OOOOH!

[blamebrampton]

Back in the days when there were huge budgets, newspapers used to send one journo to the actual political event of the day, and another to the nearest pub, or public lavatory, where they would be very likely to hear the real goss (or pick up a good side story on cottaging).

Sydney airport, five minutes ago, a dignified man who I recognise as a senior Australian Liberal Party figure (not sitting pollie) , and will probably recall his name by the end of the day, stands near me speaking into his phone. I can hear only his side of the conversation: 

'Joe Hockey?!

'Yeah, look he's fine, sure … but as leader?

'Yeah … nah …

'Look, let's just wait till six o'clock before we make any decisions.'

Six is when the polls close, and the blood starts flowing on one side or the other! Oh Aussie politics, stability is just one of your themes, is it? Off to Brissy, the Valentino exhibition, and then in front of the telly for the evening, given there is no colosseum big enough to fit the voters waiting for these blood sports ...

Comments

[17catherines.livejournal.com]

Surely you can't be implying that the Liberal Party, after all their comments about Gillard backstabbing Rudd, would then stab their own party leader in the back? Really, this would be outright hypocrisy from our politicians, which, as we all know, is absolutely unthinkable...

[quatrefoil.livejournal.com]

Well, no, actually. It's part of the Liberals constitution that they have a leadership spill when they lose an election. Labor doesn't have such a policy.

[17catherines.livejournal.com]

Really? I didn't know that - how interesting (and both honest and ruthless)! I thought both parties did this after elections. And sometimes between elections...

[quatrefoil.livejournal.com]

Labor does it in practice quite a lot of the time, but it's not mandatory and it's more likely to be a coup than a spill.