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absolutely - or there should be — absolutely....
Former prime minister John Howard says Julia Gillard has no right to hide the details surrounding her ascension to the top office.
The second longest serving prime minister also criticised Ms Gillard's predecessor, Kevin Rudd, for dodging questions about his axing.
Mr Howard was in the marginal West Australian metropolitan seat of Hasluck, campaigning with Liberal candidate Ken Wyatt.
He showed he has lost none of his enthusiasm for party politics and election campaigns, eagerly shaking hands with voters as he toured a shopping centre, having pictures taken with women and being flocked by teenagers.
At one point, Mr Howard approached a woman opening up her clothing store with his arm extended saying: ''No-one escapes the former prime minister's handshake''.
Accompanied by Liberal frontbencher, Julie Bishop and Mr Wyatt - who is seeking to become the first Aboriginal member of the House of Representatives - Mr Howard also unexpectedly dropped into an optometrist to get his glasses cleaned.
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Either the reporter is wacky or very cleverly sarcastic... You may notice that Rattus' glasses are blank in the toon — no eyes...
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The Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott will spend $5 million upgrading sports grounds in the western Sydney seat of Lindsay, if the Coalition wins government.
Mr Abbott made the announcement during his blitz of the region this morning.
Today, he intends to visit five marginal electorates in western Sydney.
He says the Coalition's promise is affordable - unlike Labor's promise to build the Parramatta-to-Epping railway line.
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Meanwhile Abbott is contradicted about Abbott:
The Country Liberals will keep their candidate for the seat of Lingiari in the Northern Territory, even though several colleagues had called for him to be disendorsed.
Leo Abbott is the Country Liberals candidate for the safe Labor seat of Lingiari, one of two Northern Territory lower house seats.
Mr Abbott was fined last year, after pleading guilty to breaching a domestic violence order.
On Friday, the leader of the Country Liberals in the Northern Territory, Terry Mills, and the candidate for Solomon, Natasha Griggs publically called for Mr Abbott to be disendorsed.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott weighed in on the issue yesterday.
"I want to say that there is absolutely - or there should be - absolutely no place in the parliament for people who are invoved in domestic violence," he said.
Party heavyweights met for several hours in Darwin today and they decided to keep Leo Abbott as a candidate.
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Meanwhile at the Latham school of slanted pseudo-journalism:
The Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) says it is unclear whether former Labor leader Mark Latham breached the Commonwealth Electoral Act by urging Australians to hand in blank ballot papers in Saturday's federal election.
On Channel Nine's 60 Minutes program last night Mr Latham said he would be handing in a blank paper and urged others to join him in what he called "the ultimate protest vote".
AEC spokesman Phil Diak says Australia has very low informal voting rates, with blank ballot papers making up less than 1 per cent.
He says advertising how to vote incorrectly is forbidden under the Electoral Act, but this case is blurred.
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- By Gus Leonisky at 16 Aug 2010 - 2:44pm
- Gus Leonisky's blog
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yes we will...
Julia Gillard echoed US president Barack Obama's election rallying cry as she officially launched Labor's bid for re-election in Brisbane today.
Speaking at Labor's official campaign launch just five days out from the federal poll, Ms Gillard offered her own "Yes, we will" twist on the famous "Yes, we can" slogan used by Mr Obama during his successful 2008 run to the White House.
Focusing on Labor's record on jobs, the economy, health and education, she urged voters to cast their votes and say "Yes, we will move forward together."
Ms Gillard also took time to attack Opposition Leader Tony Abbott, saying he was a risk to the economy, offered nothing but negativity and slogans and would dismantle crucial Labor programs.
"I am asking you, when you vote on Saturday, to say as you cast that vote, 'Yes, we will move forward with confidence and optimism, yes, we will show care and concern for each other'," she said.
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meanwhile John Howard accuses Labor to think WA has fallen down a mine shaft and he beats the drum for Tony's economic budgies — Tony the former minister responsible for massive cuts to Health and the former Minister responsible for WorkChoices:
The former Prime Minister John Howard has accused Labor of treating WA as irrelevant in the election.
Mr Howard is in Perth campaigning in the marginal seats of Hasluck, Cowan and Swan.
He says anyone who thinks WA is irrelevant is deluding themselves.
"I think the Labor government thinks Western Australia is irrelevant, that is why they brought in such a stupid idea of the mining tax," he said.
"We hold 11 seats here, I hope we can pick up another 2, and no part of the country is ever irrelevant."
Mr Howard also defended Tony Abbott's economic credentials.
He says Mr Abbott does not have any major weak points.
"I worked with Tony Abbott for nine years as a minister in my government and he had a very sound knowledge of the economy, and importantly he was a highly successful minister for workplace relations, and a highly successful health minister," he said.
abbott going batty...
A Coalition government would provide $30 million to help businesses squeezed by the scrapped home insulation program, Tony Abbott has announced.
The Government's home insulation program was ditched earlier this year after it was linked to four deaths and over 100 house fires.
About $15 million of remaining funds in the program has already been allocated to help businesses.
But Mr Abbot says the Coalition would increase that by $30 million.
"I think in the years to come the home insulation program, roof batts, will be synonyms for disaster," he said.
"This is something which should be weighing heavily on the mind and the heart of the prime minister."
http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/08/18/2986625.htm
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That's a low blow.
Julia, Kevin nor anyone else in the Labor government is responsible for the tragedies and the 100 house fires associated with a good insulation program that saw about 250,000 houses insulated. The scheme saved millions in energy cost... Most people I know who have had their house insulated confirm their heating power bill has dropped nearly 30 per cent from the previous year despite a more humid "colder" winter (it was not colder per say, it felt "colder" because of the "unseasonal" humidity)...
But Julia, can feel genuine sorrow for what happened but cannot take responsibility. The way Libshit Tony sneakily expresses himself is like dumping a public truckload of guilt on Julia. She does not deserve this. That Tony pledges to compensate the insulation companies more than the government shows he is duplciitous and gone batty. First, he made sure the companies lost the government subsidies and now wants to give them extra free moneys.
Will the shonks get a nice cut of it as well? That's not the way to do business, Tony...