Tea Party terror!

Tuesday, 19 October 2010   State of the parties   8 comments 

A bit of hamming it up in front of the media’s cameras at a local town meeting and we’re away, unintentionally helped by some in the blogosphere who seemed to think the burning of the MDB Authority’s report was akin to lighting up Heinrich Heine in the Bebelplatz.

A step on from Beattie

Friday, 26 February 2010   Tactics   8 comments 

On several levels, the Garrett episode has brought together both what is distinct about this Labor government, but also its weaknesses.

That’s the Right dealt with, now for the Left

Tuesday, 27 November 2007   State of the parties  Comments Off on That’s the Right dealt with, now for the Left 

It will be some time before the significance of Rudd’s highly revealing victory speech becomes apparent.

Ad Watch – Garrett

Monday, 5 November 2007   Tactics  Comments Off on Ad Watch – Garrett 

There are two, slightly conflicting, messages in the Liberal’s response to Garrett’s gaffe that is repeated with what they say against union influence on the front bench. On the one hand it is the incompetence of Garrett/union bureaucrats that is the problem, on the other hand they are clever enough to impose their secret agenda […]

Gently falling apart – an update

Monday, 29 October 2007   International relations  Comments Off on Gently falling apart – an update 

Maybe Malcolm Turnbull needs to be told, but there were two very important reasons why the government did not sign the Kyoto protocol.

The Greens’ last fling

Tuesday, 9 October 2007   State and federal politics  Comments Off on The Greens’ last fling 

Like most environmental issues for the last twenty years, this is really about the major parties.

Ad watch – Queensland: Nuclear the next

Thursday, 20 September 2007   Tactics  Comments Off on Ad watch – Queensland: Nuclear the next 

Julia Gillard warned last weekend of the ‘mother of all scare campaigns’ from the government in the coming election. This is a sensible tactic as it turns whatever the government says into a political ploy. But the government already has difficulty in creating a scare campaign in the first place.

A change in the wind for the Greens

Thursday, 30 August 2007   State of the parties  Comments Off on A change in the wind for the Greens 

Minor parties like the Greens never like to face up to it, but their development is often less dependent on their own initiatives than what goes on in the major parties. The Greens have especially been influenced by developments in Labor.

Clearing out the house

Wednesday, 25 July 2007   Tactics  Comments Off on Clearing out the house 

There has not been a Labor leader for a long while under as little pressure to win votes to win an election as this one. He is abandoning the Green position because he now can.

Think globally, dump locally

Tuesday, 24 July 2007   Political figures  Comments Off on Think globally, dump locally 

Taking global warming as an international issue does give Labor more room to dump the Greens on which it has relied politically for almost a quarter of a century.