Wednesday 25 August 2010
First Dog articulates our common fear.....
First Dog on the Moon reminds us that it will all inevitably happen again -AAAARRRRGGGHHH!
A bit about First Dog
Click on cartoon to enlarge
Tuesday 24 August 2010
It's begun. Liberals attempt to smear Australian Governor-General in hope that state governor will have to decide next federal government
Though why the Coalition appears to believe that Governor Bashir would be more amenable to inviting Abbott to form a government is unclear at this point. Perhaps the ease with which she was spooked by tabloid newspaper The Daily Telegraph earlier this year has fostered some hope in Liberal breasts that she might cave under pressure.
While Tony Abbott is keeping his head below the parapet for now, yesterday the art of the sly smear was being practiced by Liberal Party donor and mining magnate Clive Palmer:
MINING magnate and government critic Clive Palmer has questioned the role of Governor-General Quentin Bryce in determining whether Julia Gillard or Tony Abbott is allowed to form a government.
Ms Bryce's daughter Chloe Bryce is married to ALP powerbroker Bill Shorten, who was instrumental in Ms Gillard toppling Kevin Rudd for the prime ministership.
''We need to make sure that the Governor-General is totally impartial,'' Mr Palmer told The Age. ''If the Governor-General finds she can't be impartial, she should stand down and they should get someone else to fulfil that role.''
Hogan no hero in Page
The Northern Star 23 August 2010:
KEVIN HOGAN'S eyes were red-rimmed and his movements terse as he watched results pour in from across the Page electorate.
The people had spoken and it took Mr Hogan and his Page Nationals colleagues less than two hours to work out what they had said: "We want Janelle Saffin."
After nearly 10 months of hard campaigning by Mr Hogan, his wife Karen, and even their children, it was a difficult message to hear, but he said he would do it all again in a flash.
Speaking after his 8pm call conceding defeat to his Labor opponent, Mr Hogan said running in the campaign had been a 'great personal experience'.
The Greens - winning and grinning in 2010
Whatever the outcome of the peculiar and slightly distasteful political ménage à quatre - formed by Labor, Libs, Greens and Independents - presently trying to resolve itself into a workable federal government, it seems the Australian Greens prove the saying that winners are grinners.
- We won a Senate seat in every State, including our first ever Greens Senators in Queensland and Victoria. This gives us the power to shape the agenda of the new Government and achieve real outcomes on issues like climate change, a fair go for asylum seekers, same sex marriage, and improving public schools and hospitals;
- Our first ever lower house Greens Member of Parliament has been elected in a general election - congratulations to Adam Bandt who won the seat of Melbourne with a massive 13% swing to the Greens on primaries!
- More than 4,500 of you signed up online to volunteer over the course of the campaign - knocking on doors, handing out how to votes, holding Greens stalls and events, and much more;
- Together, we raised more than $300,000 from small online donations to run our fantastic, positive campaign advertising on TV, on billboards in capital cities, in major newspapers, and to build the biggest online advertising presence we've ever had; (with special thanks to the talented creative team at Make Believe for all their work on this campaign)
- More than 20,000 people became Facebook fans of the Greens- and dozens of State and local Facebook groups sprung up to spread the Greens' message online
For me, as Campaign Manager, the last few months have been both exhilarating and exhausting. What's kept me going is the knowledge that you - the people out there reading these emails - have been working tirelessly in your own communities.
You've shared the Greens' positive vision for Australia with your neighbours, your colleagues and your families, and that's what's led to these stunning results.
You are the heart and soul of the Greens.
Having the balance of power in the Senate from July 2011 isn't a magic wand, but it does mean we'll be in a powerful position to make legislation better, introduce new ideas to the Parliament and push both sides of politics to deliver smarter, more constructive and progressive outcomes for our nation. The results of this election won't be clear for another few days - or even weeks - and the Senators and I will be in touch with the latest developments.
Monday 23 August 2010
Austral?a: what's missing? The "i" for independents
Official tally as third day of 2010 Australian Federal Election vote count begins
Click on image to enlarge
After a Sunday spent recounting those ballot papers originally counted on election night, the Australian Electoral Commission's Virtual Tally Room records:
The two party preferred count is 74.90% complete.