David Newgreen (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
4thofeleven) wrote2009-12-01 07:26 pm
4thofeleven) wrote2009-12-01 07:26 pm
Entry tags:
Strike Me Down...
Have to admit, I was expecting Abbot to either win big or lose big in the Liberal leadership challenge; winning by a single vote with one absence and one abstaining vote means that it looks like the Liberal party’s not out of the woods yet. I’m not sure if we can expect to see Abbot last any longer than his predecessors.
A shame Turnbull’s gone, but this could work out for him in the long run. No matter who leads the party, there’s no chance of the Liberals winning the next election; Rudd’s still a very strong opponent, even if they weren’t torn apart by internal divisions. After the election, Turnbull will be in a good position to blame their inevitable defeat on their opposition to climate change and retake the position of opposition leader.
At least, I hope that’s what happens – I may not like Turnbul, but at least he wasn’t a climate change denier and seemed to be making at least some effort to move the Liberal party in the right direction. Abbot’s likely to swing the party back towards extreme social conservatism - if he cements his position as opposition leader, there’s nobody to restrain Labor’s own occasional flirtation with conservative social policy.
The sad thing is that Labor’s emission trading scheme isn’t actually very good, and its emission reduction targets are pathetically low. But it’s better than anything the climate sceptic wing of the Liberal part is ever going to support…
Meanwhile, Joe Hockey seems to have destroyed whatever support he had, having failed to remain loyal to anyone while also having failed to actually gain any support on his own.
I will admit to some level of amusment at seeing the Liberal still in total disarray, this long after the election, but it would be nice to have a functional opposition... The Greens, unfortunatly, don't have the numbers, and I don't trust Labor unopposed to do the right thing.
A shame Turnbull’s gone, but this could work out for him in the long run. No matter who leads the party, there’s no chance of the Liberals winning the next election; Rudd’s still a very strong opponent, even if they weren’t torn apart by internal divisions. After the election, Turnbull will be in a good position to blame their inevitable defeat on their opposition to climate change and retake the position of opposition leader.
At least, I hope that’s what happens – I may not like Turnbul, but at least he wasn’t a climate change denier and seemed to be making at least some effort to move the Liberal party in the right direction. Abbot’s likely to swing the party back towards extreme social conservatism - if he cements his position as opposition leader, there’s nobody to restrain Labor’s own occasional flirtation with conservative social policy.
The sad thing is that Labor’s emission trading scheme isn’t actually very good, and its emission reduction targets are pathetically low. But it’s better than anything the climate sceptic wing of the Liberal part is ever going to support…
Meanwhile, Joe Hockey seems to have destroyed whatever support he had, having failed to remain loyal to anyone while also having failed to actually gain any support on his own.
I will admit to some level of amusment at seeing the Liberal still in total disarray, this long after the election, but it would be nice to have a functional opposition... The Greens, unfortunatly, don't have the numbers, and I don't trust Labor unopposed to do the right thing.