The South Australian Political Landscape

[Psyber]

What next - Alexander Downer!
Alexander Downer touted as possible SA State Liberal Party leader

A REPLACEMENT for Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond may have to come from outside the parliamentary party, senior party sources believe.

They say the party is being torn apart by the continued destabilisation of Ms Redmond's leadership because the obvious challenger, Health spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith, does not have the numbers.

Angry Liberals say the issue has turned attention away from the shortcomings of the Weatherill Government.

Former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer is being touted in political circles as a possible replacement. leading the party from outside Parliament, until a seat can be found.

All this wild conjecture in the media and nothing observable going on inside the Liberal Party at all...
The state ALP spin machine is going full bore - as my old school mate who is a heavy in the state ALP said it would.

He said, "If we can convince the public there is instability we've gotcha!"
Another schoolmate who worked for Channel 9, and was there, said, "What other hope have the ALP got!?"

[Jimmy_041]

Pretty easy to pull in desperate people looking for any life raft

Labor looking after its grassroots again
http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/mclaren-vale-hospital-fights-state-government-to-survive/story-e6frea83-1226445694836
They can afford to give Rann a car because he cant drive but screw anyone else

[fish]

What next - Alexander Downer!
Alexander Downer touted as possible SA State Liberal Party leader

A REPLACEMENT for Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond may have to come from outside the parliamentary party, senior party sources believe.

They say the party is being torn apart by the continued destabilisation of Ms Redmond's leadership because the obvious challenger, Health spokesman Martin Hamilton-Smith, does not have the numbers.

Angry Liberals say the issue has turned attention away from the shortcomings of the Weatherill Government.

Former foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer is being touted in political circles as a possible replacement. leading the party from outside Parliament, until a seat can be found.

All this wild conjecture in the media and nothing observable going on inside the Liberal Party at all...

Psyber what about this leak?

THE calculated campaign undermining Isobel Redmond's leadership of the Liberal Party continues with the leaking of a document showing she threatened legal action against her own party over the spending of a levy on her salary.

Ms Redmond made the threat in an October, 2006 letter when then-leader Iain Evans introduced a 5 per cent levy on MPs' salaries to raise election funds.

Her warning was rebutted by party officials at the time in a terse letter stating they were "disappointed that you apparently consider that a threat of legal action against the Liberal Party is appropriate".

The leaking of the letter - confirmed as genuine by Ms Redmond - comes after a week of turmoil including:

FAILED candidate for the seat of Mawson, Matthew Donovan, launching a stinging attack on Ms Redmond's leadership and suggesting Martin Hamilton-Smith return to the job;

MS REDMOND being ambushed on ABC radio with the leaked revelation she considered moving to the Senate;

QUESTIONS over her judgment in backing her former chief-of-staff and former party state director Bev Barber in a failed attempt to take the Senate vacancy left by Mary Jo Fisher.

Liberal MPs have backed Ms Redmond publicly, but privately some are assessing options to avoid a fourth election defeat in 2014 as Premier Jay Weatherill works to rebuild Labor.

Ms Redmond has vowed to lead the party to that election.

[Jimmy_041]

Do you have proof it was a leak

[Gozu]

Do you have proof it was a leak

Easy, Marty!

[Psyber]

If it was actually a leak - who leaked it?
Is it on public record and did an ALP staffer find it there and decide to create a "Leak"?

Even if someone in the libs did leak it, it is not a big deal as far as I am concerned.
It speaks more about that leaking person and their (minority) ALP-like view that compliance should be mandatory and unthinking.

My personal attitude is that I do not like being compelled even if the cause is good.
I would stand up against such compulsion in any group I was a member of, too.
Even if I then decided to go along with it for the greater good, after my protest, I, too, would demand a mechanism to ensure it was used appropriately.


My medical College knows this..
I've just been part of a successful grass roots campaign to change national policy and demand open accounting on executive expenses.

[Gozu]

I'm with Psyber, leaks are okay when they come from the Libs.

[Sky Pilot]

I'm with Psyber, leaks are okay when they come from the Libs.

depends if you are the "leaker" or the "leakee" surely?

[fish]

I'm with Psyber, leaks are okay when they come from the Libs.

I don't think Psyber will be blaming this on the state ALP spin machine:

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill has condemned a sexist comment made about one of his ministers in a Liberal Party news release.

He said the remarks by Opposition frontbencher David Pisoni were unacceptable.

Mr Weatherill said Mr Pisoni had now apologised to Education Minister Grace Portolesi for a comment in the draft news release about a skirt she had worn and linking it with education funding.

It said schools would raise thousands if they had a dollar for every time the minister had worn the black leather skirt.

The Premier said it represented an attitude from a previous century and was not an isolated incident from the SA Liberals.

"We've seen people compared with dogs, we've seen them suggest they should be put down, we've had remarks about them being involved in cat fights if they're women and now we have this particular instance referring to a woman's dress," he said.

[Sky Pilot]

I must be stupid! What is offensive about Grace wearing a black leather skirt? Please explain

[southee]

I must be stupid! What is offensive about Grace wearing a black leather skirt? Please explain

Agreed. What's so offensive about that ? Surely this state government have better things to focus on than pick up something that is totally irrelevant and making a mountain of a mole hill?

So we cant talk about Don Dunstans shorts anymore ?

Weird !

[Gozu]

I'm with Psyber, leaks are okay when they come from the Libs.

I don't think Psyber will be blaming this on the state ALP spin machine:

ALP smears! We must await the confirmation from Psyber's senior ALP figure at their next luncheon.

[Jimmy_041]

This is right up there with the announcement that the State Government are replacing the windows in our trains.
If, only, AD was still as bold with his insightful observations: the things that matter..............
Seriously, who gives a f*** other than those that have nothing else to do than grasp at any straw

[Psyber]

I'm with Psyber, leaks are okay when they come from the Libs.

I don't think Psyber will be blaming this on the state ALP spin machine:

ALP smears! We must await the confirmation from Psyber's senior ALP figure at their next luncheon.

That one sounds real, and rather stupid of Pisoni, if a bit trivial.

[Jimmy_041]

At least it might stop him white anting for a while

[fish]

The front page article (headlined Rats in the Ranks) and editorial in this weeks Hills Courier discusses the grumblings within the Liberal Party:

Redmonds Rule

The claims by Opposition Leader Isobel Redmond that she has the full support of her Shadow Ministers and backbenchers in the current leadership turmoil enveloping the Party are entirely fanciful.

The ever pragmatic Redmond would agree that no leader lasts forever and rarely is political loyalty complete … particularly one where so many participants are influenced by the intoxicating mix of power and ego.

At some stage even the most loyal of troopers will turn on their leader if they believe they can do a better job and the numbers are in their favor. Hand on heart loyalty statements made by politicians can vanish overnight – a fact about which Ms Redmond is well aware.

Make no mistake, the leadership grumblings within the SA Liberals are real.

There have been too many leaks to the media, refusals to rule out challenges, too many loose statements by MPs and a willingness from senior Party members to speak off the record with the clear intention of disrupting her leadership.

The killer blow is that Ms Redmond was offered a Senate seat following the resignation of Mary Jo Fisher. That says quite clearly that a powerful element within the Liberals wants to be rid of her. She may have turned the offer down but the stars are beginning to align.

[Sky Pilot]

Is it right that Nigel Smart is being sounded out about being parachuted into a safe State Liberal seat and offered the leadership Queensland-style?

[GWW]

Nigel Smart, Leader of a political party

[fish]

Is it right that Nigel Smart is being sounded out about being parachuted into a safe State Liberal seat and offered the leadership Queensland-style?

Dunno but I recall he ran for the Liberals a few years back?

[Gozu]

ISOBEL Redmond's leadership of the South Australian Liberal Party appears terminal. Yet, after a horror fortnight in which her three-year-old leadership has been tested as never before, Redmond has refused to stand and fight.

Her decision to depart this weekend for an interstate holiday will cement fears within her partyroom that she lacks the political nous and genuine desire to be the next premier.

In the absence of an opinion poll that says she is unpopular with voters, Redmond is refusing to fall on her sword, and her detractors lack the courage to bring on a spill, even as they claim to have the numbers to win one.

It means the gutless destabilisation campaign against Redmond's leadership will continue, as will the damage to the party's already tarnished brand in SA.

Redmond must take a large share of responsibility for the ongoing turmoil. If insiders are to be believed, she stubbornly refuses to take advice, discuss strategy or empower her key staff to deal firmly with MPs when required.

Money quote:

"The only thing that is certain is the party can't go to the next election with Isobel," a senior powerbroker tells Inquirer.

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/nationa ... 6447824950