Australian Election - August 21

heidihi wrote:

catefrances wrote:

it hasnt really ended. do you forget that julia wanted to process asylum seekers in timor leste. last time i checked that country wasnt a part of ours.

Yeah but this was announced with the intention of establishing a Pacific Forum. Perhaps it is not the perfect solution but Julia has got to be elected and if she says we will process them in Australia.... in the red neck climate of the moment ... she will not get elected. It is easy to say what politicians should do but rememer that they have to get elected so they must to some extent toe the populus line. People complain about the ALP's alighment with the unions but I cannot fathom why it is ok for the Libs to align with big business and mining companies. I for one am scared that we will go back to a pre Rudd Howard, workchoices like Australia. I am terrified that things could be potentially worse (than Howard) under Abbott ... listen to some of the things that he has said when he was not on the election campaign........ scary stuff!!!

your right it is a race to the bottom on both sides

what I laugh at is that they keep on saying they will stop the boats. neither have stopped the boats. the libs just sent them elsewhere, used our navy to heard them to Naroo. most were then given visas anyways
a pacific solution may work . under the guidance and include in the UN asylum frame work.
all I want is to treat these people fairly.

My wife has said in the past- They all play the exact same game, they just wear different jerseys.
I look at the libs and labs sort of like parents
The libs being the father ( or the worrier) busily saving moneys fo a rainy day. who cares that the kids shoes are getting a bit ratty.
the labs are the mothers. when they get in they like to spend that moneys that were saved

Sure the libs put us in good stead with their savings. it gave the labs a chance to spend it on handouts and schemes when we had the GFC
and to state the only reason we survived the GFC was because of china is a bit off. our orders from china completely dropped off at the start of gfc.
labs handouts and the schemes such as bats an school hall programs kept our economy above water untill china bounced back, and the yes they quickly saved us with heaps of resource orders .

funny about the recourse tax's . didnt Rio have a 125 0ercent increase in the 2nd qurtere this year. we could have had some of that if julia had some balls

jamingjamers wrote:

TroubledSoul wrote:

jamingjamers wrote:

please dont vote for the mad monk.........he scares me

please dont vote for the left wing whiny BER scheme loser. she scares me.

see how silly it sounds? vote for a party, not a spokesperson.

Abbotts got a pretty big ego and he pushes it on to the public
i dont like hes view on woman and what they do with there bodies, work choices and religion

The one reason I wont be voting for Abbott - Work Choices!

http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-na ... 11zdf.html


Hand on heart, Prime Minister Julia Gillard has promised sceptical Sydney commuters they will see a major rail line directly linking suburbs in the west and north, as she made an election pitch to disaffected NSW voters.

Ms Gillard on Wednesday ended speculation she was avoiding NSW Premier Kristina Keneally during the election campaign as the pair jointly announced a $2.6 billion plan to build the previously abandoned Parramatta to Epping rail link.

The prime minister faced inevitable questions about whether the project would actually go ahead, particularly given NSW's poor record when it comes to delivering transport projects.
The announcement is part of federal Labor's pitch to marginal electorates in Sydney's outer-western suburbs, and Bennelong in the north, which are crucial to a government victory at the federal poll on August 21.

Ms Gillard faces a battle to win over Sydney voters already cynical about unfulfilled state transport projects.

The NSW government scrapped the Parramatta to Epping rail link in 2003, breaking a 1998 promise to build it.

Asked if she could guarantee commuters the project would see the light of day, Ms Gillard said: "I certainly can."

"What we will do is enter an intergovernmental agreement signed by both of us to deliver this project," she told reporters at Parramatta railway station.

"We will ensure that our experts at Infrastructure Australia work with the NSW government on the planning and delivery of the project.

"From the Commonwealth's point of view, money will be made available when we reach milestones in the rollout of this new link.

"We are determined to build this project, the premier is determined."

The federal investment of $2.1 billion, which will be taken out of already earmarked infrastructure funding, will account for 80 per cent of the anticipated total construction cost of the 14km line, with the NSW government covering the remaining $520 million.

Federal funding towards the construction work will come from the National Building Program Two, commencing in 2014/15.

NSW's contribution will begin in 2011, with the state responsible for the design and taking it through the necessary planning and environmental assessments.

The whole process will be overseen by Infrastructure Australia.

During a short news conference, both Ms Gillard and Ms Keneally talked up the strength of the partnership between the two Labor governments, which had frayed under former prime minister Kevin Rudd.

"I want to say right up front that this is a prime minister who gets the needs of the families of western Sydney," Ms Keneally said.

"This is a prime minister who understands the need to build a sustainable city here in Sydney."

But both the federal and state oppositions dismissed the announcement as "pie-in-the-sky".

Since 1995, the NSW Labor government has promised $28 billion for rail projects that never started and the same would happen with the latest project, federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott said.

"This is straight from the NSW Labor playbook," Mr Abbott told Macquarie Radio.

"You make a big promise before the election and it becomes a broken promise after the election - all that gets delivered is the glossy brochure."

John Alexander, Liberal candidate for the federal seat of Bennelong - held by Labor's Maxine McKew - said only the very naive would believe the federal government's promise.

"There's an old saying - if you con me once, shame on you, if you con me twice, shame on me," he said.

State opposition transport spokeswoman Gladys Berejiklian described the plan as "pie-in-the-sky" and a "gimmick".

But lobby groups such as the Property Council of Australia, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia and the NSW Business Chamber welcomed the announcement.

"Federal involvement in Sydney infrastructure funding is long overdue and I hope this marks the beginning of a long partnership to deliver Sydney's missing transport links," NSW Business Chamber executive director Patricia Forsythe said.



this proposed rail link will, if built, run through the seats of bennelong and parramatta. bennelong was famously lost in 2007 to maxine mckew by john howard, then the incumbent prime minister. maxine is up against tennis legend john alexander who has extensive business interests in the community. labors hold on this seat is tenuous. parramatta on the other hand tends to be passed between both major parties.


personally if built, this rail link will provide me with another (indirect) route into the city. for those who work in the northern suburbs hub of chatswood whilst living in the western suburbs, it will mean not having to travel through the central railway hub or the CBD.

it must be pointed out that maxine mckew is, among other things, the parliamentary secretary for infrastructure and transport. she is also holding onto her seat by a margin of 1.4%. coincidence???? what do you think voters? this link has also been proposed on and off for at least 12 years and why is the federal govt getting involved in what is essentially a state govt issue

VOTE GREEN

How did we go from Rudd v Turnbull to Gillard v Abbott!!! :shock: :roll:

Anyone looking forward to the polling booth Sausage sizzle?

pjfan31 wrote:

Anyone looking forward to the polling booth Sausage sizzle?

Nah what im looking fwd to is fighting through all the dingbats out the front trying to hand me shite.
how many trees get pulped at election time

How to vote .
I KNOW HOW TO VOTE, been doing it for over 20 bloody years.

Heard a funny one this morn at work. Somebody swears that if you follow Mark Lathams suggestion to only get your name ticked off and not actually vote. well this guy reckons if you do that, your vote automatically goes to Labor as the incumbant party in office.
he reckons its a con by Mark Latham and the Labor party to get your vote.

I voted this morning. I was lining up and up comes the local liberal candidate Paul Fletcher. I'm in a liberal strong seat, and I tell ya, he just seemed so slimy.

'Hi sir, I'm Paul Fletcher liberal candidate for Bradfield nice to meet you, thanks for coming out and voting today'

Um, onya bike.