The Coming Federal Election.

[caz]

Not saying they don't but why do you think they so Caz ,

libs weren't so great during their time and labor hasn't been so bad. inflation and interest rates have been high which is always bad politically but the job market's been good.
i'm not against the idea of nuclear but seems a bit of an expensive pipe dream and i don't trust dutton to handle the relationship with china which is especially important given the u.s. has become unreliable

[Jacks Fur Coat]

libs weren't so great during their time and labor hasn't been so bad. inflation and interest rates have been high which is always bad politically but the job market's been good.
i'm not against the idea of nuclear but seems a bit of an expensive pipe dream and i don't trust dutton to handle the relationship with china which is especially important given the u.s. has become unreliable

Are you at all concerned about the Labor Party and President Trump though? He is well aware of the comments Albozo, Pong and Krudd have made about him. He's a great leader but I'm not sure it will be as smooth a ride as under a Coalition government. Joe Hockey, for instance, knew how to woo the big man.

[Paddo Colt 61]

How do you know that about Joe "Cigars" Hockey? You were his secretary and saw everything that went on day to day? No? Oh..... you read/heard about it in Aussie media. Well, that settles it, must be true.

[Random Rooster]

Are you at all concerned about the Labor Party and President Trump though? He is well aware of the comments Albozo, Pong and Krudd have made about him. He's a great leader but I'm not sure it will be as smooth a ride as under a Coalition government. Joe Hockey, for instance, knew how to woo the big man.

Then lets vote in a corrupt and morally depleted dictator because we can see how much the HippoPOTUS openly loves them!

Why you worried about our relationship with the USA? Im pretty sure we have a trade deficit with them and they still want to put tariffs on us. Its not as if they are a reliable partner in defence....if they can dump on their neighbours in Canada and all of Europe, then why not Australia? America first means everyone else can get farked, including their own lower and middles classes

Why wouldnt you be more worried about the Liberals relationship with China with whom we have a 80 billion dollar surplus with? The Libs left our many of our farmers and primary producers out in the cold by trying to be "tough on China" at the request of Mike Pompeo and Fattyshack. China should be our main focus and priority dont you think?

[caz]

Are you at all concerned about the Labor Party and President Trump though? He is well aware of the comments Albozo, Pong and Krudd have made about him. He's a great leader but I'm not sure it will be as smooth a ride as under a Coalition government. Joe Hockey, for instance, knew how to woo the big man.

i want as smooth a possible relationship with the u.s. as possible but trump's unpredictable and it's not clear how to achieve that. the fact that dutton's a bigger fan of trump than albo would mean nothing to trump.
also, while i'm open to the fact that some good might come from trump's presidency i don't see him as a great leader. great politician, yes, but he has already made lots of dubious calls and to have someone as our leader who doesn't suck up to him would be a good thing

[Jacks Fur Coat]

How do you know that about Joe "Cigars" Hockey? You were his secretary and saw everything that went on day to day? No? Oh..... you read/heard about it in Aussie media. Well, that settles it, must be true.

Golf. I think he kept his balls.

[Barron's Dream]

Comparing Albanese and Dutton, the latter seems more of a man that is capable of action.

[Paddo Colt 61]

Sure. Certainly sprung into action when he got that bank bailout insider info. And when he and his mates looked like losing their au pairs he again sprang. And when white South African farmers were in trouble he was quick to offer a white Australian sanctuary but not in Melbourne where African gangs had taken over the place terrorising Sky News viewers. Action Man that's ol' Pete.

[Random Rooster]

Sure. Certainly sprung into action when he got that bank bailout insider info. And when he and his mates looked like losing their au pairs he again sprang. And when white South African farmers were in trouble he was quick to offer a white Australian sanctuary but not in Melbourne where African gangs had taken over the place terrorising Sky News viewers. Action Man that's ol' Pete.

" terrorising the Sky News viewers" hahaha!! One minute the Sudanese in Australia are all criminals and the next Gout Gout is a dinky di Aussie!!!

[ism22]

i want as smooth a possible relationship with the u.s. as possible but trump's unpredictable and it's not clear how to achieve that. the fact that dutton's a bigger fan of trump than albo would mean nothing to trump.
also, while i'm open to the fact that some good might come from trump's presidency i don't see him as a great leader. great politician, yes, but he has already made lots of dubious calls and to have someone as our leader who doesn't suck up to him would be a good thing

IMO it's gonna be a test of Australia's ability to navigate the international community and maintain a functional relationship with the USA until Trump's term has expired.

The USA has always been an eccentric. Medicare is 'communism', guns are a 'right', hate speech is a 'right...etc in the eyes of many Americans. However push come to shove... if Russia declared war on Europe, I think we'd find that the Daaanld would be impeached with full support from Republicans if he announced that the USA would deploy troops to fight against Europe and five eyes allies. His bromance with Vlad can only go so far.

These are testing times but that's why we need cool heads to navigate the waters. Australia's currently faring well under Albo as hems improved our relationships with China, maintained our long-term strategic alliance with the USA and said all the right things to keep Europe happy. All while delivering budget surpluses and lower interest rates with a smile (during terrible economic times due to global issues). IMO Dutton very much lacks this sorta nous.

---

Sure. Certainly sprung into action when he got that bank bailout insider info. And when he and his mates looked like losing their au pairs he again sprang. And when white South African farmers were in trouble he was quick to offer a white Australian sanctuary but not in Melbourne where African gangs had taken over the place terrorising Sky News viewers. Action Man that's ol' Pete.

Good summary from my old mate.

[Paddo Colt 61]

Russia is not expansionist. The Special Military Operation was/is a one off where Putin stopped mucking around and put a stop to any thoughts of NATO militarizing Ukraine. It was the exact thing that the US would do and has done in the past. There is no threat to Europe unless European plutocrats continue their own provocations, like the USA they haven't let up since 1917 so it will be an interesting new European order with the arch expansioner awol.

All that huffing and puffing from Labor Rat Starmer is just that but surely Albo won't go a lot further with our "pledge" to fight on, That would be a misreading of public sentiment I'm sure. The ill informed sheeple are happy to go along with the anti Russian sentiment but boots on the ground support for something nebulous like the freedom bullshit is highly unlikely. How ridiculous? Here we are at the arse end of the world again looking for trouble - this could be a Lib government. The elephant in the room is asking why was there not this "principled" action man response to the US's recent unprovoked invasions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

On last night's check, Sky has thrown Zelinsky under the bus so the ALP doesn't have the spectre of Murdoch to worry them on the issue or would News be sneaky enough to run contradictory lines. One thing for sure, the audience wouldn't pick it if they did.

[Barron's Dream]

Albanese seems to be a rather weak man. Internationally I don't see him as the best person to represent Australia.

[Barron's Dream]

Golf. I think he kept his balls.

Did you play a round with him? What was that like?

[Jacks Fur Coat]

Did you play a round with him? What was that like?

Only in my dreams.... He'd school me in golf.

[ism22]

Albanese seems to be a rather weak man. Internationally I don't see him as the best person to represent Australia.

I get you're gonna keep recycling this line as it's the MAGA MAGA MAGA 'be an alpha male' mantra.

However as noted...

- Our relationship with China has been restored thanks to Albo and his team (including Penny Wong). Part of Albo's strength is that unlike a Trump or Dutton, he's comfortable having strong people around him rather than yes men who will kiss the ring as they reckon he's gonna set them up financially.

- We have very much maintained our strategic alliance with the USA and Trump's put his idiotic tariffs on hold indefinitely. I think somebody whispered into his ear that we have a free trade agreement with the USA, they have an export surplus with us and the only reason they import (minimal) amounts of steel/aluminium from us is as part of strategic supply agreements for their defence force (thus this would be exempt from tariffs anyway, unless Trump REALLY wants to tax the US government 25% on the said imports, thus increasing US government spending). Albo's good at being patient and courteous under such farcical situations, and has beaten Trump on this one without bruising Trump's ego. It's a major skill being able to do that. Dutton doesn't have different gears and nuances like that.

- We're telling Europe, Japan, India, SE Asia and the Pacific all the right things to keep them happy. The global harmony is there, which is important in a farked up world with a boorish, pussy-grabbing US president. Dutton would just kiss the ring and put us at odds with all the above to make Trump happy (while sending troops over to Israel to go and kill a few muslims as that's how he's programmed - all a one track mind). Fact be known, we're a global player (we have more economic power/success than Russia - they just choose to spend all their $$$ on weapons/military power) and there's a lot of important relationships to nurture. Having a weak@rae Dutton jump into bed with Trump because he thinks it'll buy him Jewish votes and a steady feed of positive New Ltd coverage is not the way to be a global player. Rather, it's a good way to ensure we are in the firing line when China, Japan, SE Asia and Europe all say 'WTF are you supporting Trump?!?!? Do it... but you're on your own!!! Who are your major export partners again... us or the USA?'

- Dutton's cheap. Again... he'll use the whole 'alpha male' MAGA bullshyte to rile up a heap of angry, easily swayed, marginal voters. We saw this with the referendum where News Ltd helped him seed skepticism about a once in a lifetime opportunity for social progression. Dutton will use lines like 'we shouldn't be taught that there are 22 different genders', 'we should stand by the Zionists [not the muslims] as anything else is antisemitism', 'diversity recruitment is killing society as incompetent women, foreigners and people with disabilities are taking all our jobs', 'I would send all the migrants home as they're stealing all our jobs and creating chaos in society'...etc.

This kinda bollocks may well get him votes. However it's not 'strength'. It's being a weak as p!ss, puppet of News Ltd who can't make-up his own policies!!! We saw with his 'leadership' of Home Affairs that he made the mega-agency because two (now sacked) highly corrupt bureaucrats told him this was a way of exerting power. ScoMo then made himself minister of everything (including Home Affairs) because the mega-agency style led to a heap of serious compliance failures and a heap of High Court losses because the 'hard man' laws he implemented conflicted with internal legal advice that they were flaky as fark. This ain't strength!!! This shows he's a follower who will do anything he gets told will make him look powerful. Even in the ironic scenario when it shows how clueless / p!ss weak he is.

Dutton's a Temu Trump... he's not even Trump!!! He's a poor man's Trump and the world doesn't need 'leaders' like that in times of conflict. It needs cool heads with diplomatic nous.