Remember how for the last three years, almost every utterance from the Coalition was laced with extreme negativity and righteous indignation, railing against the disaster of the Labor government? 

Remember how, as soon as the election date was announced by PM Julia Gillard, Tony Abbott’s negative style of abrasive, aggressive, politics evaporated overnight? Mr Negativity suddenly became Mr Positive; Action Man was ready to govern.

What Was Promised Before the Election

Prominent among Abbott’s criticisms of the then Government were asylum seeker boats, the economy and the carbon tax.

We were whipped into a frenzy of xenophobic fear over a relatively modest number of asylum seeker boats. Although lip service was paid to saving lives at sea, the real focus was on “border security.” The emergency was so pressing that it demanded a quasi-military response, ‘Operation Sovereign Borders,’ to solve it. Fear of “invasion”, not saving the lives of desperate people, was the clear subliminal message. How could anyone who values human rights possibly refer to seeking asylum as “illegal”? No mention of compassion, global refugee numbers or Indonesian sensitivities. 

Despite Australia carrying a AAA credit rating, awarded by all three major rating agencies, we were told our economy was on the verge of collapse because of wasteful government spending and catastrophic debt. No mention of the GFC or how Australia, almost alone among nations, had chalked up 22 consecutive years of economic growth. 

We were convinced that our electricity bills had blown out to crippling levels because of the carbon tax, threatening businesses and impoverishing families. No mention of climate change, the cost of upgrading the distribution network, or the compensation package.

For a while, the Coalition opposed even the most admired Labor initiatives – the NBN, the NDIS and the proposed Gonski Education Reforms – on the grounds of cost.

Abbott’s hyper-critical message was crystallised into simplistic slogans which were repeated like an audio loop. During the election campaign, the old negative messages were simply rebadged as positives. He never let us forget the central three: cut the debt, stop the boats and abolish the carbon tax.

It all seemed so simple then.

Just weeks after the election, it’s crunch time and the Coalition’s performance is already looking decidedly shabby. Every week, we see reversals, retractions and retreats from the former positions of the Coalition. 

Even before the election, Abbott was backpedalling.

Labor’s National Disability Insurance Scheme and its education reforms had such widespread public support that to continue to oppose them was going to be counter-productive.

Overnight, the most popular Labor policies became Coalition policies. Well, that’s what we were told anyway. Now the election is over, don’t be surprised to see the backpedalling morph into double backwards somersaults.

read more: http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/abbotts-first-days-everything-but-the-boats-has-been-turned-back,5853

 

Deputy Prime Minister Warren Truss says the West Australian Senate recount has been a "debacle" and a "huge embarrassment" to Australia's electoral system.

The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) announced the results of the recount on Saturday, with Greens candidate Scott Ludlam and Australian Sports Party candidate Wayne Dropulich picking up seats over Labor's Louise Pratt and the Palmer United Party's Zhenya Dio Wang.

The results are likely to be challenged in the Court of Disputed Returns after it emerged the AEC had lost 1,375 votes, which remain missing.

Mr Truss says a new election, if decided on by the courts, should happen as soon as possible.

"I think if there is a new election - that will be a matter for the courts to decide - it needs to happen as quickly as possible so there is as little distance between the atmosphere and the issues that decided the election in September and what will be on the table at the time that a new WA poll is held, assuming that's going to be the course of action."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-11-03/warren-truss-labels-wa-senate-recount-a-debacle/5066352

------------------------------------
Gus: Yes it is an embarrassment... Loosing votes is not funny in a country where voting is a national religion. But Truss' demand to have new elections "as soon as possible" for spots that are only effective in July 2014 is also an embarrassment... I believe Truss is worried that Tony Abbott is already on the nose and the government he leads is already full of nasty holes and more obvious lies than before the elections.

Truss wants those election as close to the spirit of when the last one was held... If you follow what this means, Truss wants people to still be dazzled by the little nut in Canberra while now it is obvious he is a silly nut. Would a new election change the result? Would people vote differently? Why not... It would be an opportunity to good to miss... People  had a taste of things to come and it ain't looking good, is it?

 

Australia’s most respected political commentators have criticised the Coalition Government’s excessive secrecy. Clint Howitt says this bodes badly for our democracy.

Media alarm bells

When so many of Australia’s most respected political journalists and commentators raise their voices on a single issue, it’s time to sit up and take notice.

In the weeks since the Coalition assumed office, repeated criticism has been made of the escalating secrecy surrounding the Abbott regime.

And frustrated by the way detailed information about the workings of government has slowed to a trickle, prominent members of the media have been lining up to slam the mushroom treatment they and the public are receiving from the fledgling administration.

James Massola maintains:

‘The new Coalition government has established an early – and unwelcome – habit of shutting down debates it doesn’t want to have.’

On the muzzling of ministers by the PM’s office from speaking spontaneously to the media, Michelle Grattan observed:

‘It was the ultimate “get stuffed”.’

Annabelle Crabbe asked:

‘If a boat is turned around, and nobody is told about it, did it happen at all?’

Laurie Oakes has been particularly scathing of the abrasive and arrogant tone of Immigration Minister, Scott Morrison, toward the media when he is pressed for details on asylum seekers.

Mark Kenny at The Age commented on the government’s unwillingness to discuss the rorting of travel allowances:

‘It is jarring to see how quickly the public's reasonable expectation of probity in its political representatives has been superseded by the reflex to secrecy and self-protection in the new political class.’

Lenore Taylor has been critical of the way Treasury will no longer release its advice to the Treasurer: 

‘Treasury has advised that the “blue book” – one of two documents prepared during an election campaign by each department for each of its possible incoming ministers – will not be released under freedom of information laws.’

Mungo MacCallum observed:

‘It is now clear that the underlying principle of the Abbott Government is to be ignorance: not only are the masses to be kept as far as possible in the dark, but the Government itself does not want to know.’

Barrie Cassidy asked:

‘How long can the ministerial sound of silence last?’

Sean Parnell wrote:

‘A new era of government secrecy has been ushered in …’

A recent editorial in Crikey deplored the

‘… worrying signs of a secretive government.’

It is reasonable to ask what has been going on to make senior political commentators so alarmed about the descent into political darkness.

http://www.independentaustralia.net/politics/politics-display/abbotts-secret-state,5870

Canberra press gallery veteran Laurie Oakes says the Abbott government is "thumbing its nose at voters" through a lack of transparency and communication.

You can’t thumb your nose at the voters’ right to know and you can’t arrogantly say ‘we’ll let the voters be misinformed and we won’t help journalists get it right'. That’s just a disgusting attitude. 

The respected Channel Nine reporter and political commentator told Fairfax Media that Prime Minister Tony Abbott and senior ministers were breaking their election promise of greater accountability for voters.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-news/tony-abbott-thumbing-his-nose-at-voters-says-laurie-oakes-20131106-2x0p8.html#ixzz2jqov2FM8

 

A fiery debate erupted on Wednesday morning over changes to the parliamentary standing orders, with Labor declaring the Abbott government is moving with alacrity to shut down routine and legitimate political debate.

The manager of government business, Christopher Pyne, introduced a number of changes to the rules governing parliamentary procedures which include reducing parliamentary sitting hours; axing the practice of supplementary questions – a practice he decried as a “pilot program” from the last parliament; and limiting scope for private members’ debate.

Pyne is also introducing a practice of “interventions”, where MPs will be given opportunities to interrupt and participate in parliamentary debates.

These interventions – which are commonplace in the British parliamentary system – would occur if both the speaker and the MP with the call agree to the contribution. Pyne said once parliamentarians got used to the new system, interventions would produce more “spontaneity in the chamber”.

The changes to the standing orders increase the powers of the speaker of the House of Representatives to either enable or restrict routine parliamentary debate in the 44th parliament.

Pyne said on Wednesday the changes would add “lustre” to the parliament.

The manager of opposition business, Tony Burke, begged to differ. He contended the changes would see the speaker of the House of Representatives conduct herself as a “censorship board”.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/13/standing-orders-changes-add-lustre-to-parliament-says-christopher-pyne

 

Pyne is an idiot...