The media pack worked overtime to hide it, but questions now need to be asked relating to the just completed federal election. We don’t yet know how the results will allow the parliament to form, if the ALP or the Liberal party will form government. But there are some other issues that demand our consideration too. Who will lead the ALP next week, and who will lead it the week after? Will the ALP leadership be accountable for lies told in the election campaign regarding Mr Abbott and Liberal policy? Will there be scrutiny of mainstream media’s involvement with barracking for the ALP? What of the decision of one local paper to not run articles on the candidates of Blaxland during the election campaign? For the seat of Blaxland, can we know what Jason Clare has done in government as parliamentary education secretary, and was he involved with the ongoing BER fiasco and computers in schools program which invades the privacy of every school child that participates?
The ALP were divided from the top down before the campaign, as NSW Premier Kenneally acknowledged. Kenneally seems to be targeting Rudd with her criticism, but it might be many different sources within the ALP. She said the leaks in the first few weaks of the campaign showed the ALP as being divided. However, I have gone over article dating back to that time, and many of the articles seemed to suggest the leaks meant the Liberal party was divided. That seemed strange to me then, and no one has explained it to me sensibly yet, except to suggest it was a dirty campaign to discredit Mr Abbot. The obfuscation, confusing voters by claiming the Liberal party was divided when it is clear the ALP were and are, needs to be answered if we are to move forward as a nation .. who will lead the ALP? Will it be Gillard who is incumbent but clearly a failure as a campaigner? Will it be Rudd who is proclaimed as a campaigner but a failure as a leader? Will it be Jason Clare who is a rabbit as a campaigner, not having campaigned in his seat, and incompetent in his parliamentary performance, having been secretary to some of the worst spending blow outs in Australia’s history .. which probably won’t be mentioned in the textbooks?
Some ALP adverts were factually wrong. Mr Abbott was accused of taking a billion dollars from the health budget, and it is known that that never happened. Mr Abbott was accused by Mr Costello of being an incompetent economic manager, and we know Mr Costello did not endorse those words used out of context. Mr Abbott was accused of wanting to bring back Work Choices, which he opposed in government and had given an undertaking he would not do as a candidate. He even gave a rationale for not implementing Work Choices again.
Jason Clare wasn’t present to campaign in Blaxland, but that was ok for him, as incumbent, all the local population knew was that he was incumbent. At least one local newspaper refused to write an article on the candidates running for his seat, and so diabolically, the election failed to be free and fair in ordinary democratic terms. That paper, as of the time of writing and posting this article had not explained itself, although it has been given several opportunities to do so.
Several media identities twittered appalling abuse at Mr Abbott, and so it is reasonable to question how balanced the coverage has been .. particularly as many polls showed the ALP at unbackable odds to be favorite and the results show that simply wasn’t true.

It is a fortnight since Gillard rolled Rudd, surprising her own party who desperately wanted something to assure them that the poll results they were reading were wrong. Media analysis had ignored the situation, and so the public were surprised by the desperation of the act. It is accepted wisdom that Rudd was the worst PM Australia has ever had, but it was hoped inertia would be sufficient to keep the ALP in government. Indeed, in January 2010, the current position seemed impossible. Read the rest of this entry »

As with all politics, nothing happens in a vacuum. Penrith is surrounded by other suburbs. Federal, state and local politics play their role. Perception of parties and loyalties come into play. It is a fact that the swing against the incumbent in the recent Penrith by election was the largest ever for the seat, and possibly Australia. And still there are some nine months before the next state election. Read the rest of this entry »

It is almost as if every level of ALP government is fighting to show how bad they can be. Federally, The Rudd team released a budget with tax reform built in, a reform based on a report they sat on for some six months. In State news, Keneally’s administration released a budget with a surplus, which was applauded by those who detest conservatives as being conservative. Read the rest of this entry »