2010 Election Campaign Day 7 - Who Airbrushed Teh Bishop Goyles?

There's barely a wrinkle in sight at Abbott-Team.......

The Daily Examiner editor raps Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan over the knuckles

On 19 July The Daily Examiner reported on a comment, containing personal abuse of sitting Labor MP Janelle Saffin, which could be found on Nationals candidate Kevin Hogan's Facebook page for the past month:

The Daily Examiner on 19 July 2010 Click on image to enlarge

The next day the same newspaper had Hogan demonstrating that he didn't understand social media dynamics and guaranteeing the swift death of his Facebook page through lack of reader participation:

To his credit, when he learnt of those comments yesterday, he contacted this paper to say they would be removed and that he would disable external commentary from the site in the future so the same thing could not happen again.

Details of the original comment can be found in the NCV post "Expose the cow"....

2010 Election Campaign Day 6 - All atwitter

It's immediate, it's busy - it's #ausvotes!

Phoney_Tony

@latikambourke Sorry about being stuck in Cbr, still researching powered flight. To think last week we thought the earth was flat! #ausvotes via web

latikambourke
@Phoney_Tony I seriously worry about whomever you are. :) #ausvotes via TweetDeck in reply to Phoney_Tony

hellharpy: it's going to be very hard to teach a pol sci course and be non-partisan during the next few weeks #ausvotes via web

silver_bodgie: RT @wayneswan: @JuliaGillard We need to take this campaign up a notch. We're calling in the producers of Ladette to Lady - NOW!! #ausvotes

CatherineDeveny: Tony Abbott is crazy for embryos but not so keen when they turn into brown people on boats #ausvotes


GreenJ: O oh. Tony Abbott just turned back the Pacific Princess. #ausvotes via TweetDeck


_struct: Tony Abbott has said Workchoices is "dead, buried, cremated", but let's not forget this man believes Jesus rose from the dead. #ausvotes


DR_KANGAROO: @juliagillard this is social media dear, not an avenue for 140 character press releases! When will you talk WITH us? #AusVotes via web

Hartsuyker not doing so well in online comments

In the heart of the Cowper federal electorate The Coffs Coast Advocate frequently runs stories quoting sitting member the Nats Luke Hartsuyker.
However, Luke doesn't always impress the locals.........

Posted by vallaben from Valla Beach, New South Wales

16 July 2010 8:45 a.m. Suggest removal » Post reply »

luke at it again bending the facts to win some votes for himself. if he spent 1 50th of his time he spends whinging about the government on actually doing something for his electorate he would probably get himself some support..you earn your votes by working for the community luke not whining about the government ...you are a do nothing politician and hopefully we will be rid of you this election

Posted by tlearyus from Pottsville, New South Wales

16 July 2010 11:05 a.m. Suggest removal » Post reply »

couldn't agree more...all we get from luke is paper waste in our mailbox and his party line rhetoric..if he wants to help this region he should change his parties policy on the National Broadband Network for a start, after all it was the coalition/nationals that wasted over 3 billion dollars on the failed Networking the Nation scheme run by Doug Anthony and Co. For those that are interested read the Auditor Generals report or do a search for "pork barrel" +NTN.

So this is what Abbott's tweaking at the edges looks like

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says that an election promise which will change the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 to remove an obligation set out in Fair Work legislation is not changing the Fair Work Act, so he wasn't lying to the Australian people 5 days ago when he said "an incoming Coalition government would not seek to change the Fair Work Act at least for the three years of the next term of Parliament."
Today's effort was a clumsy sophism; "This is a savings measure and it will be achieved by amending the electoral act. It does not require any change to the Fair Work Act."
This is how one section of the Fair Work Act would probably read under an Abbott Government.
Looks mighty like change to me!

Fair Work Act 2009

Subdivision F—Liability for costs of protected action ballot

464 Costs of protected action ballot conducted by the Australian Electoral Commission

(1) This section applies if the protected action ballot agent for a protected action ballot is the Australian Electoral Commission.

(2) The Commonwealth is liable for the costs incurred by the Australian Electoral Commission in relation to the protected action ballot, whether or not the ballot is completed. [superseded]

(3) However, except as provided by regulations made for the purposes of subsection 466(1), the Commonwealth is not liable for any costs incurred by the Australian Electoral Commission in relation to legal challenges to matters connected with the protected action ballot. [superseded]

UPDAAATE!
I see that someone in the blogosphere has begun to put about the story that Tones was only talking about general union elections and not protected ballots so that didn't involve changing Fair Work law at all.
But if one goes to the AEC website this pops up:
"Under the Fair Work (Registered Organisations) Act 2009 (the Act), the AEC must conduct all elections for office in registered organisations unless an exemption has been granted by the Fair Work Australia. This includes all elections and amalgamation ballots for trade unions and employer organisations that are registered under the Act. These elections are usually conducted by means of postal voting, and a wide variety of electoral systems are used."
Yep, Tones is really out to change Fair Work law.

Bread and Circus: Australian media tries to run the election campaign agenda

Letter from Loughnane to Bitar
Click to enlarge

The Gillard Government's re-election team appear intent on starving Tony Abbott of oxygen in the federal election campaign now underway in Australia.

With only one leaders debate on the schedule (instead of the hoped for three) and that apparently right in the middle of the Sunday night feeding-the-kids time zone for many families, both the mainstream media and the Coalition must be fuming.

The attempt to corner Gillard by applying public pressure has badly backfired on both. The media has lost two more opportunities to ponder at length on vagaries of The Worm and Abbott additional televised chances to send his often outrageous claims nationwide without being restricted by a news/current affairs format.

Posted in Crikey on 19 July 2010 along with a letter (above left) from the Liberal Party Secretariat:

Statement from Press Gallery President Phillip Hudson on election debates

The Federal Parliamentary Press Gallery committee looks forward to both the Labor Party and the Liberal Party delivering on their previous promises to participate in three leaders' debates during the formal election campaign.

In particular, we look forward to a guaranteed debate on the first Sunday of the campaign (which is four or more days after the issue of the writs) and, most importantly, a debate on the last Sunday before polling day.

We believe this will allow a proper debate about all the issues and scrutiny of the promises made during the formal campaign launches.

We believe the debates must be designed for television, internet and radio broadcast and there must be no restrictions on the use of audience response meters or other devices.

The members of the Press Gallery are ready to participate in and facilitate these three debates.

Phillip Hudson

Press Gallery President

2010 Election Campaign Day 5 - an abundance of focus group speake

FOWARD! ACTION! PROTECT! VALUES! TRUST! TOGETHER!

He said......She said......They said........

Cartoon from FotoSearch