Monday 6th of May 2024
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dead men walking .....

 

dead men walking ..... 

Ruddock plans to mentor MPs from backbench

Philip Ruddock says he has not decided whether he will serve out his full parliamentary term 

Former attorney-general Philip Ruddock says his plan to move to the backbench gives the new Liberal leader, Brendan Nelson, the opportunity to freely choose the best frontbench. 

Darth says Dr Nelson will be able to choose a team that he believes is best placed to take on the new Labor Government. 

The undertaker says he has not decided whether he will serve out the full parliamentary term, but he hopes to take on a mentoring role with his colleagues. 

He has ruled himself out as an option as Dr Nelson pieces together his new frontbench line-up.

inheritance from Costello...

Trade deficit reaches all-time high

Australia's trade balance has blown out, hitting an all-time record of nearly $3 billion.

But economists are warning against reading too much into the figures.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) says October's trade deficit blew out by just over $1 billion due to a slump in mining exports and an increase in imports of fuel and lubricants.

HSBC chief economist John Edwards says the figure is a surprise, but the deficit should recover soon

"The numbers, for one reason or another, are giving us a false picture," he said.

"It highly likely means that we'll be stronger in the current quarter and subsequent quarters than we were in the September quarter."

It has been a day of gloomy economic data.

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And so it goes.

I suppose you could call the movie "Four Deaths at a Funeral", with Abbott, Costello, Turnbull and Nelson as the farcical mourners and John Howard as the exploding corpse.

Bob Ellis, ABC Unleashed 

polls blow...

Turnbull delivers poll blow to Nelson

A new opinion poll shows new Federal Opposition Leader Brendan Nelson is not as popular as the man he defeated for the post, Malcolm Turnbull.

Mr Turnbull lost the Liberal leadership ballot by just three votes to Dr Nelson, but it seems Australians think the former environment minister was the best man for the job.

Today's Newspoll in The Australian newspaper shows 34 per cent of those surveyed think Mr Turnbull's most suited to lead the Liberal Party, with Dr Nelson on just 18 points.

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Gus: read Bob Ellis comment in the link already posted in the blog above...:

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But it's all done now and their version of the Florida Recount (two late-arriving Malcolmites were forbidden to vote and one eager Brendanite may lose his seat and so show Malcolm really, historically won) will work away like a munching tapeworm in the party's guts till Brendan in August calls on a spill and Malcolm is acclaimed and a Double Dissolution sinks him too, and a once-great party breaks up into warring shambles and like the Democrats, the DLP and the UAP disappears from history.

It may not happen that fast of course, but it's coming.