Merged Australian Politics / Australian election

[rjh01]

I just read the Courier-Mail. They repeat what the Liberals have said.

Deputy Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said Labor may have kept the seat, but the swing against the government showed Dunkley had sent Mr Albanese a “strong message”.

“And it’s not happy birthday, it’s do something about the cost of living crisis,” Ms Ley said.

https://www.couriermail.com.au/news...n/news-story/cb13e12015d77af4528e332d79ec8a17

It is not just the Murdoch press who are publicly divorced from reality it is the Liberals themselves. The fact is that it tells the parties that the Liberals have made no headway. And the cost of living crisis is the fault of the Liberals. Labor has been in power for not much more than a year. And nothing much has changed economically since then.

 

[psionl0]

I hoping that someone with a stronger stomach than me, will report on how the Murdoch press is spinning this as a 'massive loss for Labor' which means that 'Albanese must go'.

The Murdoch press is spinning this as a 'massive loss for Labor' which means that 'Albanese must go'.

(I'm pretty sure that I can say this without having to read a word of the Murdoch press).

 

[lionking]

The Murdoch press is spinning this as a 'massive loss for Labor' which means that 'Albanese must go'.

(I'm pretty sure that I can say this without having to read a word of the Murdoch press).

Innocent or well meaning lies are tolerable, but deliberate lies like this are not.

 

[a_unique_person]

The Australian is playing it down by mostly ignoring it.

 

[a_unique_person]

Herald Sun. Website has the story 26 articles down the page. After numerous sports stories, Kylie, crime, Pell and more sport.

 

[a_unique_person]

https://www.theguardian.com/austral...ime-asio-boss-says?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

Their actions were legal because it happened before new laws were passed in 2018.

 

[a_unique_person]

Dutton no longer demanding the identity. I wonder if they worked out it was one of their own.

 

[lionking]

Dutton no longer demanding the identity. I wonder if they worked out it was one of their own.

If it’s a coalition politician, Dutton is doomed and the LNP is in opposition for at least a decade.

 

[psionl0]

Innocent or well meaning lies are tolerable, but deliberate lies like this are not.

They're not spinning it that way?

 

[lionking]

They're not spinning it that way?

Sure they are. They are deepening my hatred of them, which is quite a feat.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Seems all that frothing right Advance propaganda in Dunkley against Labor also failed miserably. All that money News Corp and Dutton and the Libs spent on them was totally wasted. What a pity...not.

 

[lionking]

Seems all that frothing right Advance propaganda in Dunkley against Labor also failed miserably. All that money News Corp and Dutton and the Libs spent on them was totally wasted. What a pity...not.

Interesting Sussssannnn Ley did not back away from the “refugees are raping Frankston women” line of attack even in the face of defeat.

 

[psionl0]

Sure they are. They are deepening my hatred of them, which is quite a feat.

"This result is disastrous (for the other party)" has been recited by every person who ever contested a by election. I don't know why a media outlet doing exactly what you expected would change your opinion of them.

 

[arthwollipot]

Peter Dutton's 'working-class' strategy didn't materialise a win in Dunkley, and Liberal MPs are seeking a new path

The relief among Labor MPs and officials was palpable.

Going into the Dunkley by-election they knew a swing against the government was the one certainty — governments at this point in the election cycle routinely face a voter backlash. But add to that 12 interest rate rises under their watch and a broader cost of living crisis and the conditions were ripe for the Liberals to exploit.

The only real question going in was the extent of that swing and whether it would be enough to deliver a loss to Labor and vindicate Peter Dutton's articulated strategy of taking the working-class suburbs from the Labor column.

That didn't materialise — the Labor vote held up, and Anthony Albanese and his treasurer both got the birthday gifts they were hoping for — a Labor win and the status quo.

The idea that the Liberals could appeal to the working class is laughable.

 

[Norman Alexander]

Interesting Sussssannnn Ley did not back away from the “refugees are raping Frankston women” line of attack even in the face of defeat.

An unkind response I heard was "Because nobody else will".

 

[novaphile]

Peter Dutton's 'working-class' strategy didn't materialise a win in Dunkley, and Liberal MPs are seeking a new path

The idea that the Liberals could appeal to the working class is laughable.

Sadly it is not.

The coalition would never get in if people understood enough to vote in their own, or society's self interest.

I believe I've already shared the tale about a former soldier's wife who always votes liberal because Labor 'blocked supply' in 1975 causing soldiers to not be paid.

(It was the Liberals in the Senate who did that, Labor were in government at the time.)

When her mistake was explained to her, she rejected it outright, and continued to try to convince all of her working class friends to vote Liberal.

 

[arthwollipot]

The Liberal Party has always been the party for rich people, by rich people.

 

[lionking]

The Liberal Party has always been the party for rich people, by rich people.

Keating, despite his upbringing, was as far from working party as you can be. So was Gough, if not more so. It’s no longer about class or even wealth in my opinion.

The Liberals are not chasing the working class in my view, but “aspirational” voters. These are what once were called the (now disused) middle class. But with the big difference that while middle class people often owned their houses, the affluence of aspirationals rests on massive debt. Add in that most are two income families (again unlike the old middle class) and are carrying large child care costs.

Given the rate rises, the swing in a place like Dunkley should have been huge. The reason it wasn’t is down to leadership. As much as Albo might be on the nose, Dutton, backed by Ley, is absolutely putrid. And an alternate Liberal leader does not exist. If all they can come up with is Dan Tehan, Karen Andrews and Ley, they are literally unelectable.

But if another Howard comes up with the ability to compromise and even sometimes vote with Labor; a bit of charisma and ability to ignore the right wing ideologues in the party, the coalition is electable.

 

[arthwollipot]

Keating, despite his upbringing, was as far from working party as you can be. So was Gough, if not more so. It’s no longer about class or even wealth in my opinion.

Just because the Liberals are the party for rich people doesn't mean rich people can't be in Labor. I'd argue that there's nobody on either side who isn't rich.

 

[lionking]

Just because the Liberals are the party for rich people doesn't mean rich people can't be in Labor. I'd argue that there's nobody on either side who isn't rich.

I was really referring to supporters not MPs (and maybe shouldn’t have used MPs as my example).

My point is that while the generalisation that more rich people vote Liberal may be true, the battle over the aspirationals is where elections are won or lost. A Liberal leader who could resonate with this massive number of swinging voters would be hard to beat. There just isn’t one now, nor is there any sign of one.