One member of the federal cabinet is the Member for Gutter. Another is the Member for Sewer. One resides permanently in the gutter, the other resides permanently in the sewer.
To understand the unprecedented ugliness, the carnivorous churn, that at present afflicts the apex of Australian political debate, one need only look back several weeks to September 19, when Julia Gillard returned to Parliament after attending the funeral of her father and the funerals of three Australian soldiers who had been killed in Afghanistan.

The Prime Minister was white with grief. After she spoke of her father and the military funerals, the Leader of the Opposition rose to reply. This is what Tony Abbott said:
"On behalf of the Coalition . . . I welcome the Prime Minister back after her bereavement leave. This is a tragic time for her, and we all feel for her at this very difficult and sad time. I also acknowledge the sad duty that the Prime Minister and I have been engaged in over the last few days attending military funerals . . . I again acknowledge John Gillard, who has done his country proud in producing such a daughter."

You would think this was untouchable. But no. It must be the tenor of the times, the massive amount of trolling that goes on in political discourse, via Twitter, via the internet, via social media, and via constant opinion polling. The political class lives permanently on edge.
This fraught context can only go so far in explaining the endless distortions and smears that have become the daily language of the federal Treasurer, Wayne Swan. Even when packaged in a suit and tie and surrounded by the gravitas of the House of Representatives, he looks and sounds like a spiv.

In preparation for this column I spent two days going through the Hansards of recent months, extracting all the personal insults that Swan has engaged in, all the outrageous distortions, all the self-praise. I've found the sheer amount of damning material from his own mouth can't be contained in this confined space. It requires a chapter, not a column.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/abuse-is-treasurers-stock-in-trade-20121007-2776r.html#ixzz28fdjRYLW

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WAYNE SWAN’S remark last month that the US Republican Party had been taken over by “cranks and crazies” is notable in two respects.

First, it is true.

Second, it marks a further move towards a globalised politics, in which political arguments routinely transcend national boundaries.

The truth of Swan’s claim is so obvious that few, even in Australia, have bothered to dispute it. The following are just a sample of the lunatic beliefs held by much of the Republican Party base, propounded on its news outlets such as Fox News, and put forward by leading Republican politicians:

• That President Obama is a foreign-born Muslim, a rabid socialist and more sympathetic to jihadists than to the United States.
• That scientific evidence on climate change is the product of a global conspiracy aimed at imposing a UN-dominated world government.
• That opinion polls showing Republican candidate Mitt Romney trailing President Obama have been rigged in the hope of depressing the turnout of Republican voters.

While not all Republicans believe all of these things, few, if any, have been willing to repudiate these conspiracy theories and their advocates. Mitt Romney, for example, has equivocated on climate change, embraced “birthers” such as Donald Trump and, through his campaign organisation, promoted opinion poll denialism.

The view that the Republican Party has been captured by cranks and crazies is not confined to Democrats or even centrists. Leading conservatives such as David Frum, speechwriter for George W. Bush and Bruce Bartlett, domestic policy adviser to President Ronald Reagan have said the same thing, in equally blunt terms.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/politics/cranks-and-crazies-us-politics-is-fair-game-for-australians/

One thing for sure, Paul Sheehan is no Alan Ramsey... Ramsey would soon have been able to cut through to the cheese... and peel the layer of ... what am I saying, the veneer of the decorated decorum on Abbott's shoes...

As a woman I found the trotting out of the adoring wife pretty cynical & offensive.  I don't really care how much She and the daughters love him, the guy is not 'woman friendly'.  His attitude against abortion and more pretty much shows what he thinks about women's rights.  I don't particularly like Gillard either, in fact, I find Political Parties to be so NOT democratic in total, but, Tony seriously has to start listening to his electorate, not just his fans.  Personally I think he did this so that he could get a small jump in the polls from the bored bold & the beautiful women so that he could head off Turnbull and it really had nothing to do with getting women onside at all, was more about trying to look better than Malcolm Turnbull to ensure his continued safe leadership of the Liberals...

from the shortlist daily ….

Abbott attempts to boot Slipper

In demanding the Speaker be stood down, Mr Abbott used similar language to broadcaster Alan Jones, who said Ms Gillard's father had 'died of shame'.

'Should she rise in this place now to try and defend the Speaker, to try and say that she retains confidence in this Speaker, she will shame this parliament again.' he said.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has lashed out at Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's record on sexism as the Coalition made a failed attempt to have Peter Slipper removed as Speaker by parliamentary vote.

A motion to remove Mr Slipper - moved by Mr Abbott - was defeated by 70 votes to 69 with the government supported by independent MPs Craig Thomson, Rob Oakeshott, Tony Windsor and Greens MP Adam Bandt    

Cross-benchers Andrew Wilkie and Tony Crook voted with the Coalition.

Moving the ultimately unsuccessful motion, Mr Abbott said it was "crystal clear" Mr Slipper was no longer a fit and proper person to uphold the dignity of the Parliament.

But Ms Gillard hit back, saying Mr Abbott did not need a motion to highlight misogyny and sexism; he needed a mirror - and the motion should be rejected.

Under section 35 of the constitution, the Speaker can be removed by a vote in the House of Representatives.

Mr Abbott's move follows the release of a series of crude text messages about women allegedly sent by Mr Slipper to his former staffer James Ashby tendered as evidence in the Federal Court.

In a rare move, the government agreed to "take the motion", which was seconded by Deputy Opposition Leader Julie Bishop.

Mr Abbott said that Mr Slipper was "disqualified" from high office because of the "undenied, uncontradicted facts that have emerged" in the course of the sexual harassment case brought by Mr Ashby against him.

"This Speaker had failed the character test," he said, adding that the "Prime Minister has failed the judgment test" by appointing him.

Mr Abbott said Ms Gillard should be ashamed of herself and her judgment for appointing Mr Slipper as Speaker.

"Should she rise in this place now to try and defend the Speaker, to try and say that she retains confidence in this Speaker, she will shame this Parliament again," he said.

"And every day the Prime Minister stands in this Parliament to defend this Speaker will be another day of shame for this Parliament, another day of shame for a government which should already have died of shame."

Ms Gillard said Mr Abbott should apologise to Parliament for the vile and sexist conduct of members of his own political party rather than using today's Slipper motion as a political battering ram.  

She said she was personally offended when, as health minister, he said abortion was the "easy way out" and when he raised her unmarried status and when he stood beside the "Ditch the Witch" placards at anti-carbon tax rallies.

"I will not be lectured about sexism and misogyny by this man [Mr Abbott], not now, not ever," she told the house.

"The Leader of the Opposition says that people who hold sexist views are not appropriate for high office. Well I hope the Leader of the Opposition has got a piece of paper and he is writing out his resignation.

The Prime Minister, who had earlier condemned the content of the Slipper text messages, said the appropriate thing was to wait for the Slipper court case to reach its conclusion.

"People will then have an opportunity to make up their mind [about Mr Slipper] with the fullest information available to them," she said

Ms Gillard asked Mr Abbott whether he had taken responsibility over the "died of shame" comments Sydney shock jock Alan Jones made about her father.

"Has he taken any responsibility of the conduct of his political party?" she asked."Who apparently when the most vile things were being said about my family raised no voice of objection.

"No one walked out of the room, no one walked up to Mr Jones and said that was not acceptable.

"Instead of course, it was all viewed as good fun."

"The government is not dying of shame. My father did not die of shame," Ms Gillard said. '‘What the leader of the opposition should be ashamed of is of his performance in this parliament and the sexism which he brings with it."

It was only until the comments were run in the newspaper that Mr Abbott started "ducking for cover".

"Big on lectures of issues of responsibility, very light on accepting responsibility himself for the vile conduct of members of his political party."

She said that she had previously been offended by Mr Abbott's comments on abortion and "housewives of Australia" doing the ironing, as well as his catcalls at her during parliament.

She accused Mr Abbott of peddling a standard of behaviour for Mr Slipper that neither he nor members of his party met. 

"His double standards should not rule this Parliament," she said.

Ms Gillard reminded Mr Abbott the Nationals had preselected Mr Slipper as a candidate for the 1984 and 1987 elections and the Liberal Party had done so at the 1993, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010 elections.

"And across many of those preselections Mr Slipper enjoyed the personal support of the Leader of the Opposition," she said, quoting Mr Abbott referring to Mr Slipper as a friend and adding that Mr Abbott had attended Mr Slipper's wedding.

Mr Slipper stood aside in April from the Speaker's chair pending an investigation into sexual harassment claims made by Mr Ashby. But the independent MP still conducts formal business attached to the high-profile role while drawing a salary of almost $1000 a day.

As Mr Abbott spoke, Leader of the House Anthony Albanese and his Coalition counterpart, Christopher Pyne, talked to the independents.

In seconding the motion, Ms Bishop said that she spoke with a "heavy heart" on the issue.

She told the Parliament that the Speaker had a responsibility to the parliament and the Australian people.

"It is among the greatest honours in our parliamentary system," she said.

Ms Bishop said that while she did not presume to speak on behalf of all female MPs, she would "personally struggle" to show appropriate respect for Mr Slipper as Speaker.

"How [are] the women in this house are expected to show respect for the Speaker when we are now aware of the views that he holds of women is beyond comprehension," she said.

"While I do not presume to speak for all the female colleagues on either side of the chamber, I would personally struggle to show appropriate respect."

Ms Bishop said Mr Slipper was the prime minister’s choice of Speaker.

She said Ms Gillard struggled to admit mistakes but this issue went beyond the prime minister’s pride.Mr Slipper would be an embarrassment to the parliament if he were allowed to remain, Ms Bishop said.

If members of the parliament lost respect for the Speaker, the public would too, she said.

Labor MP Mark Dreyfus, who is a QC, said that the parliament should not act as a kangaroo court on the Slipper matter, arguing the Coalition had rushed to judgement on thin evidence.

But manager of opposition business Christopher Pyne said that the Coalition did not seek to "prejudge" the federal court case currently underway.

"The revelations that have arisen out of the court case are so heinous, so egregious, that it is the opposition's contention that the Speaker can never resume the chair in this place in any way that would lend confidence to the opposition."

In a statement earlier today, Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said "the time has well and truly come for the Parliament to fix this problem".

"Either Peter Slipper needs to have the good sense to resign the speakership and sit on the crossbench until all criminal and civil allegations against him have been dealt with, or the Prime Minister and Opposition Leader need to put aside their political differences and have the parliament elect a new Speaker," he said.

Liberal MP Sophie Mirabella - who Mr Slipper referred to in a text message as "an ignorant botch" - said she did not want an apology from the Speaker but a "graceful exit".

Ms Mirabella also called on Ms Gillard to "come out of hiding" and condemn Mr Slipper's comments.

"She needs to show she's not just a convenient feminist but a real feminist," she said.

Independent MP Tony Windsor said last night he planned to meet with Mr Slipper this week to determine if it is appropriate for him to return as Speaker.

Less than a week after Mr Windsor said he would not stand in Mr Slipper's way if he was to return to the Speaker's chair, on the condition was cleared of sexual harassment and CabCharge rorting allegations, the federal member for New England revealed he was reconsidering his position on the matter.

Mr Windsor told ABC's Lateline program last night that he had not seen the documents containing the text messages but had read reports about them.

He said if the text messages were true, "I think it might raise other issues in terms of [Mr Slipper's] capacity to maintain himself in that position".

Mr Windsor said last week that if sexual harassment allegations against Mr Slipper were not found to be credible then he saw no reason he couldn't return as Speaker.

Senator Barnaby Joyce said Ms Gillard had to face up to the responsibility of appointing Mr Slipper as Speaker.

"It was the prime minister herself who, of her own volition, decided to go out and grab the wheelie bin and put it back in the kitchen," he said.

In a Coalition party meeting today, outgoing Queensland Senator Sue Boyce suggested that Coalition colleagues should not be travelling overseas with Mr Slipper on delegations.  

Senator Boyce said that she was appalled at the prospect of Mr Slipper leading a delegation of five MPs to Argentina and Canada next week, after the publication of "highly sexist" text messages he sent to Mr Ashby.

Mr Abbott leant his support to the idea.

"There are such things as ethical standards and this individual has utterly and completely transgressed these standards. His return to the chair is beyond the pale," the Opposition Leader told the party room meeting.  

Coalition Fails To Oust Slipper