JC Political Thread - For All Things Political Part 2

[gopher]

Newman may well becoming extremely unpopular, but no reasonable person (note the "reasonable" - probably precludes every leftist in the state) could say that he wasn't making those really hard and unpopular decisions..

Newman took the Brisbane city council from being debt free to having a large debt when he left
all his austerity measures in state government aren't working and debt is still increasing

He is needed south of the border. He leaves O'Farrell for dead.

he's pretty useless himself but you're quite welcome to have him
you seem to like useless politicians

 

[c2105026]

Gopher's point of Newman's record on council is valid. RE:NSW - during 2013-2014 the budget was to be in surplus. Isn't this what you wanted?

Then again, as previously suggested, governments who have such a majority don't actually need to do anything. They effectively have a captive audience because there is 90%+ chance of winning next election.

 

[AirStrike]

Australian Greenpeace activist Colin Russell arrives in Hobart after spending time in Russian jail | News.com.au

He said the Australian government "could have gone into bat a little bit more for me".

When will these clowns take onus for their own actions? You travel to a foreign country and think you can dictate what they can and can't do, and when you get in trouble expect the government to come running to your aid. Pathetic.

 

[c2105026]

Well breaking the law is breaking the law, regardless of motive; arguably yes if you challenge Russian govt on govt soil you are playing with fire.

 

[Darren_L]

I voted for Newman, he is an action man. He generally does what he says he's going to do, no matter how dirty the task might be.

I did like Beattie for his first term. He was a self confessed media whore, but he also got a lot done for Qld. For example, he was instrumental in bringing Virgin Australian HQ to Qld. But things really started to fall apart towards the end of his stay, there were a lot of questions over his parties integrity... Bligh govt put the final nail in the coffin for me, her govt was hopeless as far as I'm concerned.

Agreed Newman certainly has made a lot of necessary decisions that don't win votes. There was a LOT of fat in govt jobs that needed to be trimmed. We had people in senior positions earning around $100,000 p/a in our dept that really didn't have a job, they would just wander around filling in various positions, never very busy. Their positions had become redundant, but no one was willing to push them into redeployment or redundancy. They were amongst the first positions to go. His decisions, in particular govt jobs has been very unpopular. I really haven't studied any figures as to how much positive effect his cost cutting has achieved but I figure it would have to heading in the right direction.

But I now think Newman is starting to lose the plot. He's taking the job cuts too far now, front line jobs in health and other govt departments are really that are really effecting some essential services. Our admin staff hours have been cut, now we spend more time tied up doing admin paperwork in the office than actually doing the job onroad like we are supposed to do. Also all of these draconian hoon & bikie laws are starting to make him look like a bit of a dictator. And then there's the failed Brisbane tunnels that were a good idea in theory, but seems they grossly overestimate how many motorists would be willing to pay the rather expensive tolls. I still think he would be good for Qld if he pulled his head in. I will be watching his performance with interest between now and the next election, not that the ALP (at this stage), has really produced anyone worthy of challenging the spot

 

[MasterOfReality]

Yeah I agree.

I'm originally from NSW and moved to Brisbane in 2007 and I thought Beattie was pretty good and was the person we needed instead of the idiots in the NSW ALP. He seemed to be in it for QLD and didn't take any rubbish from the Feds.

I voted for Newman as he gets **** done. Might not be popular decisions but at least he has some conviction, unlike that useless windbag Bligh. I think he has done a good job so far but yeah, he needs to watch what he is doing. Prob wont matter anyway as the ALP will be out of power for ages. He is a dictactor but sometimes thats what a state needs to get things in order.

Spent Xmas in NSW and my old man (lifelong Lib voter and as right wing as you can get) can't wait until the next state election. Didn't have very many nice things to say about O'Farrell.

 

[gopher]

. He is a dictactor but sometimes thats what a state needs to get things in order.

people voted for representation not a dictatorship

 

[Grennan]

people voted for representation not a dictatorship

People voted to fix up the backwards state and bring it out of the stone age.

Sometimes people just need a giant kick in the arse.

I think Newman has gone about it the right way.

Make the extremely tough and unpopular decisions nice and early. Labor will be relegated to opposition in Queensland till the next Ice Age. By the time they have a party worth voting for, the pain will have been forgotten and hopefully they are a bit more prosperous.

 

[Calaber]

you seem to like useless politicians

Hardly. I didn't vote for Rudd or Gillard's party. Bet you did.

 

[Calaber]

Gopher's point of Newman's record on council is valid. RE:NSW - during 2013-2014 the budget was to be in surplus. Isn't this what you wanted?

Then again, as previously suggested, governments who have such a majority don't actually need to do anything. They effectively have a captive audience because there is 90%+ chance of winning next election.

There are so many things that need doing in this State that a surplus should not be a priority yet. So, no, it's not what I wanted at all. I want the infrastructure fixed. I reckon we need the second airport. Our highways are pathetic. We don't have enough hospitals for the population we how have. You can't have those and a surplus too. Bugger the surplus. Go into "moderate" debt and start fixing the state. That's what he was elected to do.