Polling Place on Election Day 2010

I've just returned from voting. No queueing for 10 hours in whatever the weather can throw at me. No acts of terror to frighten me away from partaking in my (compulsory) right to vote. Managed to avoid the Laborites, who were camera shy, with their how-to-vote-for-the-biggest-load-of-crap-and-wastage-party papers. Not that I'm biased mind you. Interestingly there was a queue to enter the polling place. And the people in the queue were quite chatty.

Polling place parking at a premium

Even had to queue to vote

Come on you Irons

Tim Hammond banner - Boo! Hiss!

Move Australia Forward - get rid of Julia Gillard's Labor government

Steve Irons - Current federal member for Swan

Banners everywhere

Who's going to clean all of this up?

Clever Liberal Party banners

I think this is an anti-Liberal Party banner

Those Laborites are at it again

Liberal Party aides weren't camera sh

Liberal Party advertising

The Liberal Party's promises

Federal Election Day

No, I said election. It's nothing to do with a Japanese stiffy.

Australians go to the polls today to vote for members of parliament. Well, when I say today there have been some 1.8 million votes cast already by 13% of the voting population in postal votes and the like. That's for people who won't be in the country on the day or can't make it to a polling booth. Voting only takes a few minutes and is unlike the US Presidential voting where people can queue for 10 hours, on a Tuesday, to cast their vote. We always have it on a Saturday. As it is compulsory perhaps we should have the following Monday off as we have had to "work". I can walk less than 10 minutes to the polling booth.

I'll be voting today for my local member. No, that has nothing to do with my anatomy. Why do so many terms to do with politicians have sexual double meanings?

I hope that the Liberal/National Coalition gets back into office. They require 17 additional seats, a huge swing, and I have a hunch that with the polls indicating that it will be such a close affair (another double entendre?) that they will just miss out. We'll be stuck with those idiots who have wasted the budget surpluses put aside by the Coalition over the previous 11 years, who ran a disastrous home insulation scheme, who want to almost tax our mining industry out of existence, who want to tax our use on carbon when this is rather stupid and not giving people incentive to change where they obtain their power from, etc, etc. The Coalition has something like 44% of the primary vote and the Labor Party has about 38% but with the Greens providing their preferences to the Labor Party it looks as though this damn preferential voting system is going to deliver us another bloody three years of Labor.

Why would anybody, in possession of a right mind, vote Greens? Not only does the Labor Party, like I mentioned previously, want to almost tax our mining industry out of existence, but the Greens want to add $2 billion dollars to the bill.

Vote Liberal - vote for business. Business creates the jobs in this country, not the government. Well, the government does create jobs but they are only parasites, i.e. public servants.


Disclaimer: This message has not been endorsed by the federal Liberal/Nationals Coalition. It is the opinion of Frugal Bastard.

Election Propaganda Is Testing My Shredder

Checked my mailbox tonight and the amount of election propaganda was amazing. And as it has my name and address on it I put it through the shredder. I'm not one for leaving that sort of stuff in the rubbish available to dumpster divers. I think that there were seven postcards and pamphlets in total. How much money do these political parties have to waste of electioneering material? Too much. And that doesn't include what is delivered to the letter box. My shredder is certainly working overtime and getting up around the duty cycle.

If you didn't know, there is going to be a federal election in Australia this week. Australians will decide should we put up with the wasteful, incompetent and mismanaging Labor Party or give the "fair go for all, conservative, business-backing" good guys from the Liberal/National Party Coalition their backing.

I think that it will be very close. There isn't a lot of policy difference between the major parties and many people are disillusioned with both of them. Actually, not having many differences is more a sign of stable government than anything else. The most disillusioned voters are likely to vote for the Greens which would be a disaster should they end up holding the balance of power. Think before you vote, people.

One large problem in this country is the compulsory nature of elections. If you don't vote and don't have a decent reason for not doing so then you will be fined. It's only $20 and possibly $50 so it's not like a huge deterrent.

Apparently it is legal to partake in a donkey vote, i.e. place the first candidate on the ballot paper first, second candidate second, third third, etc. It is illegal to encourage somebody to do so. How lame is that? Almost all politicians are donkeys nowadays anyway. Where have all of the statesmen gone?

What Will Julia Gillard Be Doing After August 21st?

It struck me tonight - What will Julia Gillard, our current prime minister, be doing after the election on August 21st? It's seems all the more clear that she won't be prime minister at least. Tony Abbott needs to keep his mouth, and those of his deputy Julie Bishop and shadow treasurer Joe Hockey, shut for another three weeks for that to happen though.

I watched Julia Gillard tonight on the 7:30 Report with Kerry O'Brien. He asked the tough questions, to which many she feigned to laugh, but she answered very few of them no matter how pressing Kerry was. One of my colleagues commented that she has no credibility.

- I don't think that Julia is cut-out for a job as a stockbroker or share trader - she doesn't like to speculate.
- I don't think that Julia is going to get a job race-calling on the track or providing opinion on footy matches - she doesn't like to comment.
- I don't think that Julia has a future as an autobiographer - she has nothing to say about herself.
- I don't think that Julia will become a talk show professional guest - she has not done anything to brag about or appear to have any achievements to be proud of during her time in government.
- I don't think that Julia could be a patron of any organisation - she doesn't care for the sick and underprivileged (Kevin Rudd didn't even get a phone call from her when in his hospital bed after having his gall bladder removed).
- I don't that that Julia could become a scriptwriter - her message uses the same words each day but says very little.

- She does have a future as a newsreader or actor - she reads from a script very well.
- She does have a future as a surgeon - she really knows how to stick the knife in.
- She did have the possibility of becoming the Western Bulldogs' full forward but Barry Hall appears to have done enough to cement his position for this year and possibly the next. Julia will be too out of shape in two seasons time to take over.

At least Pauline Hanson was still interesting after she finished in politics.

Kevin Rudd Has Too Much Gall

Well, obviously the gall of the man reached amazing levels. That's got to be why Kevin Rudd went to hospital to have his gall bladder removed today. How else do you explain it?

There were a few theories at work:

- The knife from Julia Gillard and her mates went in so deeply that it struck the gall bladder.
- He's doing it for the sympathy vote in the upcoming election.
- The doctor wanted to take the piss out of him after the rest of the country had had a turn.
- Being kicked out of the prime ministership by his own party after having taken his party to the greatest number of seats ever was just too galling for him.
- He was desperate to lose a bit of weight after not having time to exercise.

Interesting that he went to a private hospital and not a public one. Mind you, with the fact that if you earn over A$75k/yr you need to have private health insurance or pay a higher Medicare levy in this country. Not really surprising at all in that case, after all.

Stimulus Package Not So Stimulating

Sorry, I'm not talking about President Obama's stimulus package worth US$787 billion. I'm talking about Kevin Rudd's A$42 billion stimulus, or whatever it is worth nowadays. Giving the poorer people of this nation a handout of A$900 is not going to go very far in stimulating the economy. After you've headed to the bottlo, the TAB and the races what is going to be left and how much have you done to stimulate the economy? Bugger all, in my book.

Poor people are poor for a reason. There would be very few poor people that you could give $900 to that would make it work for them, e.g. investing in their education and obtaining a better paying job.

This stimulus package isn't about creating jobs for that person to obtain either. It should be about providing infrastructure for the nation that will allow the economy to gather momentum once demand returns. It should be nation building and not nation cleansing as we are borrowing the money anyway.

In Australia if you borrow money for the legitimate purpose of investing to make money you receive a tax deduction based on interest charges. It should be the same with the stimulus package. This country is borrowing a huge amount of money for it all to pissed up against the wall or for a few consumer electrical goods probably manufactured overseas. Just a bit of good for the world economy, the retail traders in Australia might enjoy it but the fact is it won't create jobs.

We should be looking at carrying out massive infrastructure projects that will benefit the nation instead of making our children burdened with a huge debt. Surely a high speed rail network, better port facilities, refining/processing factories (as opposed to selling raw materials - Australia has been the world's mine for too long), electricity generation, homes for the homeless, more education facilities, etc could have been included.

The opposition, led by Malcolm Turnbull, were right to oppose the stimulus package. Maybe it's just the cynic in me but when I hear talk of an early election, about 18 months early, it appears to be just one large vote-buying exercise.

Never mind the size of the package, I don't think that it is in Australia's best interest and I'm opposed to the way it has been formulated. Kevin Rudd is just Mr Popularity, imho. Australia is just going to be saddled with debt and nothing to show for it.

2008 United States Presidential Candidates

I'd like to give my opinion, for what it's worth, on the 2008 US Presidential candidates.

Barack Obama - He's a very charismatic and caring person. So what is he doing in politics you may ask? I don't care that he's an African-American (in the truest sense) or that he was a Muslim. You don't have a lot of choice when you are younger and your parents generally choose the religion you will follow. Personally I don't care that he is a Christian. I'm disappointed to hear that he's tried marijuana and cocaine but even moreso that he's a protectionist. His protectionist ideas stifle free trade and protect inefficient industries and the result is people paying too much for goods that are too expensive to create. Sure you protect your local manufacturers but at cost to the other countries of the world and to your own people. Bad idea. Other than that I think that he's a decent candidate for the presidency. Can't see him surviving an assassination attempt, actually.

John McCain - He's quite old and prone to bouts of cancer. That can't be good for someone who is responsible for arguably the most powerful country in the world for 24 hours a day for at least four years. The phrase, "Only a heartbeat away" springs to mind. He's a free trade advocate and I like that.

Joseph Biden - I'm sorry, who?

Sarah Palin - only last week I would have asked the same question as for Joe Biden. Who? But she's had a fair bit of publicity recently. America, are you serious? With an elderly president you'd seriously consider having a future president with only a few years of grounding in political goings on? How many tough decisions has she had to make as Governor of Alaska? Her first son is called Track - was she expecting twins so that the other could be called Field? Maybe that had something to do with the marijuana that she's admitted to using. I'm not enamoured with the fact that she attended six colleges in six years either. Perhaps that shows, in her early life at least, that she was a bit fussy and ill-advised and did too many things on a whim rather than utilising proper planning and sticking to it. Is she a pitbull or a pig? You don't have to be a bitch in politics if you are a woman and thankfully she doesn't come across as that. I do think that with a four month old son she should be spending more time looking after him than being second in charge of the country. Her boy would be neglected if that were the case.

Is America ready for a black (half) president? Or will they vote for the old war veteran? Obama will probably improve the lot of his own people more than anyone else so he would get the nod. At least he would from me. But I can't vote. And don't get me started on the shortcomings of the US presidential voting system.

Vote For The Incumbent Or Incompetent?

There's a state election in Western Australia today. I think that they can be called six weeks beforehand and it was only two weeks ago that I found out on which date we would be voting. It must be the shortest electioneering period I've ever seen.

Now, who to vote for? The incumbent or the incompetent? Oh, they are one and the same. Perhaps it's a choice of the incumbent and incompetent versus the inept. Yes, that's a bit closer to the mark.

First - the incumbent. The Labor Party has been in office for eight years. An ad by the Liberals just stated, "Can you think of three things that the Labor Party has done in the last eight years?" And bugger me, I scratch my head and I'm unable to. We've had the Minister for Drink Driving, Alannah MacTiernan, who is the current minister for Planning and Infrastructure and John D'Orazio's legal issues. The police have been underfunded, the major ministries have been run by too few people, the health department is pretty much a mess and teachers have been almost militant n their efforts to obtain wage reform. More bad marks than good ones.

Second - the inept. The Liberals have had five leaders in the last three years and the current chief, Colin Barnett, only decided to run six weeks ago when Troy "Chair Sniffer, Bra Tweaker" Buswell stepped down from the job. Mr Barnett is a bit of a fogey but he's not old and he was about to retire. Not too many people have much respect for him. And the Liberals have had nothing but infighting over the last eight years. As incompetent as the government has been the Liberals haven't won too many political points.

It could be a close thing. I like the Premier, Alan Carpenter, but I don't like his colleagues.

Real Federal Election Issue

The federal election is only two weeks away. When are we going to get to the real election issues? We've heard all the talk about health, education, nuclear power, water, aged care etc, etc.

Does Kevin Rudd, who is leading by some margin at the moment over incumbent John Howard, follow the cricket? Does he have the passion? Will he support the Australian cricket team and be seen watching them? Is cricket high on his agenda as the nation's top politician?

It has the same importance as Christianity has to becoming the President of the United States. If you're not a Christian then you're not ready for the White House. If you're not a cricket diehard then you're not fit for leading Australia.

It's a simple as that. So what is it, Kevin? 'Fess up.

If Elections Were Based On A Show Of Hands

If elections were based on a show of hands then the Liberal Party would be signing up Lakshmi, the girl with eight limbs, from India. But seeing as she has just undergone surgery in an attempt to provide her with a normal body structure, she's below the legal voting age and she's not an Australian citizen, I think the Liberal Party is doomed.

Once Again The ALP Doesn't Tell The Whole Story

The Australian Labor Party are pretty good at not telling the whole truth, aren't they? Smarmy Kevin Rudd, leader of the ALP, is running a campaign to eventually lead to him becoming Australian prime minister in 2007. It even comes with the catchy, if a little tacky, slogan of "Kevin 07".

KEVIN07 T-shirt

At least he's not licensed to kill. But what worries me is the fact that the whole story isn't being told. Where is the rest of the slogan which relates to his deputy, Julia Gillard? I know what it is:

"Gillard. In a milliard!"

Perhaps I should tip off the current prime minister, John Howard. He's such a cool and happening dude he may use this information to flame the Labor Party.