Characteristically gracious in victory… September 7, 2013
Posted by WorldbyStorm in Economy, International Politics.trackback
…was Rupert Murdoch on Twitter following the victory of the Australian right in their election.
The News Corp chief took to Twitter shortly after Abbott delivered his victory speech in Sydney. Murdoch tweeted: “Aust election public sick of public sector workers and phony welfare scroungers sucking life out of economy. Others nations to follow in time.”
Lovely – clearly the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in terms of his media outlets. Let’s hope he’s wrong.
Just on that election, what a mess. But an interesting mess in a way, because broadly speaking the economic conditions were good to great for the government (albeit softening very slightly in recent months) and the opposition was notably coy about what it intended to do once in power. In fact it seems to have been the chaos in the Labor Party leadership which ultimately sunk their chances.
How that would map onto the Irish situation is another question entirely.
The Cedar Lounge Revolution 
I haven’t the first clue, but does anyone know if the Irish vote in Australia is ‘traditionally’ Labour the way it is in the UK, and Democrat in the US?
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Historically it was, but that may have changed (just as it did a long time ago in America). There’s a fair few Irish-born and second-generation MPs and Senators, including a former Rose of Tralee contestant (whose Labour I think).
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Plus a complicating factor – some of the the Irish in Victoria were prominent on the Democratic Labour Party, a type of anti-communist breakaway from the Labour party in the 50s and 60s that eventually rejoined in the mid-70s. The DLP was strongly supported by Daniel Mannix, the archbishop of Melbourne and probably the most powerful Irish-Australian of the time. The result was to keep the Labour party out of office for two decades, at least in Victoria.
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I look forward to Murdoch’s numerous ex-wives and offspring tearing his empire apart after his death…
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Abbott, by the way, wouldn’t be out of place in the Tea Nut wing of the US Republican party. This is going to be a tumultuous government…
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just goes to show …..loads of money …..and still a nasty and bitter old man
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Australia seems to produce vile and cretinous millionaires for some reason.
Anyone remember this odious bitch (apologies in advance for the language) ?
http://www.smh.com.au/business/worlds-media-pan-rineharts-2-a-day-african-miner-comments-20120906-25fpq.html
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The Labor Party in Australia promised a surplus, which only panders to the neoconservatives, and engages the debate on their level. They failed, and suffered a predictable landslide defeat. Now, Australia is consigned to 3-4 years of ruin under Tony Abbott, because Labor believed in neoconservative suspicions concerning deficits. They’re a long way from the days of Gough Whitlam.
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Suspicions? I meant superstitions.
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I wonder if, when the mining bubble pops and the prop holding up the Australian economy and its even worse house price bubble explodes, will the blame be put on the government of the day or will the Labor goverment of the last six years be blamed.
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I’m sure it will be blamed on the “markets” not being “free” enough, or some such nonsense.
Interesting to see that Abbott’s two main populist planks were setting the Australian military on would-be immigrants and bringing in paid parental leave. The latter is surely vote-buying, as defined by conservatives…?
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Abbot is the sociopath’s (R. Murdoch) sociopath.
(Posted from Tor!)
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Australia is teetering on the edge on one humungous property bubble burst BTW. I guess, as in Britain, his number one priority will be to prop up real estate prices, by any means necessary.
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