Cograts Aussies, you have finially gotten rid of Howard

[Urban Ranger]

Just as the topic says...

[Alinestra Covelia]

My intake of Australian politics is very limited, but I've literally never heard or read anything good about this guy.

I'm sure I'm missing a lot of positive stuff he's done for Australia, but casting my mind back, the two main contributions I can think of were heavy-handed dealings with the Oceanasian countries (East Timor from Indonesia) and his support for the Iraq war.

Something also dimly comes back to me that he was responsible for (or supportive of) keeping a racially discriminatory immigration policy, though I'm less certain about that and it might be a mis-memory.

Does anybody have anything nice to say about him? This is not a rhetorical question. The man's just been elected out after the second-longest Prime Minister run in Australian politics and I think it's weird that all I've been told about him was negative stuff. :/

[Cort Haus]

I have nothing to say myself, but I will post a quote from (presumably) a Howard supporter that I saw somewhere else. Whatever the merits or otherwise of the political views being expressed, I think the author expresses them quite eloquently....

I weep for my nation.

We've got a Labor Prime Minister again.

*ahem*

After 11 years of the best economic management since Federation, we've got a bubble-headed Leftie in power again.
Yep, we've decided to get rid of the one and only Aussie government which has managed to rein in the bureaucracy, as well as pull the handbrake on the more Fascist aspects of Political Correctness, replacing it with a Party which has a notoriously PC platform, a vested interest in expanding the Public (Civil) Service sector (it creates *empowered* Labor voters, you see), a wobbly foreign policy (relying on the tenet that a nation with no friends will have no enemies), the past economic record of Bobby Mugabe and a costly predeliction for giving massive grants to untalented arty-farties who produce, thank-you taxpayers of Australia, such classics as "Urine Sandcastles" for the nation's edifaction......and $560,000 (1992) in *production* costs.

:massiveexhalation:

[trev]

John Howard has left behind one of the world's strongest economies with large budget surpluses, no federal government debt (the government has banked several years of surpluses after paying off all debt), very low unemployment and low inflation. I think it is now 17 years of continual growth which is beginning to accelerate leading to inflation concerns for the future and 6 interest rate increases since the last election.
He lost the election due to unpopular industrial relation changes which limited the power of unions and workers bargaining position. It was probably the weakness of the workers which has restricted wage rises despite very low unemployment and substantial labour skills shortages. He was by Australian standards more rightwing and reformist than any previous primeminister and therefore accumulated enemies. Many years ago he did express concerns about Asian immigration at a time when there was considerable debate about how well they were integrating into the general community but as primeminister he supported large increases in immigration from all regions of the world.
John Howards dealing in East Timor was generally welcomed throughout the world community and within Australia, his support for USA in Iraq however has been criticized, but zero casualties there made it an virtual nonissue in the election. (Australia provides better protection in their armoured vehicles than the US resulting in zero fatalities from roadside bombs).

The labour leader Kevin Rudd actually copied the majority of John Howards policies apart from Indrustrial relations and Iraq, in particular copied the tax cuts offered by John Howard, so mostly all we are getting is a new face as leader, but with a industrial policy that will strengthen the position of workers and therefore lead to bigger wage increases and higher inflation and interest rates. Economically the change of primeminister may prove to be very risky and damaging to Australia's future.

[trev]

Incidentally both parties promised the most massive tax cuts in Australia's history by a huge margin plus the largest increases in government spending on a multitude of programs ever, so if the election promises are followed through on, there will be a massive stimulus added to an economy already on the boil.

[Qilue]

We'll have to wait to see whether the promised tax cuts are core or non-core promises.

[Skanky Burns]

Not that core promises always get honoured, either.

[Alinestra Covelia]

Heh, sounds like the Australian Labour party candidate did a Tony, i.e. copy lots of his policy from the (formerly) Conservative book. Worked for Blair.

[Winston]

Cograts Aussies, you have finially gotten rid of Howard

I for one am most inclined to laugh in your general direction. The coming years under Labour will no doubt be highly entertaining - from a strictly cynical, detached, point of view that is.

No really, you have my condolences. Good show while it lasted, John Howard.

What really is amusing is how Urban Ranger was apparently in such a rush to post this that he had trouble hitting the right keys. And now for that change of pants..

[Tim_Augustus]

Originally posted by Winston

Cograts Aussies, you have finially gotten rid of Howard

I for one am most inclined to laugh in your general direction. The coming years under Labour will no doubt be highly entertaining - from a strictly cynical, detached, point of view that is.

No really, you have my condolences. Good show while it lasted, John Howard.

I recall that you are from Denmark. How's your two-headed Tasmanian princess getting on?

[Tim_Augustus]

Originally posted by Qilue
We'll have to wait to see whether the promised tax cuts are core or non-core promises.

Actually I'm personally hopeful that they'll be only partly honoured at best - the last thing the economy needs at this stage is more money for people to spend. If that inflation level keeps up we really will be looking at 10+ per cent interest rates - and this time former treasurer Peter Costello will not be able to blame Labor for it, seeing how they used his policy

[Tim_Augustus]

Originally posted by trev
John Howard has left behind one of the world's strongest economies with large budget surpluses, no federal government debt (the government has banked several years of surpluses after paying off all debt), very low unemployment and low inflation. I think it is now 17 years of continual growth which is beginning to accelerate leading to inflation concerns for the future and 6 interest rate increases since the last election.
He lost the election due to unpopular industrial relation changes which limited the power of unions and workers bargaining position. It was probably the weakness of the workers which has restricted wage rises despite very low unemployment and substantial labour skills shortages. He was by Australian standards more rightwing and reformist than any previous primeminister and therefore accumulated enemies. Many years ago he did express concerns about Asian immigration at a time when there was considerable debate about how well they were integrating into the general community but as primeminister he supported large increases in immigration from all regions of the world.
John Howards dealing in East Timor was generally welcomed throughout the world community and within Australia, his support for USA in Iraq however has been criticized, but zero casualties there made it an virtual nonissue in the election. (Australia provides better protection in their armoured vehicles than the US resulting in zero fatalities from roadside bombs).

The labour leader Kevin Rudd actually copied the majority of John Howards policies apart from Indrustrial relations and Iraq, in particular copied the tax cuts offered by John Howard, so mostly all we are getting is a new face as leader, but with a industrial policy that will strengthen the position of workers and therefore lead to bigger wage increases and higher inflation and interest rates. Economically the change of primeminister may prove to be very risky and damaging to Australia's future.

I'm certainly not grieving his departure - the bastard would have sold his own children if he thought it'd help him be re-elected - he certainly sold out on his party's ideology to do so. I can never forgive him for his treatment of the Tampa affair, for his treatment of 'illegal' refugees, for getting us into Iraq despite all the evidence, for failing to take leadership on climate change and walking away from Kyoto even after demanding huge concessions on our targets, and for undoing all the modest progress that had been made towards improving the lot of indigenous australians.

Time will tell on Kevin Rudd!

[Winston]

Originally posted by Tim_Augustus
I recall that you are from Denmark. How's your two-headed Tasmanian princess getting on?

Oh, she's among the best things we've ever imported. Breeding like mad.

And she's held in very high regard by virtually all the people here (seriously). From all that I can tell, she's made a highly successful transition to her new role (and country, culture etc.), which would appear to not be the easiest thing to accomplish for just any person.

[Tim_Augustus]

Originally posted by Winston


Oh, she's among the best things we've ever imported. Breeding like mad.

And she's held in very high regard by virtually all the people here (seriously). From all that I can tell, she's made a highly successful transition to her new role (and country, culture etc.), which would appear to not be the easiest thing to accomplish for just any person.

Yes yes yes, but she's still from ****ing Tasmania.

There's only one worse place to come from, and that's New Zealand... I guess you can add to your list 'at least she isn't a kiwi!'

[Darius871]

Originally posted by Alinestra Covelia
Heh, sounds like the Australian Labour party candidate did a Tony, i.e. copy lots of his policy from the (formerly) Conservative book. Worked for Blair.

Who's that in your picture anyhow?