Yobbo: the LDP likes the idea of business but hates the reality of it, a bit like the relationship of Trotskyites and Maoists to working people

Just so you know, Andrew, I’m stealing that line.

The idea of this policy is to secure votes before an election. After a Coalition election win, the new government will be under pressure to cut expenditure – and an unfunded $3b program which hasn’t been implemented would be first on the chopping block.

As I’ve said elsewhere, this is the moment from which to trace the decline of Abbott. This proposal is so outlandish, so badly thought out and so out of kilter with other policies (particularly economic ones) that it simply has no credibility.

Think of it as the equivalent of Medicare Gold – some people thought that sounded good at the time but it had no credibility, nobody changed their vote over it and nobody missed it when it was quietly buried.

It is also consistent with the badly thought out brain-farts that Abbott has exhibited throughout his career. During the Howard government, Abbott would come out with “ideas” that directly contradicted the actions of ministers (Amanda Vanstone was a particular target); because he was Howard’s pet they just had to suck it up. Both Nelson and Turnbull as leaders faced this too, having to declare through gritted teeth that “Mr Abbott is entitled to his opinion”. The next Liberal Prime Minister is going to have to tell Tony Abbott to fuck off.

When you talk about “deep divisions”, remember that the Libs are on their third leader since the last election. Abbott could propose to invade New Zealand and they’d have to keep stumm. You can expect a flurry of denials afterwards, lots of named and unnamed “senior Coalition sources” saying “I tried to tell Tony it was a bad idea but he wouldn’t listen …”. I strongly doubt any such dissent will be in evidence beforehand.

Yobbo: the LDP likes the idea of business but hates the reality of it, a bit like the relationship of Trotskyites and Maoists to working people. Maybe they’ll get one Senate seat, maybe they won’t – the point is that they’ll be like the dog chasing the car, lots of noise and focus won’t translate into operational competence. Using Fielding as a model for anything is unutterably sad, notwithstanding the idea that a fully equipped Senator costs at least a million taxpayer dollars each year.

I hate to think how many hactares of forest I’ve despoiled by fucking up the Senate BedsheetBallot when I try to fill in every square …