by ROGER CROOK – I DON’T have much to say about the change in leadership of the Liberal Party, except that where there is life, there is hope.
I do wonder if there was – or even is – anyone in the Liberal Party, either in parliament or one of the strategists in the shadows that has ever thought about image, especially the image of the leader?
- “New” Albo – the Australian Labor leader – is born again.
- They can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, look at what they did for Albanese.
- Australia is now at the bottom of the class when it comes to national performance.
After being slaughtered in the polls at the last general election, there was a liberal amount of Liberal blood, all over the political battle field.
Peter Dutton is twice gone and those Liberals who were lucky enough to be re-elected had to choose a new leader.
CORPSE
They needed a leader who had the character to step over the corpses and stand up for all of those people around the country who had voted Liberal on the election battlefield.
In their questionable wisdom, the Liberals elected a woman; a woman small of stature and with a somewhat petite persona; a woman that I, and I believe many others in Liberal land had either never heard of or had forgotten.
Sussan Ley.
This is where the image makers play a crucial part in this media-obsessed world.
They can make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear, look at what they did for Albanese of five years ago.
As Labor launched their election campaign, this little fat man who had told the world that he lived for fighting Tories was a character of the past
From nowhere we got a new Albo, slim or slimmer, suave, well-tailored and well shod with his RMs, and positively bouncing with a new confidence.
New teeth, new glasses, some smart casual wear (no John Howard track suits for Albo, (at least not to start with) some speech training and eventually a new smart lady in his life; the ‘New Albo’ the leader of Australian Labor was born.
The best advice the Liberal strategists could have given the new leader would have been to channel Margaret Thatcher or Israel’s Golda Meir.
They could have knocked the smirk off Albanese’s face – and his gloating front bench – with some truths about the state of the nation and the part he is playing in its downfall.
Starting with debt and migration; the figures were done for Ley.
Australia is at the bottom of the class when it comes to national performance.
WALLOWING
Mired in debt, wallowing in high interest rates and high inflation, all Sussan Ley needed to do was repeat what the world was saying about us.
If that wasn’t sufficient there was always their destruction of our relationship with Israel, the abomination of the supporters of terrorism wandering our streets and frightening our children.
Then she could have gone for the jugular over Albanese’s response to the slaughter at Bondi and his truculence when a Royal Commission was demanded.
It didn’t happen, did it? Instead of being clad in the armour of Boadicea and Joan of Arc; instead of being filled with the courage of Thatcher and Meir, she took eight months to say nothing of any importance.
To make matters worse, she chose a pale pink suit and a white blouse as her battle colours.
In the public eye it was over before it began. This was no Maggie standing at the dispatch box in Westminster destroying socialists; this was no Golda beating the crap out of the combined Arab nations.
It was Little Red Riding Hood, off to see her sick grandma, tripping through the woods with a basket of cakes and a bottle of wine.
The wolf ate our Little Red Riding Hood; he pinned her down in the Canberra swamp; her reactions were weak and her plans were wanting.
Her team, disheartened and humiliated at the spectacle of yet another defeat, turned against her.
Crushed, she abandoned the pink battle suit for a white one and then, as a gift to her once-upon-a-time team she “oh so pleasantly” resigned from parliament – in so doing, gifted them a bye- election to fight.
“Hell hath no fury.” PC
The minor parties all pursuing similar agendas need to amalgamate. The Liberal Party is finished IMO. Too many self-interested spivs and blow-ins running the show behind the scenes. This country has been mismanaged and sold out from under us for more than 50 years.
One Nation has One MP in the House of Representatives, former National Party Barnaby Joyce recently moved to One Nation and before that there was no lower house MP for them. They have some Senators including Senator Hanson, but how could they beat the numbers of seats held competition by 2028?
During the 1990s One Nation was founded in Queensland by Ms Hanson and had some success in the State electorates, in fact I lived for several years after retiring in Queensland and the local member was One Nation. After a couple of terms their representatives lost electorates to what is now LNP or to Labor.
One Nation has in Queensland never recovered.
The Liberals have a problem with women, Albanese Labor were saying and have been for years notably applying that tag to the Morrison Liberal-National Government.
In 2009 Prime Minister women Julia Gillard was replaced by Rudd returned with second and lobbyist Albanese at his side.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard, appointed Deputy to Opposition Leader Rudd in 2006 (and see The Bulletin Magazine that year article by Max Walsh about those appointments, and Union and Liberal left ambitions to wreck the Liberal Party and created an alliance of left leaning MPs to form an unassailable government of the future, or as the UK Fabian Marxists founded in late 1800s saying goes: “The Inevitability of Gradualness” that, according to the website – stopturnbull.com.au – was his adopted strategy from a young age) formed government in November 2007.
Prime Minister Rudd and Deputy Prime Minister Gillard.
By 2009 Union controlled Labor decided to dump Rudd in favour of Gillard, that background story would be fun to read I believe.
In 2011/12 after the Abbott led Liberal-National Coalition effectively defeated Gillard Labor, and regained all the electorate seats lost in November 2007, Rudd and his second and lobbyist Albanese got rid of the women Prime Minister Julia Gillard and Rudd again became Labor PM.
So much for the Albanese hubris when Sussan Ley was recently replaced by Angus Taylor with two-thirds of Liberal MPs deciding the outcome, the widest margin by far since Dr Nelson was Coalition Opposition Leader after 2007 and replaced by lobbyist Turnbull in 2008, and after a not great performance he was replaced by Abbott in 2009.
Despite Abbott leading the Coalition to a decisive election result in 2010 forcing Gillard Labor into an alliance including Greens minority Labor Government, and defeating Rudd back again Labor in 2013, Turnbull replaced Prime Minister Abbott late 2015 and in 2016 the Coalition lost all the seats they had gained in 2013.
Nudge Nudge, Wink Wink, say no more …..
https://www.advanceaustralia.org.au/each_way_albo_caught_out_again
You failed to mention about the May 2022 slimmed down version of the Tory fighter also having paid a few visits to the botox salon and the fake tan shop.
These days he is looking balder, greyer, older and let’s be frank “Who ate all the pies”? Just wait for the Labor “machine” to begin a new weight loss regime, some hair tinting, fake tans and botox. Angus Taylor looks more youthful and has a much fuller head of hair. He is also slimmer and taller. He needs some media training though.
And the Taylor Team of many young and well qualified Shadow Ministers compared to Albanese Labor Cabinet of Ministers has obviously unsettled Albanese and his Union Labor MPs.
LINO left now no longer increasing their influence it appears.
And far better educated and now related qualifications, and extensive private sector business experience including family businesses established.
As compared to a former bank trainee clerk later ALP office staffer with a Bachelor of Economics he has never used in private sector or even public service employment.
A Treasurer and Minister for Finance with no relevant qualifications or experience in the private sector that is relevant.
Cannot see why Labor would be overly concerned. Here we are two weeks later still nothing in key policy and with Wilson showing the folly of giving him the treasury role, a chronic own goaler once his social media and past comments were on the table. Wilson does very occasionaly make a worthwhile point succinctly but ultimately a moderate showboater.