The media have finally gotten what they worked so hard to make happen, which is a fine testament to their power to destroy things, and let’s hope they set themselves as their next challenge achieving something positive for people other than the Liberal Party. Or reporting news, one or the other.
In the meantime – who will come out on top? The People’s Princess, or Julia Gillard? Julia Gillard. How long will it take for the media’s pre-challenge promises that calling a spill would “resolve the matter” to be shown to be completely wrong, as the losing side commences bitterly bitching to hacks who’ll beat any predictable run-of-the-mill whinge into some kind of devastating front-page LABOR IS TEARING ITSELF APART “exclusive”?
I refuse to support an AFL team if I don’t get to directly vote for its captain.
Here’s a place to vent – about the media, about the ALP, about the level of civics education in this country…
UPDATE: Anyone wondering why the PM’s had such a difficult time communicating the government’s successes should have a look at how News Ltd has reported her resounding victory over the supposed rival they worked so hard to encourage to challenge, where the impressive level of support for her amongst colleagues was made clear:
“Brutal”. I see. So we’re still going with the deceitful assassin bullsh*t, are we?
50 Comments
Has anyone else been wondering if there’s an apt movie metaphor? The Rocky series, maybe (although that would make joolz Mr T). Maybe something with charles bronson?
How about the Black Knight in The Holy Grail?
I note the new newspol which has seen a jump of support for labor. See what happens when people start thinking about abbott as prime minister, labor support jumps! This man alone stands between the coalition and electoral victory and I wonder just what it will take for this angle to start to be repeated by the lame stream. I wonder will we get THE COALITION IS TEARING ITSELF APART? Somehow I doubt it.
Well said Jeremy, the narrative in the media has risen to epic ridiculousness.
This idea that Gillard somehow lacks legitimacy reeks of bizzare presidential style populism and desperation to control the outcome.
If she wins the challenge she will be 1000% as legitimate as she was before, as was Rudd.
If Rudd wins (and he won’t) they’ll only go after him exactly as they did BEFORE they changed leaders.
Their PARTY chooses the leader, just like the OH SO STABLE Coalition chose their leader by a comparitively flimsy single vote.. As if their is not ongoing speculation within their ranks constantly as it was under Howard.
The government need to completely stop responding to the media narrative and make their own.
the ABC page on the leadership says it all…
They were texted ‘confirmed’ figures of 73-29 – which gave them something to talk about for a while -”largest margin ever” etc. etc. it was only later later when the count was officially announced that the real figures were known.
@ MoC – Die Hard?
This is starting to become pretty embarrassing for Bolt. How many columns and posts have been about “Gillard finished”? And yet there she is still.
Imagine if Tim Flannery started quoting these articles to prove what a fraud and alarmist Bolt is when it comes to the issue of Labor party leadership.
@ MoC – Die Hard?
You beat me to it Trippi. The only person more humiliated than KRudd by this vote is one ABolt. For more than 12 months he has been telling his devoted followers “Gillard is finished” and now Gillard is stronger than ever. Andrew, the grieving right-wing blogosphere turns its lonely eyes to you. What now, oh great seer? When will the Gillard world end? Have we entered the end times or not? How did you get your many prophesies so wrong? To put it in your own words, why should anyone ever take any notice of anything you say, ever? Or, to put it in the words of another political player with views not dissimilar to your own, “please explain?”
I’m surprised the media hasn’t tried to spin this as “Gillard FAILS to lose leadership ballot!”
When it comes down to it, Gillard is in fact the one who has the confidence of her party, whilst Tony Abbott holds leadership by one vote.
When are we going to hear more about that instead of the bullshit Fairfax and News were desperate to beat up?
Maybe Albo will go full Crimson Bolt like in Super, but I bet the other Bolt would say that movie was about him.
Jumping the Shark
Surely this op ed in the HUN today has to qualify as the ultimate media jumping the shark on the #ruddspill?
http://www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/recipe-method-leaves-bad-taste/story-e6frfhqf-1226281951652
IMO when the media write a piece on how KRudd = Dr Gary on MKR we have reached a new low.
Anyone else got a screaming shark-jumping find?
Of course The Crimson Bolt wouldn’t be rescuing Julia in that scenario, just Australia. Flannery would be represented by Kevin Bacon.
I think i can hear Turncoat counting numbers or is that money ? 1 vote Abbott should be looking over his shoulder now more than before.
We want a new media , when do we want it NOW !
The HS showed the secret of their journalistic expertise today by reporting what astrologers were predicting about the candidates. Biting, insightful stuff.
No. No, it isn’t. Nothing has ever been embarrassing for Bolt, never is, never will be. He has an ego of solid stone.
From the Blot:
A vote was held, but democracy is dead. Not sure what these people have in mind when they think of “democracy” but it’s not the Westminster system.
Well, she’s right, but in the wrong way. For a bunch of whingers who love having the Queen as our head of state, they sure don’t like the electoral system we inherited from them.
1. At 10 am, one of the pundits in the Channel Nine studio said the ballot should only take half an hour, and 45 minutes at the most, but it took just over an hour. There was no explanation from the pundit as to why he had got this detail wrong.
2. John Reidy @ 5
I was watching Channel Nine when Hugh Rimington reported this result. My impression was that it was Rimington who was the first to receive this result. Back in the studio, one of the opinionists asked Rimington what his source was, but Rimington refused to disclose it. I checked with Channel Ten and Channel Seven, and they had quickly picked up Rimington’s premature result, and were reporting it, without accreditation. I forgot to check on Channel Two, but thanks to you, I can see that they were blindly following the commercial media in this false reporting as well.
When the true result came in, the media of course corrected their earlier report, but they unanimously failed to declare that they had got it wrong, and why they had got it wrong. Rimington was left with egg on his face of course, and more than anyone should have noted the correction. Moreover, since he had got it wrong, he was freed from his obligation not to disclose his source for the false result. So, Hugh, who was your source?
3. I made a prediction to myself that as soon as the ballot was over the press would be asking whether Rudd would still consider lauching a challenge at a future date. My prediction was confirmed in spades. They asked this question of Dick Adams outside the ballot room; they asked Rudd at his press conference; and they asked Julia Gillard at her press conference. Adams, Rudd and Gillard deftly fended off these attempted gotcha questions.
4. There were several questions to Gillard and comments from the pundits on the role that the carbon pricing scheme had in the government’s slide in the polls. Consistent with their year-long partisanship on the issue, the reporters and pundits all used the term “carbon tax” which fits with the opposition’s interests on this issue, while Gillard consistently used the term “carbon pricing.” If the government is to gain any traction on this issue, they have to point out the media’s language bias. They must point out that whenever the media uses the term “carbon tax” that they are playing into the hands of the opposition, and they must insist that the media use the objective and neutral term “carbon pricing scheme.”
I’m excited! Your News Ltd ticker on the side there might tick tomorrow. Wooooooooh!
Kev gives a speech that is worthy of an Oscar acceptance.
He thanks everyone within 200 kms “without rancour”.
Reminds me of Pontius Pilate and Biggus Dikkus (his wife is called Incontinetia Buttocks doncha’ know).
Welease Woger!
“Incontinentia”
Well, a top few days overall. We got to see the Labor party tear itself apart and confirm everything the media had been saying, Albo crying like a big sook then picking the wrong side, and Dudd getting the arse to the back bench. What a surprise that his speech was the usual recitation of his CV and what a top bloke he was. Did he remember to mention the 2020 wankfest ? It got a bit hard to listen to after a couple of minutes. Somebody should sack his speechwriter if so. He won’t need one for a while anyway haha.
Fancy asking him if he would challenge again! Can’t everyone see that he is a different person that has learnt from the past and is committed to supporting Gillard? LOL
Anyway, the good news for Gillard is that her chances of making a surplus are higher now that Kevvie won’t be on non stop junkets…
In his desperation to find a negative, the Herald Sun’s resident polling expert finds that Essential has Labor dropping to a “disastrous” 45-55 TPP.
Only problem is, the figures are a week old and a week ago he had a post saying that Labor had dropped to a “disastrous” 45-55. What did it drop from? 46-54. OMFG!!!!!111!!! What a disaster!!!!
Even if his figures are from a more recent poll than the one he links to, it would mean that there had been NO change.
I think all the excitement of the past few days has been a bit too much for him. Maybe he needs a nice lie down.
But really – 73-29, 71-31, always to Gillard? What real difference does 2 votes either way make in that contest?
If this was Mal taking a run at Tony, then the 2 vote difference might have meant something….
Phil Coorey was the one being RT’d all over the shop as the one who was “first”.
Is this part of you following the MSM’s “We didn’t
beat it upmake it up!” meme?Because every bit of political nous I have tells me Rudd jumped the gun by about 5 months – if he’d waited til July/August, not only could* he have had the numbers to actually get leadership, but with the carbon price having alreay been brought in (along with it’s attendant tax cuts) and the NBN pretty much past the point of no return, he could use those achievements as part of his campaign platform…and Tony and the #Noalition (anyone else surprised at the censure motion today? No?) wouldn’t have been able to roll any of it back anyway!
* Provided that the ALP caucus have the memory span of 5 year olds on red cordial and had forgotten how he was a micro-managing, authoritarian prick to work for.
Yes Julia Gillard proved she is the endorsed leader…Tony Abbott leadership remains dubious.
TOP INDEED
Blot isn’t even literate in his field of alleged expertise — polls about politics. What a sad case he is!
The media have finally gotten what they worked so hard to make happen, which is a fine testament to their power to destroy things, and let’s hope they set themselves as their next challenge achieving something positive for people other than the Liberal Party. Or reporting news, one or the other.
It’s a pity Bernard Keane hasn’t taken that on board. His last few posts seem to me to have been a flimsy excuse to bag Gillard, his latest diatribe being a case in point.
I’m no fan of Gillard, much less Rudd (and let’s not speak of Abbott), but Keane’s persistent trashing of the PM is getting on my wick, and his “observation” that people are “sick of leadership speculation” would have been a lot more convincing had he not himself been one of the witless rabble promoting it.
Crikey – “Spin-free, mogul-free, independent journalism”? Show me the evidence, Bernard.
“Tony Abbott leadership remains dubious.”
LOL I’d say he’s much safer than Gillard. A short exchange between Rudd and Ben Fordham today was most revealing. I’m not sure that Kevvie has given up all hope just yet. Let the whiteanting continue !
How so Bob?
She won by 40 votes, where as Abbott barely scraped through with a ONE vote margin, and in the first round he recieved the support of barely a third of his party.
You do get that 1/3rd is LESS than 2/3rds, don’t you?
“Mr Abbott beat Malcolm Turnbull by 42 votes to 41 after Joe Hockey had been defeated in the first round…In the first round Mr Abbott polled 35 votes, Mr Turnbull 26 votes and Mr Hockey 23 votes.”
Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/national/abbott-wins-liberal-leadership-by-one-vote-20091201-k1mc.html#ixzz1ncYWtP6h
“Gillard is that her chances of making a surplus are higher now that Kevvie won’t be on non stop junkets…”
Well, at least its not as bad as the $300,000 pa that former PM Howard is STILL costing us in travel expenses alone, on top of his $330,000 pa pension.
If only Howard could stop gouging the tax payers…not content with leading the highest taxing, biggest spending government in Aussie history, he’s also the most expensive ex pm to keep in retirement.
Maybe we need a new Howard era Great Big New Tax, sorry ‘levy’, to help pay for the rodents exorbitant expenses?
If Fran Bailey in MacMillan had not been in hospital, Turnbull would have scraped over the line.
You’re not too good with comprehension OR numbers are you Bob.
If you had the slightest clue about anything in the universe mate, you would realise how phenomenally stupid you sound.
Good point Fran…even more fool Bob.
Bob is kinda reaching epic Ian whatsit depths in willful stupidity.
Peter Costello writing in the Age today seems desperate to re-open the wound and keep the Rudd, Gillard spat festering.
http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/politics/pms-forces-mistaken-if-they-think-kevin-will-give-up-20120227-1tys4.html
So who is going to be the first to sink the knife into Arbib. Wikileaks, dodgy land deals, NSW Labor infighting, so much to chose from but so few articles.
#TheirABC…
Wow, that really is pathetic. At least Rudd is no coward, Costello only draws attention to his own simpering pathetic history.
“If you had the slightest clue about anything in the universe mate, you would realise how phenomenally stupid you sound.”
Haha I think you’ve got a bit more projection happening there Jonesy. According to the polls Gillard is currently heading for an arse whipping at the hands of Abbott. I’m not sure if the Lib’s would be thinking of rolling him, but apparently you and Fran think the result of a two year old ballot is relevant to the current situation. Ah well, time will tell I guess
Hey maybe if you write enough words about how Abbott’s leadership is under threat the Liberals will decide to have another ballot even though he is doing well and there is no dissatisfaction inside the party. Apparently that’s how the world works (in lefties minds anyway!)
So in the wash up, even Bernard Keane excuses his and his fellow churnalists’ efforts at flogging a dead horse back into life by claiming:
1) Reporting on real political issues is too hard:
Spills are easier to cover for journalists than policy issues: you don’t have to be an expert on a particular area of policy, you don’t need to do any research of actual issues
and
2) “It’s not our fault”:
This is all a roundabout way of saying that while there is substance to the bagging of the gallery that the spill occasioned, it’s a far more complicated story than most critics appear willing to concede, and there’s a significant difference of opinion, it seems, between the politically engaged, for whom leadership contests appear to be a unique form of torture, and voters, who as media consumers ultimately dictate the sort of choices commercial media outlets are going to make
http://www.crikey.com.au/2012/02/28/bagging-the-gallery-isnt-the-whole-story-on-the-leadership-beat-up/
“..but apparently you and Fran think the result of a two year old ballot is relevant to the current situation.”
But an 18 month old ballot is. Its the one that sees the Libs out of power, unable to stop the Carbon PRICE, or anything else, while the most effective reformist govt in years does its thing. Suck it up boyo, another 18 months of impotent bleating before you get heart ripped out again.
Gillard is gonna win the next election, cos the universe is a perverse place and more to the point cos the lib/nats are so up themselves they already think they have it won.
“Brown Bob” (sic),
The Coalition are only “doing well” because all the mainstream media are keeping them afloat.
A crap outfit they are if they need all the country’s media to keep them in the race.
Bob, you make delusion almost an art form…if you think Tony Abbott will be the next pm you really are clueless…he is loathed in the electorate and the only thing that has made him seem even vaguely palatable to moderate voters is the sustained media campaign against the government.
Once they get to look at the candidates one against another, they will be knocking on Malcoms door. Tony Abbott actively campaigned directly against this countries interests with the mining and carbon taxes. He is beholden to the big end of town. Sooner or later at least the slightly more moderate and intelligent Turnbull will seem the only option.
Projection? you never stop. Night is day if you say so in the mind of the extreme right wing. And that’s you bob. A petty knob.
“he is loathed in the electorate ”
Apparently not as much as Gillard
“Once they get to look at the candidates one against another, … ”
You seem to have forgotten one of the main reasons for the ballot that got Abbott in charge was cause Turnbull was supporting Dudd’s ETS and voters let the Liberal party know they weren’t happy. Since you are so keen on quoting old results maybe you can remind us how Turnbull was polling back then ? Unless Turnbull promises to can the carbon tax, and the polls start to indicate that Abbott will lose, why would they go back to Turnbull?
Anyway I guess if you are going to be in denial about Labor’s incompetence you may as well be in denial about current polling as well !
Prove it.
Precisely how have they failed to govern effectively?
The economy?
Your biggest mistake Blob is that you think the Coalition’s base are somehow representative of mainstream voters. You also forgot how your hero John Winston
was all for a carbon tax…same party right? What goes up, must come down, spinning wheel Blob. Howard, we’ll hes wet behind the ears, you however, clearly delusional.
“Brown Bob” (sic):
And who instructed these ‘voters’ to tell the so-called Liberal Party they weren’t happy? Frothing extremists on talkback radio, that’s who. This is a 100-per-cent radical right-wing hate medium; their listeners are NOT mainstream*. Also, in fine conservative tradition it is likely there was an element of astro-turfing in play to spook the so-called Liberal MPs into resisting Turnbull.
______________
* Malcolm Turnbull writing for London Times, 19 December 2009
http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/homepage-speeches-articles/it%E2%80%99s-reckless-to-be-a-sceptic-on-global-warming/
Regarding Abbott’s one-vote margin
Did not the Lib’s revisit the issue of the leadership after the 2010 election? And was not Tony reaffirmed leader unopposed? Some appear to be relying on the outdated results of stale events to sell a narative that appears to be false given the most recent, and thus relevant, events.
Oh was there yet another vote recently?
someone appears to be giving a narrative that hasn’t been tested recently.
‘Recently’? You were quite happy using the very non-recent Liberal leadership spill of 2009 as being an indication of current circumstances. That is until it was pointed out to you that the Liberal leadership was thrown open after the 2010 election and Abbott was returned unopposed (and no, Jonesy, there needn’t be a ‘vote’ if the encumbent is unopposed) .
Now you’re suddenly concerned with ‘recently’! Laugh.Out.Loud.
Howard @49
Talk about moving the goalposts. My namesake himself would struggle to slot one through.