Abbott/Liberal Govt Watch

[shoe boy]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

[Jimmy_041]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Democracy at its best.

[Booney]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Politics at its best.

[GWW]

I'd rather just let the parliament have a vote, and save the 160 million $'s - there is a bit of a national debt I hear, so not wasting the money is probably a good thing I would have thought.

[bennymacca]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Democracy at its best.

why is it bad for democracy when the senate works as it should?

[Booney]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Democracy at its best.

why is it bad for democracy when the senate works as it should?

The ALP said they'd be for same sex marriage, the LNP said they'd let the people decide at a plebiscite, why then does the ALP block the chance for the people to decide? Sour grapes from losing out?

[bennymacca]

because thats how the senate works

[shoe boy]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Democracy at its best.

why is it bad for democracy when the senate works as it should?

The ALP said they'd be for same sex marriage, the LNP said they'd let the people decide at a plebiscite, why then does the ALP block the chance for the people to decide? Sour grapes from losing out?

This is the far right religious nuts making decisions for Mal !!!!
The people want same sex marriage and let the politicians do there job and vote!

[bennymacca]

ALP never said they were for a plebiscite either.

If both sides are allowed a conscience vote on the issue, the bill would be passed RIGHT NOW.

Thats how silly it all is, and also gives you a bit of insight into the motivations of the libs

[Jimmy_041]

I think back to the repeal of the Carbon Tax where the increase in the superannuation guarantee levy was sacrificed to get the repeal though
So, even though the majority of people of Australia voted to get rid of it, Labor and Greens opposed it and the cross benchers required the SGL increase cut. Labor then tried to blame the government

Because that's how the senate works..............

[Jimmy_041]

ALP never said they were for a plebiscite either.

If both sides are allowed a conscience vote on the issue, the bill would be passed RIGHT NOW.

Thats how silly it all is, and also gives you a bit of insight into the motivations of the libs

You mean like last time when Labor was in power?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-19/s ... wn/4270016

Thats how silly it all is, and also gives you a bit of insight into the hypocrisies of the Labor

You forget some of the most fervent Catholics are in the Labor party

[bennymacca]

ALP never said they were for a plebiscite either.

If both sides are allowed a conscience vote on the issue, the bill would be passed RIGHT NOW.

Thats how silly it all is, and also gives you a bit of insight into the motivations of the libs

You mean like last time when Labor was in power?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-09-19/s ... wn/4270016

Thats how silly it all is, and also gives you a bit of insight into the hypocrisies of the Labor

You forget some of the most fervent Catholics are in the Labor party

You proved my point - Libs were never given a conscience vote. And enough support it to get it over the line

[Magellan]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Democracy at its best.

why is it bad for democracy when the senate works as it should?

The Libs lost the right to piss and moan about the Senate being used to railroad anything after abusing it in extremis in November 1975. As benny alludes to, the senate's job is as a house of review, and it always has been. It's news to no-one. Don't like some crazies having the balance of power, or the other side of politics ruining your legislative agenda? Too bad, you should've won a majority in both houses. It's politically naive to expect the other side of politics to not place the government's legislative agenda under scrutiny in either house of parliament. To call this interfering with the government's 'mandate' (the most over-used word in current Australian political discourse, whatever it means) is nonsense. If Turnbull played his cards right and went to an election earlier than later, he'd likely be in a more dominant position now and would actually be doing something rather than talking too much and pandering to Tony Abbott's legacy or Pauline Hanson's assortment of nuts. He can only blame himself.

Mind you, there's an argument that the senate, whilst a house of review, is not actually functioning as the 'state's house' that it was meant to when federation and the constitution was drawn up. Time to adopt the Queensland parliamentary model with one house? Comrade Gough always thought the senate was 'undemocratic,' but then again he would've said that.

[gossipgirl]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Democracy at its best.

Wow tony that's the worlds longest bow ..... Congrats

[Jimmy_041]

Well done to the Senate with blockage to the same sex marriage plebiscite.

Also great news that Labour will block the lifetime refugee document that DUDD DUTTON and his red neck mates have in place .

Yep; the Coalition went into the election with a very clear policy of holding the plebiscite and Labor and the Greens decide that they are more important than the people who voted. Democracy at its best.

Wow tony that's the worlds longest bow ..... Congrats

Cant $hitbag them when they break an election promise than $hitbag them when they keep one
As far as I remember, and Shorten certainly doesn't, he didn't win the election
So, we'll all sit around for another 2 1/2 years and get nowhere whilst the Canberra kids call each other names
BTW, don't forget the poodle is my local member. He wouldn't vote for SSM if his life depended upon it, but I would in a plebiscite

[Wedgie]

Thank Christ sanity prevailed. A plebiscite is a ridiculous idea. Just vote it through parliament, that's what they're there for!

[Psyber]

The ALP are being cynical too - what they want is a trigger for an election victory.

Their interest in promoting the conscience vote is the idea that the Conservative wing of the Libs may vote gay marriage down with a little help from some cross-benchers and that will give the ALP a campaign platform with hope of winning the next federal election for them. Had the plebiscite gone ahead and shown strong public support for gay marriage that may have pushed the LNP's Conservatives toward supporting the gay marriage concept out of self-preservation.

That is not want the ALP wants.

[Dogwatcher]

Cant $hitbag them when they break an election promise than $hitbag them when they keep one
As far as I remember, and Shorten certainly doesn't, he didn't win the election
So, we'll all sit around for another 2 1/2 years and get nowhere whilst the Canberra kids call each other names
BTW, don't forget the poodle is my local member. He wouldn't vote for SSM if his life depended upon it, but I would in a plebiscite

It's been like this for the past decade. Don't pretend it's just a Labor in opposition thing.
Abbott gave a masterclass in this form of politics.

Sadly, until both parties sort out their internal politics, this is what we're stuck it. Get some strong leaders, get parties who aren't fighting within their own forces and their own agendas.

[Magellan]

Cant $hitbag them when they break an election promise than $hitbag them when they keep one
As far as I remember, and Shorten certainly doesn't, he didn't win the election
So, we'll all sit around for another 2 1/2 years and get nowhere whilst the Canberra kids call each other names
BTW, don't forget the poodle is my local member. He wouldn't vote for SSM if his life depended upon it, but I would in a plebiscite

It's been like this for the past decade. Don't pretend it's just a Labor in opposition thing.
Abbott gave a masterclass in this form of politics.

Sadly, until both parties sort out their internal politics, this is what we're stuck it. Get some strong leaders, get parties who aren't fighting within their own forces and their own agendas.

Yep, spot on DW. We need some political leaders who are genuinely worthy of the title 'statesperson', or rather the parties need to develop and produce this type of leaders. In the last decade we've had a motley crew comprising a managerial bean-counter, a negotiator, a head-kicker and a loquacious toff.

[Gozu]

I like most people have always appreciated the Senate for it's role in keeping the government of the day irregardless of what hue in check.

We can all remember what happened last time a government also ended up with control of the senate, WorkChoices.

It was John Howard's dream and after the 2004 election when the Libs got control of the senate he just couldn't help himself. The veil was lifted and people got to finally see what Howard was really about and the people rejected his dream policy so emphatically not only did they lose office in a landslide after 11 years at the next election the great PM John Howard suffered the indignity of losing his own seat. Only the second PM since federation to be so humiliated.