Summary: This week, Dave and Jeremy try to upload a podcast to the Internet before insecurity gets the better of it (the Internet, not Dave or Jeremy). THE FOCUS GROUP The WA election result is whatever you want it to be: ALP lead candidate Bullock calls ALP members mad; threatens to leave if marriage equality is party policy (problem solves itself) ALP says result proves voters hate Tony Abbott; Tony Abbott says result proves voters hate the carbon tax; Greens say result proves Scott Ludlum is literally the Messiah. Voters “punish major parties” Result totally unfair because Liberals won three seats fair and square and now it’s been taken from them just because voters in WA have had a chance to see them govern which WASN’T THE DEAL and frankly this is a stupid game and I’m going home. The Australian editorial gets stuck into the real enemy: the “diishonest and cowardly” Scott Ludlum and the “protest party suited to by-elections, but not to the reality of government”, the Greens. HOW DARE YOU SCOTT TONY HAS GAY FRIENDS: The Greens, a quintessential protest party suited to by-elections, but not to the reality of government, polled well. But Greens senator Scott Ludlam’s campaign speech, delivered in the Senate and disseminated on the internet, was the most dishonest and cowardly of an unedifying campaign. He accused the Prime Minister of “waving homophobia” and “racist exploitation”. Mr Abbott is close to his gay sister, Christine Forster, and has had numerous close gay friends, including The Australian’s former columnist Christopher Pearson. His longstanding commitment to assisting remote Aborigines is well known. Paul Sheehan thinks Milne “the luckiest politician in Australia” because when external factors favour the Greens, it means the result doesn’t count, in exactly the same way as when external factors don’t favour the Greens, that result totally does. WHY DID SHE NOT FEEL “CHASTENED” WHEN THE GREEN VOTE WENT DOWN IN TASMANIA?! Bernard Keane points out the absurdity of Clive Palmer getting away with portraying himself as an “outsider”. Professor George Williams explores “one of the best bets in town”, the way the Senate ticket system pretty much creates a lottery with a cheap entry price and a staggering prize: Which micro party actually wins comes down to chance, as it depends upon unknowable factors such as slight differences between the votes for the parties and the order in which they are excluded from the ballot. The contest is akin to a lottery in which candidates pay a $2000 Senate deposit to enter. The odds are good enough, and the power and perks of being a senator so great that it is one of the best bets in town. Meanwhile, Bill Shorten to remove compulsory union membership rule for ALP membership. Stop putting ironic scare quotes around the words in “free trade agreement” just takes News.com.au’s cheering of the Australia-Japan FTA on its face, ignores that even the reduction in tariffs on our beef are only to 19.5% (“free trade”) and only over 15 years(!), and tries to forget just how badly Australia did out of the Liberals’ US-Australia FTA last time. Meanwhile Mr Denmore points out how absurdly stage-managed and fake it all is and dubs it “Lego journalism”. Freedom freedomer Tim Wilson freedoms some freedoms with freedom: Public service whistleblowers are bad but dobbing in your colleagues for having political views online IS FREEDOM (media release the leaked guide, Tony declares it a “secret”). Meanwhile Navy sacks the navy personnel intercepting refugees who were telling Facebook mates they were off to “deal with these f*ckers”. Freedom is Tim Wilson being able to use the N word We don’t need laws to reign in those with large soapboxes because their very prominence reins them in YES THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS TOTALLY. Wages? What
