The new Prime Minister and one third of the Federal cabinet are from Victoria.

Premier John Brumby would not be drawn on whether that will help his own election chances.

But some Labor insiders are certain it will.

From the new Prime Minister's electorate in Melbourne's west to Spring Street, the smiles told the story.

John Brumby was grinning from ear to ear about Julia Gillard's appointment as Prime Minister.

"I hope to speak to her today or tomorrow and I can only repeat I am looking forward to working with her," he said.

Mr Brumby says his former chief of staff is inspirational even to him.

He wants to talk to her about health, the mining tax and an emissions trading scheme as soon as possible.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has set three tests for new Prime Minister Julia Gillard - ending uncertainty over the mining tax, resolving the asylum seekers issue and suspending the troubled school building program.

Ms Gillard will hold her first cabinet meeting today after toppling Kevin Rudd yesterday.

"For a few days there will be tremendous excitement and that's as it should be," Mr Abbott told the Nine Network this morning.

"But then people will say, what's really changed, what's really different, can she fix our problems?

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Gus: Abbott-the-thug doesn't think Julia can fix any problems, especially those he is creating... Because if she fixes the necessary mining tax and others, he'll make sure there are plenty more bad crap to come... For example, the ETS won't get through again just because because... He's in charge of the thugs' party and the thug-media supports him...

And of course it's not for me to give advice but the solutions are simple:

Ending uncertainty over the mining tax: Make sure the miners are taxed so the nation does not loose its resources with nothing in return. That would end the "uncertainty". If needed double or triple the amount of royalties paid to the commonwealth. It's call "commonwealth" not the "miners-wealth" for crissake...

Resolving the asylum seekers issue: the problem is quite minute, compared to what the US and Europe are facing daily... No prime minister since Frazer has ever been able to stop asylum seekers making a dash — not even Howard, despite the claims from Tony-the-thug's party of cruel sadist thugs... During Howard, the cost of dealing with Asylum seekers soared with the pacific solution that only delayed people for about 6 months, and increased the bill for mental health problems created by the cruelty. Julia has a bigger heart than Tony's bloodstone and she'll find a better way — as part of a greater worldwide picture. No one can solve this by razor wire, unless one shoots on sight: either way it's not very christian, Tony...

Suspending the troubled school building program: no trouble... P&C and the public service sector need to get together and resolve some small conflicting issues. One of the problems has been that private profiteering right-wing thugs are trying to force themselves onto projects for schools, like they did with the incessant insulation phone calls from Mumbai, for a quick buck, sucked out of the government, which then they subcontracted to unqualified, unsupervised workers... Julia can blame the right-wing thugs for this problems — although quite small, compared to the amount of succcesses.

from Nick Bryant

BBC

And now, exactly 40 years after a young Australian feminist named Germaine Greer published her breakthrough opus, The Female Eunuch, a woman has become the most powerful of her compatriots.

There is a lady in The Lodge, Canberra's prime ministerial residence.

As Caroline Overington of The Australian wrote proudly: "Julia Gillard's ascension to the highest office (under the governor general, another woman) is the realisation of the great feminist dream."

"It is precisely what our mothers - and Germaine! - hoped would one day happen, as they argued, throughout the 1960s and 1970s, for fundamental changes to the fabric of the nation."

Under the headline "Labor's Rebirth: It's a Girl", the comedian Catherine Deveny on ABC's The Drum described her untrammelled delight.

"As my three little boys ate breakfast yesterday I said, 'Pizza for dinner if Australia has its first female PM by tonight!' Then I teared up.

"Guys, imagine. Julia Gillard! A female prime minister. A woman as prime minister of Australia."

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Tony-the-thug got it wrong when he insinuated "nothing would change"... But he would say that would he?...

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/the-15-women-taking-over-the-world-2009488.html?action=Popup&ino=1

Gus: I counted 14...

As long as the Australian people stop and think, reason and are logical - free of the well-known bias of the all too powerful Main Stream Media propaganda - the sooner Australia will be able to throw off the mental aberration of "I read it in the paper"!

The only difference between the “biased Political flyers” and the written media is that the latter is paid for.  

Like the ancient Monarchy’s “Town Cryer” – they are a readily convenient source of information and of course, misinformation, intended to influence rather than to inform.

For some time now the public will be inundated with “views” and “counter views” and “opinions” of “journalists” who are not worth whatever salary they are receiving.  I have never believed the statement made so long ago by Laurie Oaks that “journalists are not monitored in what they report”.  That’s just simply crap - to para-phrase the “Mad Monk”.

I must say that I agree with your approach to the multitude of problems which the Australian voters are facing due to the previous ever rising crescendo of the Murdoch Character Assassination of the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.  I firmly believe that the conspiracy between the Miners, the Coalition and the Murdoch media had the purpose of forcing a very damaged Kevin Rudd into a double-dissolution.  They just forgot that this man had given his word to the electorate that he would serve his full term – for which he would have been accused of another flipflop if he had or cowardice if he didn’t.  The latter was chosen by the Murdochracy.

The K.I.S.S. principle is always a good start but Gus, we don’t have to account for our political decisions except when we allow ourselves to think “I read it in the paper”.  How many times while watching the news on T/V, (especially the extreme right ABC) do we say – oh Bushit?

If we don’t do that then we are morons.  If we do we are at least thinking that any privately owned “for profit business” is only successful if it is the most deceptive in its field or – like Murdoch – wipes out the opposition.

I repeat that there is more sincere printed and independent beliefs in this forum than one would ever find in our foreign media controlled Australia.

God Bless Australia and may the excellent front bench of the Australian Federal Government remain as intact and active as possible. NE OUBLIE.

I cannot come to terms with the belief that we must judge people on their race origins, and yet, we do with all other animals?  Thoroughbreds etc.?

There is no doubt in my mind that the typical Aussie is as laid back as one can imagine but, that was the very weakness that our loyalty caused our horrendous casualties in two world wars and other US wars of choice.  Only in the latter stages of WW II were we, as a nation, genuinely threatened by an enemy.

And who told us and decided the threat, the media.

I guess what I am trying to say is that, after the life-long investigation of the evolution of humanity by Darwin, at least to my knowledge and belief, established for me the falsehood of the “tooth fairy” story of the birth of humanity and all other forms of life which survived by adjusting to the changing of the planet. Not some massive miracle that even today the Roman Catholics depend on to protect them from the fear of death.

Cardinal Pell could not restrain himself from taking advantage of the Tony Abbott “miracle” remake as an example of another “Lazarus”. My words not his.

And who told us, the media.

With the education of the “lower class” people of the world I can see a national pride arising in the “far out there nations”, in particular Africa. And I consider that their absolute livelihood is, to a lesser degree measured by education, to that which the foreign “investors” (read purchasers) are exploiting in Australia. But they employ our “ants” and we should be honored because they pay too much tax and we should be proud to be servants of the wealthy.

But, who told us – the media.

Now, we in Australia are asked to excuse the vicious media in its efforts to control and decide just about who will represent us in Parliament. And by definition, that means our entire existence.

No wonder that the “powers that be” conservatives try to discourage the education policies in Australia by the Labor government.  They thought that they had won by their assassination of Gough Whitlam but then they were faced with another honest Australian reformist in Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

When I try to juxtapose the election chances of a Julia Gillard Labor government and a Tony Abbott Corporation government I hope that Australia succeeds against Murdoch and continues the Labor reformist services to the Australian people.

God Bless Australia and all who live in her.  NE OUBLIE.

From Unleashed Bob Ellis in italics

From GUS IN CAPITAL LETTERS...

It was all too fast, and it was not thought through. And mistakes were made that needlessly gave the Abbott Opposition a tactical edge.

IT WAS THOUGHT THROUGH AND IT WAS NOT TOO FAST... RUDD WAS GOING DOWN FAST TAKING LABOR DOWN WITH HIM. MANY LABOR SUPPORTERS COULD SENSE THE SMELL OF DEATH... IT WAS THE ONLY WAY TO DO WHAT THEY DID.

The first was to give Rudd permission to speak first, and emphasise (like Mark Antony) the enormity of his assassination and the majestic wonder of his many achievements (I cured the lepers, he said, and I raised the dead and I sought to save the planet but they wouldn't let me save the planet, the bastards, and the knife-thrust to this valve in my heart was cruel and unusual punishment, in my humble view) and to show, for the first time in years, the decent, civic-minded, smart, self-mocking, uxorious husband and parent that I (for one) first met and very much liked, and liked getting on the turps with, in 1999.

RUDD WAS A ONE-MAN BAND IN CONTRAST WITH "BEING HIS OWN MAN" IN A TEAM. YES HE IS DECENT, SMART BUT POLITIC DEMANDS A BIT MORE. RUDD APPEARED TO HAVE NO CLOUT AGAINST TONY ABBOTT AND WAS NOT ABLE TO BE "REVIVED".

The second was to float the possibility that he might be a Gillard Government Cabinet Minister for 10 or 15 years, Foreign Minister perhaps. His presence in Washington, having cocktails with Obama and Beazley, or in Kabul, drinking tea with Petraeus and Karzai, would only emphasise the enormity of his loss, or leave the impression that he was running things still, as would his presence behind Gillard, beaming, at Question Time.

RUDD IS NOT BANISHED. HE STILL CAN CONTRIBUTE FAR MORE THAN COSTELLO EVER DID FROM THE BACK BENCH — OR FROM THE FRONT BENCH FOR THAT MATTER.

The third was not to ask Lindsay Tanner what his future plans were, and make him an offer - the Prime Ministership perhaps - he couldn't refuse, that would keep him on as the government's irreplaceable anchor, the sturdy, rational, eloquent safeguard of our bottom line and our sensible social democrat Labor traditions. For a cabinet with Rudd and Arbib in it (Arbib for Finance, anyone? what do you reckon?) will seem unbalanced without him, and under-equipped with gravitas and tottering towards the cliff edge waving a firkin of house red and singing.

LINSDAY TANNER WAS A GREAT MINISTER AND A GREAT OPERATOR. BUT AS HE HIMSELF MENTIONED THERE IS A PERSONAL FAMILY SUBTEXT THAT WOULD PREVENT HIM TO CARRY ON FOR MANY YEARS IN POLITICS. SOME JOURNALISTS KNOW THE SITUATION AND ALSO KNOW THAT LINDSAY IS NOT AS COMMITTED TO POLITICS THAN HE IS TO HIS FAMILY.

The worst mistake however, and it happened earlier, was to elect the new leader unanimously. It gave the impression of a gangsterish union stitch-up (or a vote by acclamation of the Soviet Praesidium for Uncle Joe) where an ordinary caucus contest of Gillard (61), Rudd (21), Combet (17), Albo (15) and three spoiled ballots would have looked more like democracy.

THE FACT IS RUDD KNEW HE DID NOT HAVE THE NUMBERS. HE NEVER HAD THEM ANYWAY. THUS HE DID NOT CONTEST. HE WAS IN THE POSITION OF LEADER BY PROXY. DESPITE WHAT RUDD SAID ABOUT THE PEOPLE HAVING ELECTED HIM, NOT THE "FACTIONS", HIS ONLY PROP WAS HE HAD THE ABILITY TO DEFEAT JOHN HOWARD FOR THE LABOR PARTY. BEYOND THAT HE HAD NOT REALLY BECOME THE LEADER OF THE FRACTUOUS LABOR PARTY. HE DID NOT KNOW HIS TROOPS WELL. BY THIS I MEAN KNOWING STRENGTH AND WEAKNESSESS BEYOND A BUREAUCRATIC RELATIONSHIP. JULIA IN COMPARISON KNOWS THE FACTION BEEF INSIDE OUT. FOR THE RIGHT WING OF THE LABOR PARTY TO SUPPORT A LEFT-WINGER SAYS FAR MORE TO HER STRENGTH. 

The electionless election of an unelected Prime Minister ensured the return of the Faceless Men and the Sussex Street Goons and the New South Wales Right Mafiosi and all the past hairy-shouldered bogeymen that Rudd's mild, managerial, fussy-bureaucrat style had seemed to abolish forever, and gave Abbott the chance to weep bloody tears, Oh pardon me thou bleeding piece of earth, over a slain saint and cry havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.
SO MR ELLIS WOULD PREFER A POSSIBLE DEFEAT OF THE LABOR PARTY UNDER RUDD RATHER THAN PROGRESS FOR THE COUNTRY. MAY BE HE PREFERS ABBOTT RATHER THAN JULIA?

THE FACELESS MEN ARE NOT GOONS NOR ARE THEY FACELESS, NOR ARE THEY FROM "SUSSEX STREET". THEY ARE PART OF THE SYSTEM THAT CREATES AND SUPPORTS THE STRENGTH OF THE LABOR PARTY. SOME ARE NOT FANTASTIC, SURE. SOME MAKE MISTAKE. SOME ARE POOR JUDGES. BUT SOME SAW THE WRITING ON THE WALL. THEY KNEW THEY HAD TO CHANGE THE PERCEPTION THAT A RELENTLESS NEGATIVE TURDY MEDIA WAS CRAPPING IN THEIR TURF. IT WAS NOT GOING TO IMPROVE IN THE MONTHS TO COME, UNLESS. THEY DID WHAT THEY HAD TO DO AND I BELIEVE RUDD KNOWS THAT, DESPITE HIS DISAPOINTMENT.  

THE HUMONGOUS CHANGE GAVE ABBOTT A BIG KICK IN THE NOSE...

In the Navy we are trained to close all "dogged" doors and hatches which isolate certain floodable parts of the ship's structure.  This is ordered by the Officer in Charge irrespective of how many sailors must be sacrificed for the safety of the Ship while continuing to fight. 

That is survival of life to aid in continuing the act of making War - immediately the OIC decides that the Ship can no longer continue to fight the abandon ship order should be given.  These are the elements of “survival of the fittest” or “the end justifies the means” when our nation, united, is defending our people in times of WAR.

Yes we had a “war” Gus – between a government of the people and for the people, against the foreign owned Miners; their foreign owned media and their foreign owned Coalition partners led by Tony Abbott and IMHO Cardinal Pell.

The act of the assassination of our second reformist Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd was begun by the Murdoch media using, at first, a rogue poll.  Then more polls were used and the Murdoch Australia-wide-political-hacks began the ever increasing hysterical and unsubstantiated opinions about Kevin Rudd while knowing that the constant battering would eventually influence the voters.

Have we forgotten already that the most infamous poll of 36% for Rudd in W.A. was taken at the same time as the richest people in the mining industry and their hangers-on were having a clearly orchestrated demonstration against the Resources tax?  And this poll was of only four hundred (400) people which was the approximate strength of the same demonstration?

Then the other “half” of the one and a half foreign owned Australian media noted the swing in the “sheople” by the propaganda and like the unregulated thugs that they are, realized that they were missing out on the contents of the pigs’ trough and joined in the political murder. 

There followed a plethora of “polls” on electorates/communities/states and of course the inevitable individual on the street, who says what the media wants us to believe.

No Gus – I lean towards the virtual “Last Post” recital [if I may call it that] of Bob Ellis.  Remember there is a difference between scratching your bum and tearing it to pieces?

Whatever way we look at it, our second reformist Prime Minister Kevin Rudd suffered [as I have previously written] the most horrendous; vicious and dishonest character assassination in Australian political history since the Whitlam DISMISSAL in 1975 and orchestrated by another infamous media mogul in Frank Packer.

There will be a lot more written and argued about this incredible lack of courage by the Federal Labor Party Gus and it may well result in the gender and changes in direction that this very capable new Prime Minister will obviously make, will succeed in the next election. 

That would be good for the country and our people [otherwise Rudd's galant exit is wasted] but – the ever-present Abbott Coalition policy of selling our assets to foreigners [euphemistically called investment] will be confident that they have won the war against a Prime Minister who put Australia first and was entitled to expect some gratitude from the people he so faithfully served and so fatally trusted.

And I mean us – not just the Labor party but us – we were the beneficiaries of every single thing this man did and we surrendered to the propaganda of the foreign media by scaring the hell out of the Labor Party caucus with orchestrated and obvious bushit polls.

“The government of a people is what they deserve”.

God Bless Australia and let us try to make up for our betrayal of Kevin Rudd by voting the labor party in with a landslide majority as he has so poignantly asked us to do.  That way his first term will be seen, as it should, as a full on personal effort to establish our independence without any blooding and, as you say Gus, “give Abbott a big kick in the nose?” NE OUBLIE.

I agree.

But remember, don't get mad; get even.

Cheers,

John. 

One of the many issues of which my age has hardened against is the supposed unfair treatment of our better halves.  It just doesn't stand up to scrutiny.

Since the times indicated by the Darwin Theory, the human race progressed and adjusted to the challenges of the planet in which they lived.  One thing was apparent and necessary - and that is that the evolution of females was, due to the time required to produce children, the most protected and valued "asset" in all of the tribes evolving to survive?

Our laws and our values changed our females to almost a "cattle wealth" where very few males were needed but the opposite was true of women.  The stealing in the early days of females was considered as a coup against any other tribe?

So the "gender war" began long before Emily Pankhurst and others.

Because of the foolish for or against a person, because of their gender, it should at least be mitigated, by legal arguments being fed into the computers of the host nation to represent the laws by which they govern.  Don't we already have enough disagreements to last the planet's lifetime?

I served on many juries and it would break your heart as to the way that people abuse that authority.

I believe that the most important result of any legal action is that the guilt or innocence is established by impartiality, according to the laws of that sovereign nation.

And then the result should be according to the laws of that nation, and those who do not respect the laws of that sovereign nation are, these days, quite capable of “moving house?”

That is IF you do not have a Howard/Abbott “blockade” to overcome as well.

To compensate for the enslaved flattery to the women of our world, the laws of western nations have, overdone the pendulum of equality.

In our House of Representatives, quite correctly, the Speaker of the House demands that the person asking for the attention of the House, must address the person at interest in their capacity as a member, not their agenda.

Third world countries avoid the danger to the lives of people who are prepared to state their grievances – under a hood.

COMMENT:  As long as we have an unregulated and profitable biased media, the Australian people will never be able to make an informed decision.  They will play to the real or perceived problems that only the media will decide.

God bless the anatomical difference between our women and men and, as a person who has valued them all, and continues to do so with the care and consideration that no nation's law can replucate. I Amen.  NE OUBLIE.

I could not agree more that the media orchestrated the downfall of Rudd and at the same time organised the promotion of Rattus-the-Second, Tony Abbott. The media also managed the elimination of Malcolm by influencing the decision to have a spill, as well as the direction of same, in the Liberal Party... In the 1980s, I had a friend who was writing a thesis on how the media influences and "decides" political outcomes. About two-third through, the friend had to abandon for various reasons but had made the case clear.

But the word from inside is that there were "issues" with the Rudd's management style including bridge burning. Some MPs were okay with this, some were not. On this site, about four to six month ago, I indicated that Gillard would make a better PM, if this was what the "party" would prefer. I know good Labor people who were "not happy with Rudd". I know good Liberal people who though Rudd was doing an excellent job... at promoting Abbott. Thus the perceptions had changed since Rudd's victory as the Howard slayer. Things were not going to improve — which as it stood, was an electoral defeat (in which the media would have played a heavy role). Things were likely to get worse. The "abandonment" of the ETS was another Kevin driving a couple of nail in his own coffin. He had to find another way to make the thingster work but did not bother. The greatest moral challenge of our times became a footnote. With Julia at the helm, the media has been shunted for a reasonable length of time. Tony and his gang have to pedal twice as hard to get traction. She can get new positive action on issues that were slipping out of Rudd's grasp...

My view. History will tell.

including the edge...

Julia Gillard and her ministers are expressing their undying commitment to the economy and economic reform, but the way they pander to and even incite the punters' irrational whingeing about the cost of living gives the lie to their profession of economic faith.

For obvious reasons, the government has been saying a lot lately about Labor's values and vision for Australia. According to Gillard: ''A strong economy - and opportunity for all. That's really it in a nutshell.''

...

When it comes to rate rises the government doesn't just feel your pain, it incites you to imagine it's the end of the world. This is smart? It's storing up trouble for the future.

http://www.smh.com.au/business/professed-reformers-spin-lazy-line-on-cost-of-living-20101128-18cdt.html

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Yes it's all very well to chastise Gillard and Swan with fake praise and danmation... But what about Tony and his ignoramus garden gnomes void of anything decently economic, progressive or purposeful. The only thing Tony knows is to bark stupid loud yaps-yaps... Hopefully these won't interfere with the business at hand...

see toon at top...