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Subject: The next Liberal leader?
Aussiegunneragain    6/7/2010 9:54:54 AM
Assuming, as I hope, that Tony Abbott loses the next election and gets consigned to the dustbin of political history, what do people think of Scott Morrison, the shadow immigration minister from NSW as a possible future candidate to lead the Liberal Party? I saw the guy on ABC's Q & A for the second time tonight and irrespective of what anybody thinks about the Liberal's asylum seeker policy I think his performance indicates a highly competant politician who is well across his brief. He also has age on his side (he's 41 years old), has 15 years of experience as a leader in industry bodies, is in a safe Liberal seat, comes from a modest conservative background (father a policeman and mother an office administraor) but got where he is through Sydney Boy's High(a selective public school) and is energetically involved in his community. He is probably a little more of the Christian conservative type than suits my taste but that plays well with a lot of Liberal voters and he comes across as pragmatic enough not to scare us heathans off (as does Abbott the Mad Monk). Apparently he also couldn't get on with Fran Bailey when she was his minister while he was working for Tourism Australia, which is a postive for him because from what I have heard people in her department considered her to be a completly unreasonable biatch. Thoughts?
 
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hairy man       6/7/2010 8:14:43 PM
Scott Morrison would probably be a very good choice.  At this stage the party will probably go for Joe Hockey though.  Morrison would do better if given a higher profile ministry, although the Asylum Seekers will be keeping him near the spot light for a while yet.
 
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Volkodav       6/9/2010 8:38:20 AM
What if ...... Abbott wins?
 
Stranger things have happened....
 
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SteveJH       6/10/2010 5:53:41 AM

What if ...... Abbott wins?

 

Stranger things have happened....



And based off the recent opinion polls there is half a chance it could happen.
 
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Volkodav       6/10/2010 8:05:59 AM
What do you do when none of the options appeal, or more to the point, both frighten you?
 
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Aussiegunneragain       6/10/2010 8:09:29 AM




What if ...... Abbott wins?



 



Stranger things have happened....




And based off the recent opinion polls there is half a chance it could happen.


Ummm, what would happen? Abbott, as the only senior Liberal that could have been chosen who knows less about economics than Kevin Rudd, would continue the fine job of screwing up the country that his predecessor had done and in a couple of terms it would be the Coalition's fault that we are a debt ridden basket case instead of Labors. Then the punters will vote in whatever moron that the ALP decides to put up as an alternative and they can right royally screw this place even more. In short, four or five terms of lousy government, when we really only need the ALP to stay in for a couple more so that the Liberals and then the voters can get a clue and elect one of the talented Liberals like Scott Morrison who is waiting in the wings.
If the former happens I'll seriously consider brushing off the old New Zealand passport, changing my handle to "Kiwi Gunner" and going back to the mother country.
 
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Volkodav       6/11/2010 4:18:59 AM
Does NZ have artillery?
 
I am a centrist and meritocrat by inclination and had high hopes when Turnbull was leader of the Libs but now I am concerned that both major parties are going to continue to choose mouth over talent to the detriment of all.
 
That said I believe a Liberal victory is unlikely, although not impossible and hopefully a loss will bring them back towards the centre giving Australia a real alternative.
 
It really is too bad Howard was so successful in convincing the general public that Beazley was a nice bloke who didn't have the ticker to be PM.  I believe he would be doing a much better job than Rudd and would be far more likely to gracefully handover the top job when it was time than any of the recent incumbents have managed.
 
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Aussiegunneragain       6/11/2010 10:51:35 PM

What do you do when none of the options appeal, or more to the point, both frighten you?


Vote for one in the House and the other in the Senate. If everybody does that then whoever gets in won't be able to do anything controvertial, which is the best option with this bunch of tw@ts. Don't vote for the Greens in the Senate though, if they get the balance of power they will let Labor put through some of its stupider ideas.
 
BTW, has everybody seen that Keith De Lacey, former Qld treasurer and now a coal mining executive is calling for the ALP to dump Rudd prior to the election? I know he has a vested interest by with his history as a senior ALP member that is still a pretty damn serious thing to say.
 
Personally I'd be happy if they did it and replaced Rudd with Gillard now. While I don't agree with her politics and while she has overseen the Better Education Revolution which has been rorted, I know from my time in Canberra that she was considered to be a much better administrator than Rudd is by the Public Service. He never cleared his in-tray and his Department loved it when she acted while he was overseas, because she would do it for him and they could get stuff done.
 
I also know from a reasonably senior source in the ALP that she is considered to be a much more reasonable person who is willing to listen and debate a point and will agree to disagree agreeably if need be. Rudd had a reputation of destroying people who crossed him. I'd be willing to put politics aside for a term or two and to give her a chance to learn the lessons from the BER stuff up (lots of Ministers make mistakes in their first term), just to see somebody who has the potential to be reasonably competent and who seems to be a nice person in charge, rather than the useless git we have in charge now or the useless God-botherer that the Libs have put up as the alternative.
 
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Aussiegunneragain    Volkodav   6/11/2010 11:03:02 PM
Does NZ have artillery?

Yeah, 105mm Hamel's like Oz. They used to have OTO Melara Pack Howitzers and I saw they do and awesome demonstration at an airshow at Ohakea airbase when I was a kid. They had the Skyhawks and Strikemasters simulate an attack on a bunker at the end of the airfield, then a Herc landed, and out the back came a Scorpian light tank and a section of SAS. Behind them a Huey landed a Pack Howitzer which started "firing" on the bunker, with the tank and the SAS fighting through. Modern guns are too heavy for a Huey so it really showed the versatility of the Pack Howitzer. I can actually imagine the Scorpian being used in that way for an "Entebbe" style raid as well, I think there is a lot to be said for little vehicles like that for air mobile fire support.
I am a centrist and meritocrat by inclination and had high hopes when Turnbull was leader of the Libs but now I am concerned that both major parties are going to continue to choose mouth over talent to the detriment of all.

I don't think Turnbull is out of contention yet, if Abbott stuffs up he may be able remake himself in a term or two. Remember how many shots at the big title John Howard had to have before he got it.

That said I believe a Liberal victory is unlikely, although not impossible and hopefully a loss will bring them back towards the centre giving Australia a real alternative.
 
Yes, hopefully.

It really is too bad Howard was so successful in convincing the general public that Beazley was a nice bloke who didn't have the ticker to be PM.  I believe he would be doing a much better job than Rudd and would be far more likely to gracefully handover the top job when it was time than any of the recent incumbents have managed.

You are probably right that he would have but he just didn't have the presence for it.
 
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Volkodav       6/11/2010 11:52:29 PM
Nothing that fancy at Wanaka this year but there was a NZLAV and an armoured Pinzgauer on static display.  Some of their gear is better than ours I think, they just lack numbers and some of the big ticket capabilities.
 
Always been a fan of the CVRT as well.  A mix of CVRT types would have been a good fit for rec rolled Light Horse units, instead of the M-113 and now Land Rovers.
 
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Aussiegunneragain       6/12/2010 6:53:23 AM

Nothing that fancy at Wanaka this year but there was a NZLAV and an armoured Pinzgauer on static display.  Some of their gear is better than ours I think, they just lack numbers and some of the big ticket capabilities.

 

Always been a fan of the CVRT as well.  A mix of CVRT types would have been a good fit for rec rolled Light Horse units, instead of the M-113 and now Land Rovers.


You went to Wanaka? Awesome ... the ultralight school I used to fly with used to go over there every year. Did you come across any B-22 Bantam ultralights? They are great little kiwi planes that the school I used to fly with have the Aussie rights to sell. The school had one that I wanted to convert off Skyfoxes to but unfortunatley it was crashed and the guy flying it was killed, so I never got a go. 
I agree that the Kiwi kit is of higher quality than ours and it generally arrives on time and on budget. Those are the benefits of being to small to have any hope of customising things I think, they can't develop any delusions of grandeur that lead to the sort of cock-ups that we see.  I also think the CVRT would have been a good choice for Australia and think the wheeled/tracked combo that the Brits use is superior to our current all wheeled approach for armoured recon. Given some of the terrain in our AO I reckon a light tracked vehicle that can be quickly flown in would be just the thing.
 
 
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