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2003-02-04 Home Front

Australia’s Weasel Opposition: Simon Crean undermines US ally

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Posted by Anonymous 2003-02-04 04:20 am|| || Front Page|| [1 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 In a parliamentary system,the no-confidence motion has meaning only when the ruling party or coalition is breaking apart and a new goverment needs to be formed.It's not like the Congress in the USA voting on an issue because members of the ruling party would,in this case,be voting themselves out of power.In other words,Mr. Bean,I mean Crean, is just making a gesture of opposition.

Posted by El Id 2003-02-04 06:10:41|| 2003-02-04 06:10:41|| Front Page Top

#2 Simon Crean? Not to be disrespectful of our Australian allies, but the name brings to mind Uriah Heep...

Posted by Fred 2003-02-04 10:03:23|| 2003-02-04 10:03:23|| Front Page Top

#3 El Id, the article says Crean is the Leader of the Opposition. If he believes he can bring down the government, run on the issue, and make gains in the next election, he will. This is more than a gesture - if his reading of the public is correct, it could represent a chance to take power himself.

Of course, if Crean succeeded in the middle of the fight, the consequences for Australia would be dramatic and severe. Basically, he'd be the newest inductee of the Gerhard Schroder club.

Posted by Joe Katzman 2003-02-04 11:20:31|| [www.windsofchange.net] 2003-02-04 11:20:31|| Front Page Top

#4 Well, I'm not an expert on this, but if I recall correctly, Australia doesn't have a coalition---the Liberal Party (Howard's party) has an outright majority. If Crean can get a number of Liberals to vote with him, he can force a new election, but if not he's just blowing smoke.

This article

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2003/02/04/1044318595263.html

says that Australians are the most pro-war of all countries surveyed, including the US. That's only with UN approval, though.

Bring back Kim Beazly!

The Sydney Morning Herald is like a Guardian produced by teenagers.

(Still can't work those links. Your Link button doesn't work for me, and putting them in by hand sticks a "http://rantburg.com" in front, rendering the link useless.)

Posted by Angie Schultz 2003-02-04 13:32:32|| [darkblogules.blogspot.com] 2003-02-04 13:32:32|| Front Page Top

#5 I'm still trying to coax the Javascript into speaking Netscape. It works on IE...

Posted by Fred 2003-02-04 14:07:37|| 2003-02-04 14:07:37|| Front Page Top

#6 Australia is ruled by a coalition of the Liberal Party and the Nationals which is a small conservative rural based party that has no say in pretty much anything of importance in Australia.

Posted by Paul 2003-02-04 21:48:26|| 2003-02-04 21:48:26|| Front Page Top

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