Broken promises. What is acceptable?

[i-need-a-martini]

Lots of broken promises are made by governments. If the promises are broken because of economic need, I understand.

But what of the empty promises that they know they can never keep. Like the 'Stop the Boats' promise?

Or this one: where Abbott promised at the Garma festival in the weeks leading up to the election that he would spend his first week as Prime Minister in Yolgnu country.

To break promises like this is just a low act by someone who knew he would never be able to keep it.

See where he says it clearly here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1OKujvU2wQ

I wouldn't bother to listen to the whole boring speech (although many of his off the cuff comments are a little eyebrow raising) but at 21:40 he starts making promises he can't keep.

[poddster]

This one cost a previous PM her credibility and launched the country into chaos for over 3 years. It was also the coup de gras for the lapor party

"There WILL be no carbon tax under a government I lead"

That will never be erased from memory.

[izabsmiling]

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@poddster wrote:

This one cost a previous PM her credibility and launched the country into chaos for over 3 years. It was also the coup de gras for the lapor party

"There WILL be no carbon tax under a government I lead"

That will never be erased from memory.

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it wasn't a lie ...she didn't get 'to lead' (hung parliament) 

repeat it as 'the big lie often' enough .........and the rest is now history 

[just_me_karen]

When one-term-tony has done his three yr shift, carbon pricing will be back 🙂

[poddster]

Are you saying that the PM at time was not the leader of the government???

Amazing !!!!

[*crikey*mate*]

It's not acceptable to break any promises.

A promise is a promise.

Do our pollies get around it cos they don't actually say it's a promise?

Do they get around it just cos it's considered Puffery? ( Carlill v. Carbolic Smoke Ball Co)

[poddster]

Care to wager on the period of the "three year shift"?

🙂

[polksaladallie]

Were these promises?    Howard 35 ---  Gillard 1

http://www.awu.net.au/news/truth-overboard-35-lies-told-john-howard-and-counting

[izabsmiling]

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@poddster wrote:

Are you saying that the PM at time was not the leader of the government???

Amazing !!!!

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Poddster , as  Ian Robinson reported

Although in general it is not commendable to break commitments, it is not even clear that this is what has happened.

The Prime Minister's commitment not to introduce a tax on carbon was implicitly premised on her being in a position to keep the commitment, by leading a majority government after the election.

This didn't happen, so her pre-election commitment was effectively null and void.

Instead, she found herself in a minority government in which she was not in total control of all the outcomes. She therefore had to work out a compromise with the other stakeholders.

Abbott is reported as saying during the post-election negotiations that he would ''do anything'' to be prime minister. This implies that he, too, would have accepted a carbon tax as part of a minority government compromise.

Perhaps in hindsight the Prime Minister could have made the limitation to her commitment clearer by saying there would be no carbon tax under ''a majority government led by me''.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/taxing-the-truth-why-we-must-not-let-abbott...

[izabsmiling]

anyone who doesn't understand what the hung parliament meant..

could understandably believe that as Tony Abbott and others continually said/reported  "she lied about the carbon tax'

[*crikey*mate*]

I don't think Mr Abbott will lose his position over anything to do with the boats. Nor do I believe that he secured the position over anything that he said about stopping the boats. I do not believe that people voted for his party for that reason.

I really don't believe that enough people genuinely care if "these faceless people" are safe or if they drown or if they are persecuted. I know a lot of people pretend they care, it's kind of one of those emotive topics. Sort of like kissing babies.

I reckon the Liberals will have a successive leadership of at least 2 terms. I don't believe that Labor can regroup and restabilize in just 3 years. They need time to build some depth. 

This Rudd/Gillard Tag Team reeks of instability. People don't like that. Lots of people don't like change. People like to feel safe.

That whole tag team was just wrong. "In public you at least appear united, wash the dishes in the kitchen"