46th Parliament General Discussion Thread

[Blunderbuss]

Craig Kelly MP’s Facebook page currently has a cover photo of George Orwell along with the quote ‘So much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot’.

As somebody who admires Orwell and loathes Kelly this makes my brain melt. So, I did a little research into the quote. It’s from ‘Inside the Whale’ in a paragraph where Orwell is having ago at W. H. Auden poem ‘Spain’, picking out the phrase ‘necessary murder’. I wonder if Kelly is aware that while Orwell is staunchly anti-Stalinist (as per the quote) he was never the less very much a democratic socialist.

One thing for sure is Kelly’s FB page while starting strongly with a picture of Orwell quickly goes downhill.

"Scott Morrison has refused to address federal backbencher and ex-furniture salesman Craig Kelly’s increasingly alarming online behaviour as the MP posted notorious conspiracy theories about Microsoft founder Bill Gates enforcing mandatory vaccinations."

twitter.com/arielbogle/

craig-kelly-compulsory-vaccination-claims-ignored-by-prime-minister

[Kevin Bonham]

I've probably said it before but the very comfortable re-election of that oaf Kelly was one of the greatest tragedies of the 2019 election.

[Blunderbuss]

I've probably said it before but the very comfortable re-election of that oaf Kelly was one of the greatest tragedies of the 2019 election.

I’m guessing you may already know but I have just found this: -

Senator Abetz has seemingly made a career out of being endlessly wrong about most things. Juliette Rosenthal says it’s time the charade of him being a Tasmanian ‘representative’ was ended. https://tasmaniantimes.com/2020/07/senator-abysmal/

As the article quotes you – “Psephologist Kevin Bonham noted in 2016: “Although Senator Abetz polarises opinion and was the candidate most frequently placed last on Senate ballots, no conclusions about his popularity can be drawn directly from this result. Historically, there is evidence that the Liberal Party performs worse in Tasmania (relative to the nation) when Senator Abetz is on top of the Senate ballot, but the difference is not quite statistically significant and could be caused by other factors. There is no evidence in historic results that having Abetz on top of the ticket is an asset to the party’s fortunes.”

[Kevin Bonham]

Michael Sukkar and Kevin Andrews are in a bit of hot water over branch-stacking in the Victorian Liberals, though Andrews may be only involved through stupidity.

[Desmond]

Gold

[ER]

award.jpg

Source: ABC News earlier this afternoon. 22-09-20

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-09-...posts/12689178

[Ian Murray]

A new era of bigger government means bigger corruption and bigger rorts


We've entered an era of bigger government — and that means more power for the government to reward its friends, and more opportunities to rort spending to serve the government's political interests. ...

[Garrett]

We've entered an era of bigger government — and that means more power for the government to reward its friends, and more opportunities to rort spending to serve the government's political interests. ...

Thanks Ian !

You talked me into it - smaller government is better government.

cheers
Garrett.

[Kevin Bonham]

http://kevinbonham.blogspot.com/2021...jority-is.html
The Federal Government’s Majority Is Three Seats, Not One

[Patrick Byrom]

Michael Sukkar and Kevin Andrews are in a bit of hot water over branch-stacking in the Victorian Liberals, though Andrews may be only involved through stupidity.

In possibly related news, Andrews has lost his preselection for Menzies - the first sitting Victorian Liberal to do so in more than 20 years.

[Kevin Bonham]

In possibly related news, Andrews has lost his preselection for Menzies - the first sitting Victorian Liberal to do so in more than 20 years.

Yes, dumped by 70 votes despite support from Morrison, Frydenberg, Abbott and Howard! An excellent result for the nation.

[Kevin Bonham]

Craig Kelly has quit the Coalition and gone to the crossbench, leaving the government with an overall majority of one, and no floor majority while it continues providing the Speaker.

[Desmond]

Craig Kelly has quit the Coalition and gone to the crossbench, leaving the government with an overall majority of one, and no floor majority while it continues providing the Speaker.

Probably didn't have much to lose as he wasn't going to be preselected anyway.

[Ian Rout]

Probably didn't have much to lose as he wasn't going to be preselected anyway.

A conspiracy theorist might suspect that it's a device to facilitate an early election.

[Kevin Bonham]

Nicolle Flint (Boothby, SA, Lib 1.4%) has had enough and will quit politics at the next election. Those she is blaming for her departure appear to include misogynists, rapists, Liberal moderates and ... Extinction Rebellion!