Whilst that dirty Rudd in Scores had to look forward to incessant screaming about Burke and that he was done for. You could see glee and joy in the faces of the reporters writing about Burkegate thinking they had sunk the evil threat to the Empire.

Howard got a dream run from the conservative press and they only ventured to really get stuck into him when they thought Labor had no chance.

It is pretty tiresome to see and to keep complaining about. It is like living with a ‘drop dunny’ (murdoch media) in the house, it smells all the time but not much you can do about it. And to follow the analogy we know who represents each piece of smell.

Under the Howard government welfare-to-work reforms, single parents are forced off the pension and on to the dole to look for work when their youngest child turns eight.

The Australian report linked @ 6 is incorrect - single parents are not turfed off the pension when their youngest turns eight - they are still entitled to the Parenting Payment, a pension card, etc - however they now must work 15 hours per week and sign a contract.

So similar ‘mutual obligation’ arrangements and contracts to the dole but they still receive a proportion of the Parenting Payment less Gross Income calc. and the Pension Card etc.

I thought study and volunteer work were counted towards the 15 hours - but possibly this is a discretionary Centrelink thing and not regulated…?

And I think parents are turfed off and always have been, when the kids turn 15/16???

Continue on….

BBB

BBB

Could you elaborate on this, Paul?

Then, you’d hardly know there’s been a change of Government. In fact, Howard-like, they’re picking on unemployed over 55 year olds, apparently. Which Howard did not do.

Voters are, collectively, reasonably happy with the way the government is proceeding. They are smart enough to realize that it’s too early to assess things in great detail, because the government haven’t even implemented large amounts of their agenda.

In other words, nothing to see here, move along…

But seriously, if I had the time and inclination I would like to go back to the media coverage of the first months of the Howard government in 1996. My memory (which may be admittedly biased) remembers that it was glowing about the ‘battlers’ and pretty dismissive about the Labor Party.

When Labor opposed the GST in the Senate it was ‘obstructive’ and the Democrats were hailed as the ‘real opposition’ because they negotiated with the government (and we saw what great benefits it gave them as a viable political party). Now the Coalition is opposing Government measures and all the commentariat seems to say is ‘wow, see how you get out of this one Labor!’

When I read an opinion article which was actually positive towards Rudd in the Sunday Age, I nearly fell off my chair.

What has happened? Over the last decade of Howardism there must be so many ‘political analysts’ in the MSM that got used to that mindset that they still haven’t realised that it is a different kettle of fish. It seems that the Australian is successful in somewhat influencing the whole debate negatively for Labor. So we get the usual negative spin from them and pronto it gets repeated by Frank Kelly on Breakfast on the same day.

all this discussion of Costello coming back was a belief that somehow he could stem the tide of worldwide recession and save us. And everything will be hunky dory again. It all be comfortable like the last past ten years.

There seems to be a sort of glee about Labor being in the pickle here. A sort of ‘well what you are going to do now that you ousted the ever so powerful Howard?’ type of comment, without asking what the Coalition would do if they were in government. Would they do anything different? Would their policies make the Australian economy immune from the troubles of the global economy?

I haven’t seen this. Maybe I am looking in the wrong places.