufficiently astute and experienced in business to recognise that the common good can be advantageous for them too, but Abbott does not and does not care either.

    The other thing the Abbott Coalition did was to take the initiatives of the Labor Party and present a twisted or poor-man’s version of them as their own and to pretend that it was the same as the ALP policy. Abbott is a spoiler, as well as a wrecker.

    Seeing everything as a competition, the Abbott Coalition know how to play one group against the other, so they play differing political groups against one another and different social and cultural groups against one another.

    To sum up:
    a) focus attention on the main opponent
    b) leaders are useful as spokespersons, but not as heroes
    c) team work is required
    d) there is nothing wrong with having a multi-faceted approach, including developing a “vision” and responding to propaganda are both important
    e) solid well-articulated policy is important and make sure you claim political “intellectual property rights”
    f) don’t waste time and energy however, in responding to people who are deliberately goading you
    g) avoid attacking your main opponent’s other political opponents

31. John FraserJanuary 11, 2014 at 3:09 pm

    <

    @Bighead1883

    Its the extreme right and left wing factions in the Labor party that are doing the most damage.

    Just look at Conroy in Victoria.

    Look at the damage in N.S.W.

    And that's just the extreme right powerbrokers.

    In Liberal we are fortunate enough to have Pyne, Bernadi and outsider Barny as outstanding examples of how to damage the Liberal brand.

    Then we have the high profile Liberal powerbrokers who own the megaphone and blast away to the detriment of Australia.

    Its not heros Aussies are looking for its just straight speaking pollies …… and that's what "Slick" Abbott is now positioning himself as.

    Its all about brand placement and where it is placed.

    Aussies bought the brand in 2013 but with doubts … now the sales pitch ramps up.

    Strong , authoritative, decisive …. jesus sounds like i'm talking about Putin.

    Better lock up the girls.

32. Kim WrightJanuary 11, 2014 at 3:13 pm

    Could not agree more ! Hear hear. Lots of armchair activists. This mob is looking for organisers
33. randalstellaJanuary 11, 2014 at 3:24 pm

    BH, thank you for your polite reply.
    Respectfully, I suggest that your inability to see the difference in atmosphere between here and IA might be part of the problem.
    Seeing you ask: I put the legal frighteners up corrupt, thug cops – the protected fascists in our midst.. That’s my “politics”.
    And I’ve fought to implement far more than token supervision of aged care through the relevant department. There is far less chance of further reform in this area for the time being; now that the owners of “aged care facilities” are directly in power. That’ll do for here.

    Now, on Victoria’s suggestion that a “hero” is lacking. There is some reluctance from responders – which seems based on what SHOULD be needed, if this were a rational society.
    But, as she appreciates, it is not. Neither Victoria nor the people posting here need that “hero” – like the public do.
    We have to deal with what we cannot change for now, for what we might be able to change. The Media have managed to typify progressives adversely, simplistically. A strategic (sporting?) hero appearing out of the populist miasma might be a help.
    Sure, it’s not idealism; but idealism will not get this rotten mob out of power. Idealism will not begin to split the unanimity of the MSM. What would not appeal to us might be what we need to get progressive politics back with a clear agenda for regaining Government.
    Please consider.
    What was it about Bob Hawke that made him such an electoral power?

34. Paul - Permie (soon to be) from the MalleeJanuary 11, 2014 at 4:02 pm

    Since when is the ALP ‘the left’. On that logic, I find myself arguing with ‘the left’ because they are not left enough.

35. Joe BanksJanuary 11, 2014 at 4:05 pm

    Victoria, thinking again, maybe we don’t need a hero (in the usual sense) but simply a bunch of sincere Labor politicians like we had before, many of whom we lost after the last election. Dysfunctional??? According to Abbott and his propaganda machine and the media, they were dysfunctional. But for a dysfunctional government they certainly achieved a lot. They may have had internal problems which were greatly exaggerated and made to look like ‘dysfunction’. How can any government function at peak efficiency when they have the entire Australian media (including the national broadcaster) and every insane shock-jock white-anting everything they tried to achieve. Give me the previous ‘dysfunctional’ government any day. Compared to the present bunch of delusional nasties, the previous Labor government look like a group of hard working geniuses… So maybe we don’t need a hero, after all, but we do simply need a media that puts Australia before Murdoch and mining magnates (and starts using their brains).

36. JohnBJanuary 11, 2014 at 4:44 pm

    As you say Joe Banks 04:05pm,
    Priority number one is to concentrate on forming an organised coherent leadership group that can honestly define and effect actions to oppose and reverse the damage of these short sighted LNP Nation vandals.

    Let history confer Hero/Heroine status on deserving leaders.

37. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 4:58 pm

    I know JF it`s not the Left making the trouble,because if you believe that the right faction`s push into corporatism is OK then you will say it`s the Left.
    The Left are against this as was shown by the rank and file vote recently-fact.
    The right hijacked union member proxies and loaded them to themselves by the right`s power brokers and even added member numbers that didn`t exist.
    You saw the SMH takedown on that many weeks ago.
    If you haven`t I`ll dig it up for you.
    As in US duopoly politics the corps have figured it`s easier to fund both parties and that will keep the status quo.
    The Left are against this,but the Right are embracing it.
    Nothing too hard to understand about it at all.
    Corrupt politicians abound everywhere but they are far more prevalent on the Right and Conservatives are the most corrupt of all.
    Example 1–USA State and Federal.::: 2– Australia current,State and Federal

38. ConcernedcitizenJanuary 11, 2014 at 5:10 pm

    If you mean that Gillard was successful in achieving personal objectives at the expense of everyone else, then perhaps you have a point, Bentleg.
    At uni in the 80′s, in her involvement in the Socialist Forum, which morphed into the Fabians, she became determined to achieve the following:
    a) Destruction of the ALP, because it was not sufficiently Marxist. Arrange for its destruction and evolution to an extreme Left position. Engineer this destruction using the techniques of the Fabian Society.
    b) Prepare the nation for submission of sovereignty to an UNelected, UNdemocratic UNprincipled global dictatorship through the destruction of the economy and institution of the principles of Cloward-Piven.
    c) Become independently wealthy simultaneously.
    If your criterion for a “heroine” is a achieve personal objectives, then perhaps you are correct. If this is the case, then perhaps you could consider Joe Stalin, Pol Pot, Nicolae Ceaușescu, as successful as well.

39. randalstellaJanuary 11, 2014 at 5:14 pm

    Joe Banks: ” So maybe we don’t need a hero, after all, but we do simply need a media that puts Australia before Murdoch and mining magnates (and starts using their brains).”
    I agree with all you write about the sabotaging of the last Labor Government’s achievements, particularly by the MSM. The problem for your quoted bit above is that we are not going to get anything like a fair-minded Media soon; and Labor have to get back into power despite this. Again, it is not what we should have ideally; but what we do have and cannot change in the present political set-up.

40. Fed upJanuary 11, 2014 at 5:15 pm

    Where do heroes come from. Thinking back to the days of Whitlam.

    I suspect that his skill was identifying the mood of the people and what needed to be done.

    At that time, the election of the Labor government after such a long period, was a recognition that much needed to be done.

    We had the Great Depression, that led into a long world war.

    I suspect post war, we had a Labor government that was too slow to remove war time regulations, replace by the Menzies Coalition government. Yes, a PM that was in for the longest term of any PM.

    The rest of the world seems to be leaping ahead, in leaps and bounds of the post war boom. Many believe that Menzies squandered this boom, and Australia was falling behind. It was an era of horror budgets, stop and start economies. High wool prices from the wars in North Korea, which led to high inflation.

    I believe than many at the time, we’re ready for change, regardless of the leader.

    Whitlam was the man who had the guts grab the country by the hand, and take us into a modern age at that time.

    The many injustices that had grown up over time were addressed. Yes, a chaotic, exciting government, that in is’s short life, achieved much. Most of which survives to this day, in one form or another.

    We had inflation, unemployment and ended up with stagnation, and many Coalition governments, until the days of Hawke and Keating. Strikes were the norm.

    Once again the time was right for a change.

    Yes, and We then come to Howard, our second longest PM. I seem complex to what he achieved, except for bringing in the CST, transferring the onus of taxation to the lower income earners.

    Yes, it is said, with his obsession with tax cuts, paid out of record income from mining, has left ongoing structural imbalances within our economy. It is a shame we did not go down the track of Finland.

    NO, I do not believe the letters that succeeded were heroes. Their skill was identifying problems that country faced, then finding and putting in place solutions.

    Every era requires new skills and actions.
    What scares me most in this government, is that they cannot identify what the problems are. Worse still, they are not interested in finding out.

    They are too busy to, putting their own ideology in place, regardless as the world economy performs.

    This is only a very shallow view of our recent history., All I am saying, looking for heroes might lead us down the right track.

    I have little faith, these days, in left and right Labor. This is especially so, within the Labor party. Thgere d does not appear to be any black and right answers today,. Labels tells us nothing.

    An example, is the obsession they have with towing back boats. Common sense would have suggested that the PNG scheme be strnghtened, and to look into finding a regional solution,. The actions of this government have made that impossible.

    If that did not work, one could then revert back to tow boats back,.

    Same goes for TPV. No need at this time. Just angers many, for no gain.

    I think it might be time, to forget the labels and stick to the issues.

41. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 5:35 pm

    randalstella
    January 11, 2014 • 3:24 pm
    Your last line is very relevant to this article because Bob Hawke was a hero to working class Australians.
    He was an Aussie larrikin that was identified with the hard drinking culture of the time.
    In the current light of alcohol abuse and violence this would not be a plus today but we have to stick to the times so to speak
    His freezing of wages and prices for 6 months was seen as the ability of a PM to tell all to pull their heads in which of course even raised his hero stature.
    Little was known though that lurking was a neo conservative thinking Treasurer ready with knives at hand.
    This took a long time but Keating prevailed through floating the AUD,deregulation of banking to a large degree and privatisation of the CBA.
    Then after 8 years he struck and his right faction has had it`s way since and wandered the political desert for 4 Howard terms until they realised that they needed the left to regain power.
    Had Rudd [centre Left] been of Hawke`s genre he would have been firm on the MRRT and even an ETS,
    But he double crossed Murdoch and the Corporatists and started direct stimulus at the GFC onset and not austerity like the criminal global bankers wanted and we know where that led.
    Julia was brilliant and should have been allowed to go to election as well,hers was the best minority government Australia ever had,but the lions were lying in wait and Murdoch had awakened them yet again after a relentless 4 year barrage that saw 2 PM`s knifed.
    We now find in Australia that there is currently two right wing political party`s.
    One a more social leaning right wing party the other a further to the right conservative party.
    A hero can only come from the Left,someone who`ll fight for the unemployed and disenfranchised.
    I say if the rank and file`s choice of Anthony Albanese is given his chance,we will see him step up and fight with all his inner being for the people of Australia.
    The reason is that it was he who said “I Fight Tories That`s What I do”
    At present Labor is still washing laundry and at least they`re not hanging it out in public for a change.
    I`m still waiting for the answer to the question I asked if you see fit to respond.Victoria.

42. Victoria RollisonJanuary 11, 2014 at 5:42 pm

    Thanks for all your thoughtful comments everyone. Just to confirm, I’m looking for us all to be heroes, not necessarily a single person to solve all our problems. Perhaps that is why the Left is losing. We’re waiting for someone else to save us when really we just need to get it together and help each other. All of us. Together. United. Sounds simple when you say it like that doesn’t it?

43. Fed upJanuary 11, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    Yes, Victoria, blaming everyone else, in particular Labor politicians has been just a let out.

    I see some only half get my comments that it is time to move on, forget labeling left or right and address issues.

    It is hard for the MSM to ignore particular issues.
    It is up to all of us.

    Still have not found my role, but I am sure I will recognize it, when one pops up.

    Some need to keep in mind, the world has changed more in the last thirty years than ever before.

    We now communicate and easily move around the globe. Trade and the economy are not global. Many lead lives in many countries, and on many continents, seeing that as the norm.

    If Keating did not act, as he did, we would be badly behind the 8 ball now.
    Gillard also seen into the future, and the move to the Asian cnetrtury6. She also identified what needed to be done.

    This government is repealing all, taking us back to a time, that will no longer work.

    Their dream of wiping out the last six years, leading to a seamless transfer from Howard to Abbott, will not work. Was not working for Howard when he was kicked out.

    Like the good tailor, we have to work with the cloth we have, No good whining, saying we have lost our way. We have to deal with today to have better tomorrow.

    We have many issues to keep us busy. One does not know where to start.
    Yes, Better Schools, NBNCO, CEF, and refugees.The list is endless.

44. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 6:14 pm

    The person that needs to hear what you are saying the most Victoria is Bill Shorten,so I hope he hears it.

45. diannaartJanuary 11, 2014 at 6:32 pm

    CC

    Except for your claim that Labor was not sufficiently Marxist for Julia Gillard – a claim made spurious by her time in office – nary a hint of Marxism (unless you believe equity for people is a Marxist value), the rest of claims would’ve suited Julia better had she joined the Libs.

    a) Destruction of the ALP, …
    b) Prepare the nation for submission of sovereignty to an UNelected, UNdemocratic UNprincipled global dictatorship through the destruction of the economy and institution of the principles of Cloward-Piven.
    c) Become independently wealthy simultaneously.

    Curious claims which are more suited to Abbott.

46. diannaartJanuary 11, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    Except for the principles of Cloward-Piven – although given the middle-class welfare (PPL and so on) endorsed by Abbott, maybe even the C-P principles do apply.

47. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 6:56 pm

    cornlegend

    January 11, 2014 • 6:45 pm
    Well said and to the point Cornie.
    To lead one must be up front.

48. Michael TaylorJanuary 11, 2014 at 6:00 pm

    All of us. Together. United.

    I’m with you.

49. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 7:08 pm

    Here come Globalism MK1
    Congress introduces Obama fast-track authority on global trade pacts like TPP
    http://rt.com/usa/tpp-obama-legislation-trade-395/

50. noel wardle (@noelwardle1)January 11, 2014 at 7:21 pm

    Victoria I hate what these coalition clowns are doing and am ashamed that some people actually support them
    don’t know about a hero, just want them gone…I don’t think I want to vote for a right wing labor gov, definitely prefer a frontal lobotomy than vote for Libs and not real sure about greens anymore..where do we go from here ???

51. Kim WrightJanuary 11, 2014 at 7:23 pm

    Well said. Spot on!

52. cornlegendJanuary 11, 2014 at 6:45 pm

    I don’t need a hero, I’ve had plenty of them.
    What I want is a LEADER.
    A Leader that will take the fight to the Tories .
    A leader we can unite behind.
    A LEADER that can get out and fight and be an effective Opposition.
    The troops are ready, the LEADER isn’t

53. Crash Skeptic the CensoredJanuary 11, 2014 at 8:40 pm

    bighead1883 wrote:
    I forgot to add most importantly Randalstella,the Left is for onshore processing of ALL refugees

    Huh? They re-introduced offshore processing and went to the last election with the even stricter PNG solution.

54. Kim WrightJanuary 11, 2014 at 7:46 pm

    Heres a chance to do rather than talk

55. randalstellaJanuary 11, 2014 at 9:45 pm

    There is one alternative Govt. to Abbott. It is Labor. They are perhaps 3% away from being in power. It is interesting that they are so close given the MSM onslaught against them.
    With respect, before this turns into one of those American self-empowerment seminars – it does not matter at all what most people here would want; what might inspire progressives.
    It matters what might attract the attention of that critical section of the electorate who turn elections one way or the other – including those who cannot remember how they voted on Sept. 7th last. They want a celebrity-figure, or hero, or strong leader. They need a gimmick – the way all Governments have been returned and thrown out. Recall Keating’s anti-GST fight in 1993; hardly a campaign on values other than keeping Hewson out of power. I was grateful. It was not a win for glory – but a postponement of the dreaded. But at least it was that. It bought time, which Labor did not use as adroitly as their election campaign.

56. bighead1883January 11, 2014 at 10:01 pm

    Crash Skeptic the Censored

    January 11, 2014 • 8:40 pm
    Huh? They re-introduced offshore processing and went to the last election with the even stricter PNG solution

    Well that was an addendum to the above post of mine,thank you very much.
    So you are not with what I wrote.
    If you cared to look things up you will find I`m correct
    Labor Left would process ALL refugees onshore as they were doing B4 the Abbott/Murdoch coalition started the media lunacy.
    Furthermore answer me this person to person,where do you wish to see refugees processed.

57. billy moirJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:03 pm

    a good dose of crap victoria. gillard left her supporters without an answer to the rabbott’s slogans. Even now little billy has joined gillard in hoping the media will expose the rabbott forlorn but leaving the bbq, school fetes, xmas, new year, qld election labor party supporters still floundering with no simple rejoiners to the slogans of the rabbott, naive of gillard, beyond the lemon’s ego and plain stupid of little billy. They will attack but not without a push.Your “the economic success of the previous Labor government” is allowing the rabbott to borrow billions which unless labor points out the rabbott’s and little joey’s lies and enumerates his borrowings all his borrowing will make it gillards debt and abbott’s economy.

58. billy moirJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    ps bighead the labor left lefy labour and are now the only sane section of the greens

59. billy moirJanuary 11, 2014 at 11:21 pm

    oops fat finger and t is left of y

60. mark delmegeJanuary 12, 2014 at 12:11 am

    The thing is, Victoria, a charismatic leftist would not survive in the Labor Party. Either they would be weeded out or leave in dismay. Bourgeois parties like the Labor Party might talk the talk (sometimes) but are essentially neo-liberal in outlook – it’s schizophrenic in character and I believe the cause of many of its problems. But even a charismatic leader in a well functioning party with quality front benchers would find the going tough – perhaps ‘almost’ impossible battling against the likes of Murdoch and the other media barons and functionaries. ‘Almost’ that is without clear vision, community support and understanding of what needs to be done.

61. bighead1883January 12, 2014 at 4:51 am

    Wow Mark,you certainly are trying to bowl a few googlies there and appear to be one of the Murdoch brainwashed.
    Here`s the New Logo.
    https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BdsNxSrCAAAuzvP.jpg

62. randalstellaJanuary 12, 2014 at 8:48 am

    Now, there you go. Why would Mark “appear to be one of the Murdoch brainwashed” – when his post states the opposite, explicitly criticising Murdoch? It must be because he criticises Labor.
    This is as much sense as I can make of bighead1883’s reply.
    I do not quite agree with Mark on all he suggests, but he makes valid points. It’s just that there is no alternative to Labor, if anyone is interested in getting rid of the malign loopies now in power.
    Mark makes the point about the difficulty of doing that given the rigging of debate by the MSM. I see no “googlies”.

63. JohnBJanuary 12, 2014 at 9:49 am

    Here’s a lady showing Seattle the way:
    http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/01/09-4

64. greenbelieverJanuary 12, 2014 at 10:02 am

    We don’t need another hero…. So right Victoria.
    What we need is 50,000 NEW LABOR VOTERS who are prepared to be HEROES FOR JUST ONE DAY.
    HOW DO WE GET THEM.
    We all have to forget about the LABOR PARTy getting them FOR US.
    We have to mobilise and CONVERT THEM OURSELVES as a grass roots movement using sites such as this one as inspiration BUT WE HAVE TO DO THE WORK>
    IT is active work IT IS ACTION
    We each have to create a PLAN that will work within the CONTEXT of our lives and networks and environments.WE have to work OUT HOW we can EACH make a difference. Is it copying memes to show at work to get our colleagues to have a laugh. DO we post them on or desk or hand them out in the coffee break. Do we letterbox or hand them out at the busstop or while waiting for the TRAIN or do we letterbox.
    Handing our memes or cartoons is the way because THEY ENTERTAIN and will elicit a COMMENT as well as a laugh.
    GOOD LUCK all. We really can TURN THE TIDE.

65. Crash Skeptic the CensoredJanuary 12, 2014 at 11:43 am

    bighead1883 wrote:
    Well that was an addendum to the above post of mine,thank you very much.
    So you are not with what I wrote.
    If you cared to look things up you will find I`m correct
    Labor Left would process ALL refugees onshore as they were doing B4 the Abbott/Murdoch coalition started the media lunacy.

    Ok, so you were referring specifically to the Labor Left, not the Australian Left. Fair enough. That makes more sense.

    Furthermore answer me this person to person,where do you wish to see refugees processed.

    Offshore is fine with me, bighead1883. Not everyone here is left-wing.

    Your post does however hint at a larger problem with the ALP. Nobody actually knows what the ALP stands for anymore. Their policies just seem a liferaft of patronage stitched together to appease enough ‘interest groups’ to get over the 51% mark.

    Beyond a certain point, the internal contradictions become overwhelming:
    – Many of the people who run and staff much of the ALP are middle-class ‘progressives’. They want a ‘soft’ refugee policy because they believe it is more ‘compassionate’.
    – The ALP relies on a large traditional working-class white base without which they cannot win government. These people have more conservative social values and are hostile to ‘progressive’ causes, and want a ‘tougher’ refugee policy among other things.
    – Progressives hate such people and regard them as racist, sexist, homophobic “bogans”.
    – It has not actually dawned on many of these Progressives that they are insulting their own base.
    – The “bogans” aren’t as naive as the Intelligentsia hopes. When “their party” routinely describes the values of “people like them” with ridicule and contempt, they change vote to the LNP in droves (in many cases, in their later years and for the first time in their life).

    The ALP is finding it hard to serve so many masters with contradictory views.

66. bighead1883January 12, 2014 at 1:02 pm

    Crash Skeptic the Censored

    January 12, 2014 • 11:43 am
    That`s a fairly accurate assessment of the goings on Australia wide because in the end we all must call a spade a spade.
    Even your take on “progressives” and ‘bogans’ lingers so close to the apathetic truth.
    Yet the feeling of being ripped off is Nationwide as well.
    For the very reasons you stated people abandoned Labor,and they are the reasons,that Labor had become a contradiction unto itself is the unsaid truth within the Party.
    Labor has to do it`s laundry not air it in public and change the old hands who are actually past it.
    The ripped of feeling is that these very people you mentioned which basically accounts for 20% of voters who try and walk the middle ground with a foot in each political camp feel the propaganda has worked against them.
    Never in Australia`s history has government had to for 4 years sustain such vicious propaganda from MSM and particularly Murdoch who controls 70% of print media.
    The ripped off feeling these people have is that
    1– They voted Liberal only to find out they voted in Conservatives
    2– They are to be ripped of over the NBN
    3– Their Super is taxed at a lower base
    4– Medicare is threatened and health insurance has risen three times the CPI
    5– Gonski has been morphed into confusion
    6– The NDIS is threatened and relabelled “trial sites” from “launch sites”
    7– Aged health care support has already been weakened along with disabled care
    8– Australia Post– Medicare Private– Australia Air Services to be privatised
    9– The IPA`s Tim Wilson appointed to the Human Rights Commission when the IPA has been saying all along it wants this abandoned.
    10– Allowed Ministers to old shares in public and private companies allowing the presence of having vested interest in future decision making
    11– Scraps the COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water
    12– Undermines Australia’s democracy by signing a free trade agreement with South Korea allowing corporations to sue the Australian Government
    13– Converts crucial Start-Up Scholarships into loans, increasing the debt of 80,000 higher education students by $1.2 billion.
    14– Did not spend his first week as Prime Minister with an Aboriginal community — 14 September 2013. This promise was made in front of indigenous elders and participants at the Garma Festival on 10 August 2013
    15– Cuts to Aboriginal Legal Services
    They are some of the main reasons along with the massive unemployment already being generated by Conservatives with Holden,Caterpillar and SPC being at the forefront.
    Any conclusive action as to the Direct Action Plan seems to have gone further into hiding
    People are not happy that the PM`s office is paying $3,000 a week for a house in Canberra for him and family that sits empty
    The shock people got when minister after minister came forward and repaid misused travel entitlement monies.
    They now realise CStC,Murdoch not only sold them a lemon but lied all the way to a budget emergency.

67. Paul - Permie (soon to be) from the MalleeJanuary 12, 2014 at 1:04 pm

    “Thanks for all your thoughtful comments everyone. Just to confirm, I’m looking for us all to be heroes, not necessarily a single person to solve all our problems. Perhaps that is why the Left is losing. We’re waiting for someone else to save us when really we just need to get it together and help each other. All of us. Together. United. Sounds simple when you say it like that doesn’t it?”

    With this sentiment I thoroughly agree, Victoria.

68. Fed upJanuary 12, 2014 at 2:01 pm

    As Labor is not in power, what they believe or do not believe is of little consequences at this time.

    The Coalition is in power. What do they believe or do not believe, is of the highest importance.

    Trouble is, no one has been told what their beliefs are. Slogans and motherhood statements do not count.

    One has to dig deeply and question everyone of their policies and actions.

    This is because they are in power.

    What we have is the most secretive and devious government, this country has seen.

    Labor at this time cannot hurt us. Mr. Abbott and his government can, and is.

69. kathysutherland2013January 12, 2014 at 9:53 pm

    No, I don’t think we need a new hero/heroine. The Labor party needs to sort itself out.

    Unity – that’d be a good start.

    Policies – Mostly, Labor under Julia Gillard (not so much Kevin Rudd, especially second time round) did lots of good things, BUT the asylum-seeker policy is reprehensible, inhumane and cruel! This must be changed, and it must not turn into a vote-catching issue. Labor must stop being too afraid to speak up lest the electorate dislike them . It’s a human rights issue and has to be treated as such. If we have to get all political about it, maybe we can see it as a point of difference from the Coalition.

    Treat the electorate, too, as reasonably intelligent human beings. Yes, I know it’s fun to slag off those who voted for the Coalition, but maybe it’s time to “move on?” (I hate that term!)

    Leadership – that’s a hard one. Nobody stands out in the current crop. Very disappointed with Bill Shorten, but I’m trying to be loyal! Maybe if we can get the unity thing going, a decent leadership will come out of it, but I must admit I’m short of ideas here.

    Come to think of it, not many Labor Parliamentarians have said much, and much of what they have said seem to be fairly negative. Did they catch it from Tony?

70. rossleighbrisbaneJanuary 12, 2014 at 10:03 pm

    I read a great quote today, the biggest threat to the planet is that someone else will save it. Perhaps, we need to understand that there are no heroes, just many simple acts that add up. We remember the Gandhi’s but not the fact that they were only successful because they had followers. Perhaps we should remember that every followers is part of the leader they choose to follow.

71. Matters not.January 12, 2014 at 10:37 pm

    remember the Gandhi’s (sic)

    What are you thinking? A plural that requires an apostrophe? Perhaps a possessive? NO! Shakes head.

    An English teacher who can’t handle the apostrophe? It’s not that hard. While it matters not in the whole scheme of things, it certainly grates.

    But I will admit it’s becoming harder to ignore the emerging ‘common sense’ even though the MSM seem to get it right every time.

    Just saying ..