3 September 2010, 13:39pm
What a marvellous idea. Camel is a tasty dish, though steaks can be a bit tough. And the hump is a delicacy. And what a great way to get rid of a pest - bring it in to farms and harvest it.
peterjim on Aussies urged to eat more camels via story comment
3 September 2010, 13:26pm
Who were the Liberals going to preference if not Wilkie?
Poita on Wilkie's election death warrant via story comment
2 September 2010, 19:51pm
Since when is blowing up a whale humane?
JonathanCarden on Explosive end for sick whale via Twitter
2 September 2010, 10:12am
Looks like the treasury has used different assumptions in its modelling than the Coalition. Personally I think the treasury has become a publicly funded left wing think tank, and like the left generally, are more interested in perception management, fairy tales and wishful thinking than fact.
Richard Davis on the billion dollar hole in Coalition costings via Facebook
2 September 2010, 9:13am
The most important thing in any child's life should be LOVE. A parent waking up every day and wanting to be the best parent they can be. A parent wanting to be a parent, knowing they have love to give. All the same sex parents i know are truly wonderful loving parents. Why ? Because they want to be parents. It's not an accident, it comes from a longing to love and to give.
Lu Lu on same-sex adoption via story comment
1 September 2010, 13:34pm
Proof again that Labor will do ANYTHING to stay in power! Its a shame there is not a shorter time limit after an election before a new Government must be announced, this is taking too long.
custard on Gillard on parliamentary reform: rank opportunism via story comment
1 September 2010, 12:45pm
Looks like a sound and constructive set of concessions there. It will go a long way toward improving the nation, and may also help voters in general to understand that the Greens aren't a bunch of hippies trying to get legal pot. It will, unfortunately, make it harder for the three right-wing independents to join Labor though.
Simon Fuller on concessions secured in the Greens' deal with Labor via Facebook
1 September 2010, 9:19am
If history is to be correctly written there should have been independent hearings into why Australia went against UN resolutions and invaded this country. In my opinion the world and Iraq is well rid of Saddam but that does not, in my opinion, excuse Australia, Mr Bush or Mr Howard. They should have been forced to give us a full explanation for their actions.
the yank on how history will judge the Iraq invasion via story comment
1 September 2010, 7:49am
Let's just go back to the polls. The fact that these independents are going to decide the fate of our country's government is just wrong! That's not democratic process. They will be using this to advantage their electorate only and have probably given very little thought to the big picture of what's needed in our country.
Mother of two from Gladstone, Qld on Labor back in front as election lead see-saws via email
31 August 2010, 12:29pm
Parliamentary reform, albeit worthy, is not the main game. Real power is the sort that scuttled both the super profits tax and Kevin Rudd.
Colmery on Senate Clerk's ambitious charter for reform via story comment
31 August 2010, 8:45am
Annoying that the major parties still don't get it. The country doesn't want either of them. They are squabbling over crumbs. We really need to re-think this. Would you be happy with 30% or 40% or your wages, or hire someone who got 30% or 40% on their final exams? I wouldn't, and wouldn't be happy being governed by anyone with this low a score. I have always understood that 50% was a pass and a pretty crap pass at that. What we have here are 2 fails and we have to choose the best of the worst? What a system!
mik on Vote count strips Labor's legitimacy: Bishop via story comment
31 August 2010, 8:35am
The primary vote is irrelevant because many people cast votes for primary candidates for third parties, minor parties and micro parties knowing they'd eventually rank Labor vs Liberal/National lower down the ballot.
However, the two-party preferred vote is also irrelevant as this was 150 separate elections for members of Parliament. If there were a separate direct election for Prime Minister and a different one for individual members of Parliament, similar to the President/Congress system in the USA, it is possible that voters who chose a particular MP they liked, would have chosen a PM candidate from a different political alignment.
For better or for worse, all that matters constitutionally is who can win a vote of 76 seats for confidence and supply in the floor of the House. Those six crossbenchers hold the fate of Australia's government in their hands.
Dan Wentzel on Julie Bishop's assertion that Julia Gillard has lost her mandate to form government via Facebook
30 August 2010, 15:44pm
The big picture of the political and economic consequences of this disaster almost obscure the devastation to each one of the tens of millions of people affected. So many dead, and the living left homeless, starving, and watching their children die from malnutrition and disease. I just can't comprehend the magnitude of this.
cathie on Pakistan and the politics of aid via story comment
30 August 2010, 10:11am
Gotta give Howard credit for this good work.
drnaomi on research that says John Howard's gun buy-back saved 200 lives a year via Twitter
30 August 2010, 9:50am
The election was a dead heat, so any policies from the past are irrelevant, insofar as what will actually be implemented. The independents need this information to help with policy formulation going forward if they are to be able to effectively communicate with all sides of politics.
g on the independents barking up the wrong tree via story comment
27 August 2010, 13:33pm
Let's go back to the polls, I don't want three individuals making a decision that belongs to all of us. I also don't want to see three years of stalemates.
JHZ Newcastle from Adamstown, NSW on the spectre of a new poll via email
27 August 2010, 12:22pm
content providers finding new sources of profit/revenue will continue and this is one such method.
KevinChao89 on Fairfax charging for online news via Twitter
27 August 2010, 7:40am
I would rather eat my own head than go through all that again.
Ken of London on the spectre of a new poll via story comment
3 September 2010, 14:22pm
The fundamental that struck me is; who it is that defines the role of the media in politics. The answer to that seems to me to be tied up in the difference between the terms National interest and Public interest in the ABC editorial policy.
Colmery on The election, quality journalism, and a 21st century ABC via story comment
3 September 2010, 13:38pm
I would buy some today if I could. Probably makes a good curry.
appsii on Aussies urged to eat more camels via Twitter
3 September 2010, 10:56am
My reaction at the forum in Cabollture was exactly the same as Jon Sullivan's and I thought exactly what he thought - what sort of father would leave a child untreated for two years?
Iris Ashton from Kallangur, QLD on the healthcare question posed to Labor candidate Jon Sullivan via email
2 September 2010, 12:10pm
Is it ordinary Australian people that are addicted to opinion polls or the media? I have not asked for any of the opinion polls over the last two weeks and yet here they are almost every day.
Sean on opinion polls via story comment
2 September 2010, 10:13am
Why can't we sell organs to each other instead? More ethical.
RealDavidHeath on going overseas to buy organs illegally via Twitter
1 September 2010, 15:52pm
It's very sad that these animals have been afflicted by this condition, I have seen them on a trip to Tasmania and they are truly unique. I hope a cure is found soon.
Mark on Cancer-related death for Cedric the devil via story comment
1 September 2010, 12:49pm
I dunno how to take this guy. Is it just me, or is this guy really annoying in a cocky, know it all kind of way? Seems to ride the same high horse Ms Gilard does... oh well, at least they aint smuggling budgies... eww!
Rika Moody on Stern, Garnaut are lightweights: Katter via Facebook
1 September 2010, 10:09am
People don't like to hear or think about the idea that the guy they share a beer with every friday or the neighbour who they go to football with may be beating their spouse. It's much easier to create a bogeyman or focus on a visible external aggressor.
Matt from Blackwood on domestic violence via story comment
1 September 2010, 9:15am
Tony Abbott made it a point at the end of the election campaign to go for 36 hours without sleep. What sort of message is that sending out?
Catch22 on sleep deprivation tripling the risk of mental illness via story comment
31 August 2010, 13:40pm
At the end of the day, the goal of any Current Affairs show on commercial television is to get the most people watching the ads in between the stories. So therefore the shows are going to run with the angle that they think is going to get them bums on seats.
Mark Lappin on last night's Current Affair interview with Bert and Patti Newton via story comment
31 August 2010, 12:24pm
Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right. Here I am stuck in the middle with you.
Andrew on which rock lyrics best exemplify the state of Australia today via story comment
31 August 2010, 10:09am
Talk of mandate is rubbish. Both parties only in position to form minority govt.
jim4widebay on Vote count strips Labor's legitimacy: Bishop via Twitter
30 August 2010, 17:59pm
Just recently a 21-year-old young man died in Afghanistan. If we trust these fresh-faced young men to fight and die for the freedoms and ideals we Australians cherish, than we should surely be able to trust another fresh-faced young man to stand up and represent his electorate in Parliament.
Karen from Qld on Wyatt Roy's election to the Federal Parliament via story comment
30 August 2010, 14:34pm
I quite like Bob Katter. He expresses himself idiosyncratically, but the things he says are far from stupid. He represents his constituents well. The urban bourgeoisie may be affronted by a point of view they don't share, but that's due to their prejudice not any fault of Bob Katter. :-)
Chris Watson on Bob Katter's election night verbal punch-up via Facebook
30 August 2010, 9:56am
Never mind the people smugglers, how about we put more effort into stopping the drug smugglers?
Simon Fuller on the findings of one of Australia's biggest organised crime investigations via Facebook
27 August 2010, 13:37pm
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching these election results unfold. As a conservative voter preferring independents and minor parties, I hope, like most Australians, that we are able to form a government where our major parties work together, and are not constantly opposed to one another.
David Thompson from Reedy Creek, Qld on the election results via email
27 August 2010, 12:35pm
We need Senate election terms to match those of the House of Rep's, so people like him don't get to hang around after they've been voted out. He's been nothing but a spoiler during his term, and he's going to be a bigger spoiler now.
Michael Jenkins on Steve Fielding's threat to block supply via Facebook
27 August 2010, 12:15pm
The Abbott vs independents spat has all the characteristics of a well planned charade. Neither Abbott, nor the independents, want to be seen as too eager to jump into bed with each other, so they have to present a picture of tough guys striking hard bargains to show how macho they are. The reality is that Abbott and the independent MPs would be flayed alive by their own supporters if they allowed Gillard to stay in power, but they all want to build up some street cred before signing the inevitable deal.
Richo on Adversarial and aggressive Abbott stumbles via story comment
26 August 2010, 13:51pm
There is a clear message to the pollsters and the media - dump "two party preferred". It is clear that a growing number ov voters do not prefer either party. In many electorates it is now a three horse race.
Mike on the Green tide via story comment
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3 September 2010, 18:53pm
All this could mean [is] that at the next elections everyone votes for independents and then we will end up with what we had at federation, no real party politics. I can imagine the hoopla then.
Klaebs on Political purgatory exposes the ugly election via story comment