Australia's conservative government wins control of both houses of parliam

[Judi Lynn]

Australia's conservative government wins control of both houses of parliament


By Rod McGuirk
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9:23 p.m. October 27, 2004

CANBERRA, Australia – Prime Minister John Howard has won control of both the upper and lower houses of parliament, clearing the way for the conservative leader to push through reforms including relaxing media ownership laws.

Barnaby Joyce of the rural-based Nationals party, a junior partner in Howard's coalition, was declared the winner of the last Senate seat in Queensland state on Thursday, when the Australian Electoral Commission completed the count from the Oct. 9 elections.

The win by Joyce will give the coalition government of the Nationals and Howard's Liberal Party 39 of the Senate's 76 members starting next July.
Howard will be the first prime minister in 24 years to control the Senate as well as the lower chamber, the House of Representatives.

The result clears the way for Howard to push through reforms including relaxing media ownership laws and selling the government's $22.4 billion stake in national telecommunications giant Telstra.

The reforms were blocked during his first three terms in office because his conservative coalition government did not have a majority in the Senate.
(snip/...)

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/world/20041027-2123-australia-politics.html

[rodeodance]

1. bad omen for US or not?

My condolences to the Aussies:-(

What will Howie do if Kerry wins?

[Javaman]

11. Howard, another murdock lacky

[placton]

2. Aussies have their share, apparently, of idiots.

Thatcher tried ultra-conservatism in the UK, Ray-gun and Bush the Least here - total failures.

[ClintonTyree]

3. Apparently they haven't learned..................

from our country's mistakes. Yes, by all means relax the media ownership laws. You'll end up with a gelded news media such as we have here in the U.S.
To the people of Australia: If you want to mirror our conservative government, remember; you mirror all of the problems as well. I pity the people of Australia, they don't realize what they're in for.

[asthmaticeog]

4. Some of 'em know what they're in for.

Ask anyone over 35 in Brisbane.

[rooboy]

5. I assume you're referring to the Bjelke-Petersen era.

I remember it well. On one occasion had the privilege of having my house invaded by 6 squad cars of Terry Lewis' cops. Nice chaps.

[asthmaticeog]

6. Holy cats!

That's horrible. You have my sympathies.

So, uh, did you ever see the Saints perform back in the day?

[rooboy]

9. I think I might have seen the Saints once...

some of my friends were huge fans. If I did see them it would have been at a festival of some kind up the Sunshine Coast. I spent quite a few summers seeing bands in a drunken state, so I can't always remember exactly what I saw.

[FlaGranny]

7. This is amazing.

Didn't the majority of Australians poll that they were against the Iraq war? Then they went right out and elected themselves this kind of government? Makes no sense. What kind of voting machines do they use in Australia ayway?

[Sara Beverley]

8. Most times "racism" trumps truth and common sense.

The Aussies are us!

[rooboy]

10. Aussies vote with pencil and paper.

but the fact is that the Labor party had one of the WORST election campaigns ever. What has happened since the election has made it pretty clear to me that Labor was not ready to govern if they had won.

So we're stuck with Franco's lovechild for another few years. Shit.

[FlaGranny]

12. So sorry.

I hope this is not as bad for you as it has been for us (a totally conservative government, that is).

[Zorra]

13. Hey, now freepers have a nazi-like country to move to after the election!

Great...and it's even on the other side of the planet!

Sorry for the good folks in Australia, really tough break.

[Anakin Skywalker]

16. You Just Reminded Me.

Heh. And just minutes ago I was thinking about which country(ies) freepers can f*** off to after their beloved god bush is defeated this Nov. 2. Now I know.

[Neshanic]

14. The Australian dark ages have arrived. Murdock buying.

[mazzarro]

15. Australia has now entered into the world of the Bush and Belusconi's

fascist governments - wherein the governing party makes whatever kind laws they want and careless what the rest of the world thinks of them!

[Matilda]

18. New Zealand is looking more attractive every day.

I'm still in shock at the shallowness and stupidity of my
countrymen - usually they are canny enough to make sure there's
a balance in the Senate. We are in for a very unpleasant three
years, and some of the damage Howard's likely to do (such as
loosening media controls) may never be undone.

[demokatgurrl]

17. OK, so they're off the emigration list if Bushco wins. nt

[VegasWolf]

19. This is bad. Back when I was travelling during the over hyped Monica

days, the europeans could simply not see what the problem was
and the best headline I saw the entire time was a Sydney newspaper
which said "Thank God that they got the Puritans!"

New Information Shows Bush Indecisive, Paranoid, Delusional

[PartyPooper]

20. Looks like John Howard won't be invited to the White House

after John Kerry is inaugurated in January! Hehehe!

:bounce:

[ausiedownunderground]

21. If John Kerry gets up he can help us in OZ!

In OZ for the time being, we are getting much better coverage of the war in Iraq than i suspect you ladies and gents are getting over in the US. Most Ozzies are more aware of whats going on on the ground. However the government and the media here downplay our own involvement, to the point that an outsider visiting here would not really be aware that we are also involved. This tactic was used to totally neutralize the "war issue" during our recent election. It was also helped by the fact that the Labour opposition seemed to also believe this message and ran a "no negative issues" on Iraq war campaign against the Conservatives. Howard really got off "scotfree".

This is where John Kerry can help if elected. If Kerry wants to still hold the course in Iraq as his campaign rhetoric suggests at the moment, he needs to get on the blower to Howard and demand from him a sizable upgrade of Ozzie troops to be deployed to Iraq!!! Test Howard's convictions to the Bush Doctrine that he so loves!!! This will go down like a lead ballon over here amongst the general population but could not only massively increase Ozzie awareness of our participation in the war and its consequences for OZ, but shove the conservatives into a corner that will be difficult for them and their mainstream media buddies to wriggle out of. With their Senate majority as well, they will not be able to use the excuse of "those pesky greens and democrats" blocked us in the Senate. This will provide the democratic opposition with the opportunity to fight the conservatives on the war issue, particularly if Ozzie troops start returning in "Transfer Tubes". 2-3 years of this and Howard and the conservatives will be well grilled for the next election in 2007 (i.e. We have elections every 3 years).

[Matilda]

22. A good point. Howard has been clever so far in keeping our troop numbers

low, so the opposition had nowhere to go. Even if Bush is re-elected
he's going to have to increase troop numbers, and he's bound to put
some pressure on Howard (Blair too for that matter - he's brought
a lot of his troops home already).

I'm looking forward to the day that President Kerry signs off on the
Kyoto Agreement - that's going to leave Howard out on a limb all by
himself, looking like the revisionist prat that he is.

[autorank]

23. Time to re-align: Canada, Mexico, Germany, France, NZ IN...

...Australia, England, Russia OUT. What happened to the spirit of Gough Whitlam? Harold Wilson? We couldn't have gone to war in Iraq without Tony Blair's cover for Bush. Who did that? The LaboUr party! Things here could have been settled in the presidential race early-on if the odious Howard were removed from power. He wasn't. Putin endorses Bush! Give me a break. These three countries are the hold outs for the old order living on life supports through the vicarious experience of empire offered up by our demented pResident.

Kerry needs to send some clear messages at home and abroad. At home is easy, put the criminals in jail, expose their acts to universal shame, fix the country. Abroad, he needs to let the right (and I consider Putin a fascist) wing in GB, Australia, and Russia know that they have to eat some crow and take some lumps for trying to influence our election (the wrong way, of course).