Coalition Government support at lowest level

[davidc4430]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-06/support-for-turnbull-government-drops-in-latest-newspoll/82432...

its not easy being trumble.

[chameleon54]

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@peteepie wrote:

More than twice as many people voted Green as National at the last federal election.

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Thats true, but thier pinnacle was in 2010. Since then the Greens vote has declined by around 25%, indicating a party in signifigant decline.

My post was not in support of the Nationals, but merely intended to provide an alternative view to she-els that the only minor party that has stuck around is the "left leaning" Greens. This is clearly not the case and ignores a party with a much longer and more succesful history from the right side of politics..

As mentioned in the previous post, I,m not a big fan of the Nationals, but they have been around a lot longer than the Greens and have  BEEN IN COALITION GOVERNMENT on many occasions, so they have had the opportunity to actually "do stuff" and implement thier policies. And lets not forget that the Nationals leader has regularly been the Deputy Prime Minister, with other members holding cabinet positions.  

In contrast the Greens have never been part of a government and have only ever waved placards and chanted slogans from the political sidelines.  If political success is gauged by actually implementing policy and getting things done, rather than just talking,  the Nationals have been a much more succesful minor party and with much greater longevity than the Greens. Whats even more remarkable is that they have achieved all of this with half of the number of votes of the Greens.  Wether you like the Nats or not,  I think you would have to agree that is a major success for a minor party.

[chameleon54]

Thanks she-el, sorry if my last post is a bit of a blast, I,m just a very slow typer........ and someone has to stand up for the right side of politics on the forums, or there would not be anyone to disagree with..........:

[davidc4430]

getting back to the falling popularity of the govt, who would think that releasing a plan to build new coal fired power stations would be unpopular?

the problem as i see it is we require a way to produce 'base load' electricity ( i think this is mainly during the night when we cant rely on the sun)

so what are the options not counting coal?

i can think of 3, gas, nuke and hot rocks.

my choice would be nuke as we have the fuel in abundance and its proven over a long time as very reliable.

my second choice would be hot rocks, but it unproven.

then gas would be my last choice, as its still burning a substance that produces bad stuff for the planet.

as an aside, privatising the electricty supply in this country was a very bad idea.

id just really like to see our PM who was a forward thinker get back to that sort of thinking. instead of looking like a 3rd rate puppet to the morons who are ruining the world.

[peteepie]

Like any of the parties the Greens have to put up with a radical rump that damages their credibility.  But in Richard Di Natale they have probably the most capable leader in their history.  Popularity waxes and wains with the political climate, but for all their past relevance, I doubt the Nationals will approach the Green vote in the forseeable future.

Probably the best gauge of popularity across the board is the senate, where the Greens outnumber the Nationals 9 to 5.  The Nationals only have relevance because of the big rural seats they hold in the lower house, which is fair enough and I support the way this gives country people a voice.  I have no problem with the Nats, but their success is reliant upon them being a junior partner in coalition with the Libs.

Calling 2010 the Greens' pinnacle is an early call in my opinion, perhaps akin to science denialists calling 1998 the apex of global warming.

[peteepie]

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@davidc4430 wrote:

as an aside, privatising the electricty supply in this country was a very bad idea.

id just really like to see our PM who was a forward thinker get back to that sort of thinking. instead of looking like a 3rd rate puppet to the morons who are ruining the world.

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My daughter and I had this very conversation last night.  She works for one of the electricity retailers but agrees it is a mess and would be so much better all under the one roof.  Of course this can never happen now.

What a disastrous fad privatisation was as practised by both sides of politics.

[davidc4430]

Cory Bernardi misled party preselectors, former Liberal senator Sean Edwards says

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-07/cory-bernardi-misled-party-preselectors-sean-edwards-says/8247...

i wonder why the liberal and labor partys dont get together to make a rule if you quit a major party to start up on your own you have to go to a bye election for your seat to get the agreement of the voters?

[lyndal1838]

For once we agree on something David.

I think it is very wrong that a member of Parliament can resign from the party during the lifetime of the Parliament and still represent the people who elected him.

He should leave Parliament and stand for election in the bi-election which he caused and see if his constituents agree with his change of allegiance.

[davidc4430]

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@lyndal1838 wrote:

For once we agree on something David.

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heres a video of me doing my happy dance....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPqWaJuh55Q

[lurker172602]

He, Bernardi, most certainly should not be allowed to pull in a publically funded salary while promoting his new party for the next 7(?) years.  A party that the people who elected him knew nothing about at the time.

[peteepie]

I agree where it's a lower house seat, but it's a bit difficult to hold a bi-election for a senate seat.  He should just have to resign and the seat passes to the next Liberal on the ticket.