PM elect, Abbott…The story so far?

PM elect, Abbott… The story so far?

So here we are, a week into the new era in Australian politics, and what have we seen?

Well the truth is, on the governing side… Not a lot.   😯

Abbott promised much from day 1 of a new government, and the first thing that we saw, was that Abbott, although happy to share the campaign with his girls, and occasionally Margie, when he made his victory speech, he wasn’t prepared to share the podium with anyone!   😉

His speech itself was quite interesting, for all the wrong reasons IMHO.

Firstly most victory speeches include, very early on in the piece, the word “Humble”, which Abbott’s did not.   What he started with, was a “humble” gloat about the “change of government” which, when the rabid right sycophants reacted with rapturous applause, he repeated.

To be fair, he did say the “humble” word, in the last sentence, but IMHO, that was too little too late, as it came across as an afterthought, followed by his family which also seemed to me, like an afterthought.   😯

Then there were the usual postmortem’s by the usual suspects, stating that Labor was in disarray after a comprehensive defeat, some of which actually started before the election was held   😯   WTF?

So apart from the LNP cheers squad, commonly known as the MSM, the reality is that despite losing the election, the ALP did much better than most were predicting, and the advent of  a multitude of micro parties and independents in the senate, certainly promise to test Abbott’s negotiating skills. The same ones that took him straight into opposition last time around   😯   .

If we look to the old adage of “Start as you mean to carry on”, then what have they done since stealing winning government, and is this indicative of what we can expect in the weeks and months ahead?

Well, we shall see.

Now to the promised first week of stopping the boats, repealing the carbon Tax  Price, going to Indonesia, the budget emergency etc  etc; what we have seen is;

• 3 new boats in his first week?
• Indonesia saying NO to turning the boats around (Where it’s safe to do so?).
• Indonesia saying NO to buying their old fishing boats.
• The ALP and the Greens saying NO to repealing the carbon “Tax”.
• Rudd still caretaker PM?
• No date announced for the trip to Indonesia.
• Apparently No budget emergency after all?   WTF?

Well, PM elect Abbott has been seen giving briefings to dept heads, and rallying the troops, telling them how good they are for winning, but otherwise keeping a low profile?

On the positive side, George brandis has been very busy in the capacity as incoming

Peta Credlin, Abbott’s de-facto mum.

Attorney General, writing a letter of reference to get Tony Abbott’s chief of staff Peta Credlin off of a DUI charge, by using his position as an incoming minister of the crown and potentially the highest legal officer in the country, to intimidate the magistrate, and provide a “Get out of Jail free” card.

It must be really good to know that when you are part of an LNP government, the laws of the land just don’t apply to you.   😯    And we can all rest easy knowing that they are sparing no expense to deal with the important issues in their first week of government.   😯

And then we have Julie Bishop, the supposedly incoming foreign minister, cancelling the appointment of Steve Bracks to New York Consul-General, which was announced six months ago; a post that he quit his job to take up.   😯

The good thing is though, that she hasn’t verballed anyone this week… That we know of anyway?

We have heard that they have sent out a directive to dept heads to make way for LNP appointees throughout whatever is left of the public service.

Abbott has started the search for a three star General, to head up his slogan “Operation Sovereign Borders”, so that the military can take charge of the operation, that isn’t a military operation, to turn the boats around, that won’t turn around, and stop the boats that won’t stop coming… WTF?

Sophie Mirabella, who just can’t find her moral compas

We have also seen the sad demise of that doyen of nasty, Sophie Mirabella,   😯    which has to be my personal highlight of the first week of Abbott’s, Murdoch owned government.   😉

Murdoch’s MSM has made much of the ALP’s lack of leader and shadow cabinet, even though Abbott has not announced his front bench, and none will be sworn in until sometime in the second week… we think!   🙄

On Friday, the ALP resolved their immediate problems of leadership and shadow cabinet by installing Chris Bowen as interim leader, with the previous cabinet members resuming their roles in the opposition front benches, until the ballot for leader can be held, and a new shadow cabinet named.

The question now is, “Are we any closer to knowing what an Abbott government will do, and can we have any confidence that we will be getting the “Adult” and competent government that we deserve and were promised?”

Well, the indications are that we will be seeing lots of “Jobs for the boys/girls”, self serving MP’s like Brandis, who will think nothing of using his position to help people within the LNP to avoid justice being served to them, and a raft of excuses to justify broken promises and backflips.

We will also see Abbott and the MSM blame everything on the ALP, all the while trying to hide the fact of the grand realisation that governments aren’t run by slogans and brain farts, but by clear thinking, a vision for the future,  good policies and politicians who actually have an idea of WTF they are doing.   😯

So after the first week, do we;

1. Have any reason to feel more confident about the future?    Well I certainly don’t!
2. Have confidence in the LNP’s ability to work in the national interest?   No!
3. Seriously believe that any of his promises for the first 100 days, or in fact the first term, will actually come to pass?    Not likely!
4. Have any confidence that the Murdoch press will start reporting the news, instead of trying to BE the news?   NO!
5. Feel that we are getting better value for money out of Abbott PM than we did from Abbott LOTO?   Not really!

In his victory speech, Abbott said that; “Australia is under new management and is now open for business”.   😯

The question now is if , they have started as they mean to carry on, what sort of business are we open for?

• Another AWB type scandal?
• More Thomson and Slipper cases?
• More backflips than the Russian Olympic acrobatics team?
• More opportunities for millionaires to become billionaires, as the divide between rich and poor becomes a gaping chasm?
• A PM who wants to be known as the infrastructure PM, while ignoring the real infrastructure needs of a 21st century country whilst concentrating on providing nothing more than  roads, many of which will be toll roads?

The truth is that after an election campaign that saw very little policy detail and costings, but plenty of lies, spin and rhetoric, and delivered the PM elect, that as LOTO, was responsible for said lies, spin and rhetoric, as well as the lack of detail and costing, we don’t seem to have much to show for the millions of dollars that an election costs and our democratic efforts?

We have an MSM that still refuses to hold the LNP to account, but will run with anything that can further discredit the ALP, and a Claytons government that prior to the election screamed crisis and emergency, only to now act as though there’s no rush to do anything?

So what can we say about the first week  of, PM elect Abbott… The story so far?

NOT… BLOODY…  MUCH.