Did my ears deceive me?

Did I really heard Tony Abbott last night telling the world that he would make a great Liberal Party leader because he had relatively good people skills?

And did I also catch the sound of a business group spokesperson calmly opining that the Howard Government had actually been too right-wing?

I know I witnessed the cock crowing thrice as a number of Coalition members sought to deny policy which they had previously said was set in stone and vital for the future of Australia.

Ah, strange fruit is beginning to grow in the orchards of those who had thought the former Howard Government electorally invincible.

Drop the hanky

It's not so much a matter of simply asking who will be the new head honcho of lurks, perks and jerks in the dishevelled Liberal Party (of course, most of those needy, greedy buggers really require the public funding associated with their positions of public office because they're obviously down to their last bits of folding money), but rather how many of the sore losers now find that being in Opposition is simply too much of a burden.

Naturally enough, "family" now comes first, so rather than occupy the benches to the left of the Speaker, there'll be a rush to the exit doors because all of a sudden Family First is the flavour of the day.

How strange! Their altruism with respect to the public interest and the concept of the 'common good' was only applicable when they were in office.

Real democracy demands the government of the day is challenged by an opposition that is capable of being a genuinely viable alternative. The Lib AND Nat MPs who'll decamp as quick as a wink will say it all. Their commitment was self-centred.

Now, for something totally radical ... could all members of the Coalition who have no intentions of going the full distance to the next federal election on the Opposition benches please raise their hands right now.

Let's set one day aside in the New Year for all the by-elections. That'll assist the AEC - it can conduct all the fill-in-the-spots on one day. The savings in advertising and administrative costs will fund a new hospital.

Unfortunately, April Fools Day doesn't fall on a Saturday in 2008.

How the newspapers saw North Coast election victory: Labor landslide hits Richmond and Page

In The Daily Examiner today "Shellshocked Gulaptis camp closes ranks":

"Down the road, in the Nationals camp, a little before 7pm and with barely one per cent of the vote counted, Page Nationals campaign director Murray Lees leaned towards Mr. Gulaptis and advised 'we're in trouble'.

Standing in his Lismore campaign office, surrounded by about 20 volunteers and party faithful, Mr. Chris Gulaptis still had some reason to hope Ms Saffin's early lead might be reversed, but it was a bad start.

"It's going to be tight", Mr. Gulaptis said.

Half an hour later, and with two per cent of the votes in, the tears streaming from wife Vicki Gulaptis' eyes said it all...Mr. Gulaptis and his campaign party watched in horror as polling booth after polling booth were lost to Labor."

 

In The Northern Star today:

"THERE were scenes of jubilation at the headquarters of Richmond MP Justine Elliot on Saturday night as Labor recorded a landslide victory at the polls.

Ms Elliot, who retained her seat, put on beer and pizza at low-key celebrations at her South Tweed campaign office as polls started emerging in her favour. Labor supporters had spent much of the evening quietly dissecting the televised election coverage.

However, the subdued celebrations soon turned rowdy as news of Labor's decisive win filtered through the crowd.

Supporters erupted in spontaneous applause and cheers when Labor officially declared victory about 8."

The Northern Star articles on Richmond and Page today:

http://www.northernstar.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3756412&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=
 http://www.northernstar.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3756414&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

http://www.northernstar.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3756413&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

 

"The Nationals once held all five coastal seats in NSW north of Newcastle, but now hold only two. In the northern NSW seat of Page, where the Nationals MP, Ian Causley, had retired, the former upper house Labor MP, Janelle Saffin, won with a swing of more than 8 per cent.

"People here had been expressing their desire for change throughout the election," she said. "From what I saw, the Nationals had really lost touch. We see ourselves as a rural area. But the Nationals just weren't having the conversation that the people wanted: on the cost of living, on Work Choices, health and education."

The Sydney Morning Herald article yesterday:

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/nationals-fortunes-at-lowest-ebb/2007/11/25/1195975871057.html

Brendan Nelson tipped for leadership? Heaven help the Coalition!

"FORMER defence minister Brendan Nelson is being tipped by Liberal Party insiders as the next leader of the opposition, one of Australia's biggest bookmakers says.

Neil Evans, analyst and media chief with Centrebet, said he had today been told by "a well placed and reliable Liberal party source" that Mr Nelson would be asked to take on the leadership."

Herald Sun report yesterday:

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,22818399-662,00.html

 

This is the same politician who has made such a botch of being Minister for Defence. Is nobody in the Liberal Party remembering the various blunders this man has overseen? Multinational defence contractors appear to see this minister coming from a mile off. Surely this says something about Nelson's judgement or lack thereof.

Sad to see you leave, come back soon

In the midst of celebrations over the demise of the Howard Government I'm a little sad to see the Australian Democrats on their way out the political backdoor.

It was always hard to keep faith with this party once Meg Lees had betrayed us all over the GST, but Natasha Stott-Despoja was worth hanging in there for, and her previously announced retirement meant that the Democrats has little left to offer during this last federal election campaign.

Howard's media cheer leaders change their tune now there's a new boy going to The Lodge

Yes, a week is definitely a long time in politics and for some journalists one special day can change their tune completely.

 

It's all Howard's fault and "Work Choices was his fatal obsession and climate change his historic oversight." cries Glenn Milne. Then he goes on to lament that "Lazarus with a triple bypass" has reached from just beyond the point of political extinction to achieve his ultimate personal aim; denying Peter Costello his chance to lead the Liberal Party.

There is only one conclusion here; Howard has likely incinerated two generations of Liberal leadership on the bonfire of his own vanity. The most accurate statement the outgoing prime minister made in his concession speech on Saturday night was that he "owed the Liberal Party more than the Liberal Party owed him".

The Australian Milne articles yesterday:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22818328-33435,00.html

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22819422-5014047,00.html

 

Piers Akerman pontificates that it is all Howard's fault because "The exit polls from yesterday's election would indicate that Mr Howard's decision to hang onto the prime ministership last year may have played a major factor in his government's defeat."

The Daily Telegraph Akerman article yesterday:

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/opinion/story/0,22049,22816512-5001031,00.html

 

Howard is all but ignored by a reborn Dennis Shanahan who gives an upbeat opinion on the new Prime Minister-elect under the headline "New PM on the edge of greatness".

The Australian Shanahan article today:

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,22820719-17301,00.html

 

Janet Albrechtsen is yet to publish this week, but I bet her piece will be a doozey.

Lismore's Northern Star called for Howard's End

Although the election's done and dusted, it would be remiss of this site not to make special mention of Lismore's Northern Star, which came out strongly in its editorial on election day. Its editor, Russell Eldridge, wrote:

"We endorse the view that it is time for change. It is time to vote out a Government that has no case for re-election and is leading this country down an increasingly narrow, selfish and short-sighted path.

Read the editorial at:
http://www.northernstar.com.au/localnews/storydisplay.cfm?storyid=3756359&thesection=localnews&thesubsection=&thesecondsubsection=

Well done, Northern Star!