But he will be the next opposition leader when Dutton loses the next election. 
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Angus Taylor is probably the worst. He is terrible in any interview. Wouldnât trust him for a minute running the finances.
Ley is a disaster and I think we have spoke at length on that before. Looking forward to their tax policy, as Ley said, she will be rolling back the cuts.
Now I know some on the Labor side are not that flash either. Bowen is a joke. OâNeill and Giles need to be moved onto something else quick smart.
I know he doesnât seem to be very camera-friendly but compared to his shadow equivalent (Ted OâBrien) heâs actually quite funny, especially watching him tear OâBrien and co to shreds in QT.
I think OâNeil needs to rely less on sledging Peter Duttonâs record (however deserved) and focus on making the Home Affairs system better. I think sheâs capable but needs to be more active in pursuing action. Giles hasnât been too offensive and sticks to his guns (I mean, NZYQ and the 150 people released was from the High Court, not because Labor wanted to) but heâs definitely not savvy as a performer (although the crap heâs had to put up with from Dan Tehan and co in the last few months are insufferable).
Genuine question: Does anyone trust Dutton and his bluster about law and order? Apart from being a copper from Queensland (says it all really) all heâs done was oppress and shouting from the hills even though people were being put into immigration detention illegally in many cases because he and his government perceived them as âingenuineâ. He talks all about seeing children abused and women raped and things like that but did he or his government do anything about it before it spiralled out of control recently? Crickets
Also letâs not forget every time he talks about healthâŚ
He ran the Energy portfolio by doing the equivalent of squat all.
Iâm no Dutton fan, in fact quite the opposite. But Iâm curious as to why you think being a copper from Queensland âsays it allâ? Are you saying Queensland police are somehow bad or corrupt or both? Iâd certainly be looking closer at NSW for example if that was the criteria. Thereâs nothing wrong or different about Queensland police. Or are you thinking 1970s stereotypes? That was 50 years ago and the light was shone bright on the problems in the decades since then. I would suggest the Queensland police are among the most accountable in the country. As I said Iâd be looking at other Stateâs forces at the moment if youâre looking to cast aspersions.
I think the Coalition has not learned anything from the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster of 2011.
Also, wherever the LNP plans to process and store nuclear waste, it will face stiff opposition from environment groups and local residents.
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Yeah nuclear accidents aside, there is just so little support for nuclear outside their own party spruikers and Sky News itâs not funny. Theyâre delusional, and whoever is lobbying them so hard is wasting their money
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Yes I shouldâve been specific and said that his former stint as a Queensland copper just reeks the same old Bjelke-Peterson era of âall bravado, no substanceâ and trying to look tough but really having no meat in what he does. He constantly talks about being tough on borders and hardcore criminals, as well as claiming he wants to protect women and children, but heâs hardly done anything during his time as Home Affairs minister, apart from sniping Labor and tried to oust Turnbull as payback for what he did to Abbott.
Queensland police are very good. Theyâve come a long way since those wretched Sir Joh days when the police force operated as if the state was a dictatorship and oppressed and freedoms of speech whilst being extremely corrupt.
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If Chernobyl wasnât a tell-tale sign of what could happen in case of failure, then the Liberals wonât take no for an answer. And theyâll probably blame it on Labor like they always do.
Iâm sticking to my hypothesis that the Coalition are advocating for nuclear power as a red herring to not increase renewables. They just want fossil fuel and coal to appease their rural base. They can use nuclear power and say âOh itâs too long, oh well more coal until we get these upâ, whilst ignoring the fact that some of the cheapest power in this country comes from solar panels, wind and hydro.
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Iâm by no means an advocate for Nuclear power, but you canât just pick one failed plant to say that weâve not learned anything from that disaster and ignore the numbers of others that operate safely. Locating a nuclear plant in an area of high seismic activity was always going to be a cause for concern
Any advantage that Nuclear offered was overtaken by the sheer cost to deliver long ago and no longer makes it cost-effective, especially when our abundant access to alternate means of power generation exists.
Its a lot more nuanced than that though, people have largely moved on from fossil fuels being the only option and have a greater support for renewables, but only if itâs not near their homes/farms/businesses.
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In some parts of the country maybe, but places like central Queensland (Gladstone, Rockhampton, Mackay etc) and the Hunter valley (Singleton, Muswellbrook), which (to be fair) thrives upon coal once upon a time, they donât seem like theyâll budge anytime soon regarding their strong pro-coal stance. Maybe itâs the jobs, maybe itâs the livelihoods, maybe they donât want to move on, but itâs clear particularly in the recent elections in 2019 and 2022.
Even Barnabus keeps complaining about Labor not standing up for coal workers, when in reality they could easily be trained into a new industry that is just as lucrative (aka renewables), but the Coalition wonât even entertain that thought.
Labor or whoever really needs to come up with a comprehensive strategy to transition from coal to renewable energy production in those areas. Some things have to change and coal is one of them, even if those living in the regions wonât give it up without a fight.
Their concerns are now largely driven by what happens when the mining inevitably stops - theyâve accepted that it will finish at some point (remember that these are communities that have lived through the boom and bust of mining for some time now). Many of these communities have been built on the back of Mining (either directly, or indirectly through allied industries) and they know little difference because they largely havenât had to.
There is a significant difference between the two areas youâve noted though - Central Queensland coal tends to be used for manufacturing (steel predominately) whereas Hunter Valley coal tends to be used for energy production. Weâll exit mining for energy production long before mining to support manufacturing.
The Hunter Valley turned away from Labor at the last election because of their seemingly inconsistent stance - they were telling Queensland one thing and NSW something else about supporting communities when the end arrives. What has concerned Labor in the Hunter Valley is that the voter base that deserted them in the last election went to the likes of One Nation.
Thereâs a difference though, Lib/Nats are happy to continue to allow mining to occur whereas Labor wants to bring it to an end - Barnaby has argued that if youâre going to do that then you need to support their communities to transition away.
And that brings another issue forward. When the coalition was in government, they never even thought of considering preparing their working base towards a more sustainable energy production future. They keep beating the drum of just keeping coal-mining the way it is because they like it that way.
Whether thatâs because the voters in that part of the world arenât susceptible to change or the Coalition just doesnât like renewables, or both, is a debatable subject.
The Coalition doesnât believe that shifting to sustainable energy is achievable without having fossil fuels as the heavy lifter despite fast-mounting evidence to the contrary.
While they believe this, theyâre not going to prepare for a transition, because they donât believe its going to happen. They seem more likely to replace fossil fuels with a nuclear option rather than looking wider afield.
HRC in 2016 had big plans for transitioning communities â and mining states like WV decided âNo thanks, we like to be coal minersâ.
Even here in MEL, genuine working-class (ALP-held) seats like Calwell and Scullin have very low Greens votes because the actual Australian working class despise the uni-educated middle-class left that purport to represent âBlueyâ but actually do not (notably angering them by lecturing over immigration).
I hadnât thought of that - itâs quite possible.
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Nuclear is also very costly, thatâs one issue. The states wonât want anything to do with it. Thatâs the second problem. They have already hinted at this.
On the Dutton front. Any conflict in the Asian region at some point in the future, I donât trust him and Hastie at the helm. I have always held a view that he wants to go to war with China and be actively involved in some conflict where he gets to push all the big buttons.
Our China relationship is probably best described as stable. I canât say I have much hope that Dutton will maintain that.
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Dutton, Paterson, Hastie and co are all China hawks that only the very right wing of the electorate sort of appeals to. No one else thinks China is a threat to this country directly and given that Albanese has certainly not been appeasing China at all throughout this term this takes out Duttonâs âtough on Chinaâ stance and minimises his chances of capitalising on it.
Plus Iâm sure heâd want to win back those Chinese-skewing seats in NSW, Victoria and WA if he wants any chance at even thinking of winning the election.
8900th post!
Angus Taylor was completely useless at the NPC today. Pressed about Migration policy figures he just completely fluked it and it didnât even matchup with what Dutton wanted. Then he just goes all defensive with âIâve already answered that questionâ.
Yet the âmainstream mediaâ like News Corpse publication will probably still make it out to be Laborâs fault or something. Theyâre all out there with the gotchas for the left but theyâll brush this off as water off a duckâs back.
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On the Nuclear front, as expected, Victoria doesnât want a bar of it. Iâd expect all Labor Premiers to take the same approach so a public spat with Premiers wonât be doing him any favours.
I doubt it would even happen even if Dutton won office. The costs alone with setting up such an industry is beyond eye watering. I think itâs just a tactic to buy votes then abandon it many years later. Long Live coal!
Nuclear wonât be doing him any favours in trying to pull back potential seat losses to Teals, and trying to pull seats back from them. Iâm expecting two big focuses next election, energy and taxes. Dutton didnât announce his tax policy during his budget reply, and he hasnât given us costings for nuclear. Well, Ley said she is already pulling back the Stage 3 cuts, and we all know they will look after the top and of town regardless. Labor will focus on Tax Cuts and its renewable agenda, while the LNP will be piss farting around with taxes focusing on high earners not the 95%, and some fantasy Nuclear agenda.
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