Australian Labor Party win General Election

[Aerlik]

Finally  a bit of good news...yes John Howard and his cronies are no longer in control.  Kyoto Protocols to be signed, soldiers out of Iraq (and presumably out of Iran) the end of Workplace Agreements and no more smug feckin Liberals(aka Conservatives/Republicans - US type) telling us that unions are evil, George Bush is a good friend of Australia, and it's ok to burn coal, that Greenhouse gases are a figment of the Greens' imagination.

[ardal]

Any plans to drop out of the commonwealth, elect a head of state and a change of flag?

[Aerlik]

The Aussies are a funny bunch (not ha ha funny though).  I've often brought up the flag issue to be told it's part of their history/tradition.  When I suggested they remove the British flag and replace it with the indigenous flag the racism really flowed.  Then when I suggested that Kenya/Canada/Malaysia etc didn't have their flags defaced with the flag of tyranny, they just stood there speechless.

Hopefully we'll have a referendum on the flag and republic issues in the not too distant future.

[Zapatista]

I noticed the blind patriotism suffered in Oz is way above many other nations. If it's as bad as I think it is there might not be as much change in forign policy as we would like.

[Rossfan]

"LABOR" Party ...?
Are Australians gone likeYanks unable to spell the simplest of words?

[Aerlik]

"LABOR" Party ...?
Are Australians gone likeYanks unable to spell the simplest of words?

Good point...the amount of American influence (read "effluence") in this country is sickening.  The commercial TV companies have an agreement with US companies to show a certain percentage of US shows daily.  Apparently US TV is one of the reasons for the increase in numbers of students studying forensics at Aus. universities.  FFS any gulpin with an iota of sense can see through this tripe. 

It's up to Kevin Rudd to bring in the big education changes he has promised.  My wee lad's future is at stake.

[stephenite]

Howard has lost his seat, according to the BBC. He has paid the price for supporting the war in Iraq. Sadly George W doesnt have to face the electorate again, but if he did I am sure they could fix the result again.

The support for the war in Iraw didn't play a significant part in his demise in my view. It was not an issue to the forefront of the campaign and to be honest I don't know if it would have made much of a difference if it was.

The main issues were Industrial relations and the environment - he got shafted because of his stance on these issues, not Iraq.

[stephenite]

According to BBC News 24 and the Voters who were interviewed outside the Polling Stations the War played a big part. In fact a lot of people were calling for their troops to be taken home immediately. Maybe the BBC have become anti-war ?

You got a link to that? It was hardly mentioned during the campaign, which I couildn't believe
Just watched the full rundown on sky - all the analysts in agreement that any foreign policy was not an issue for most. For my own part - most Aussies over here I've talked to are anti-war and anti their troops being deployed there, but like most Western countries nowadays people vote with their pockets and ensuring there's not going to be any less in them

[stephenite]

Jesus, not shooting you. I was flabbergasted and disgusted it was not more of an issue during the campaign, and therefore don't believe that it was one of the reasons he was voted out. I also think that despite some vague mutterings about reviewing the numbers deployed when Bush was here for APEC that the incoming governement will do anything to piss off the yanks