it is sad to see the elected "leaders" spending so much time raining down the hate on the other side and having little time left to running australia efficiently and for the benefit of all.

applying some sound business principles (and less face it running the federal government is equivalent to running 100 bhp's) i have come up with a few suggestions to get them co operating, at least a little, for the benefit of all.

here are the proposals

1  hostility is often  born of ignorance and unfamiliarity so at the start of each parliament. all memebers will be divided into teams (biggest loser style)  a red team and a  blue team with mixtures of members randomly assigned. they will then have to do a variety of challenges (the usual stuff like building a creek crossing, carrying a log up a hill) pitch camps and sleep liberal and labour together in tents and sit around the campfire and tell each other stories.


2  all members of parliament will be expected to car pool and travel to work , liberal and labour together.
if they have kids to drop off at canberra schools, they will be expected to pick up kids from opposing sides homes and take them as well. its hard to dislike a kid and this should cause some inter family bonding.

3  on birthdays of members, the other side will be expected to make a cake and then the men from both sides will stand around the barbie and cook whilst the women from both sides will prepare the salads.

4  on friday afternoons, in the interest of sportsmanship and team bonding members will play in mixed teams a game of touch football or a similar sport.


and so on with quite a lot of ideas.

if adopted i think this could have a very positive effect on the running of the country and , hopefully reduce the hatred and vitriol

cheers

The politicians are not half as angry and incensed as we are over their political thuggery... :) :)

The art of debate in politics has been lost.

Forget what the voters want, it is so much easier to sling mud at each other.

Most people don't like politicians any more because they've lost their way.
...........................................................

Dissing wisdom of the Abbott


The rector of Sydney's most high profile Catholic boys' school has gone into print criticising Old Boy Tony Abbott over his attitude to refugees.

In a piece in the latest St Ignatius (Riverview) newsletter, Father Ross Jones, SJ slammed Abbott for saying he would tow illegal boats back into Indonesian waters.

''He would then steal the bulk of their fuel, to ensure they stayed there. How demeaning a mission for this nation's navy. The navy is called the senior service. Some service. When challenged on talkback radio recently that this was un-Christian, Mr Abbott simply retorted that he didn't think it was a very Christian thing for asylum seekers to come in by the back door and not the front door.''

Commenting on the recent parliamentary debate on refugee policy, Father Jones said that the arguments were ''mean-spirited … lamentable … and lacking in moral fibre.''

Riverview is run by the Jesuits, who are unafraid of a good stoush. After the 2010 election campaign, principal Shane Hogan wrote that neither Abbott nor Julia Gillard had showed Ignatian leadership, adding that the art of debate was ''not to condemn your opponent but to point out why your arguments were more credible''.

Several parents rang up threatening to cancel their cheques.

http://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/private-sydney/kidmans-urban-renewal-20120803-23l6b.html#ixzz22oWEu81e

When I was a wee boy, if we got caught saying something mean about someone, we'd have to say 2 nice things about them in front of the whole class.  Make the pollies do that too - and televise it. 

... wrote on Aug 6^th, 2012 at 5:16pm:

When I was a wee boy, if we got caught saying something mean about someone, we'd have to say 2 nice things about them in front of the whole class.  Make the pollies do that too - and televise it.

:) :)  great idea

i think their behaviour has got a lot worse since they started televising it.

I would like to see less ad hominems in Parliament. I think ad hominems like "the Labor Party has a poor track record because of its mismanagement of X and Y" don't help the political debates. Both parties are just as human and can be just as stupid as the other. Each is equally likely to make mistakes. Policies, not parties should be the subject of debate.

Failure to implement important policies or financial blunders should be investigated by an independent organisation. It should not be the job of the Opposition to point out policy blunders without a proper investigation having taken place. A lot of the two major parties' criticisms of the other are unproven. There should be an independent organisation to investigate the claims they make in Parliament and any misconduct by the governing party(ies).

We need to deter the kind of sociopath political thugs who are getting in to parliament and the only way we can do that is to kill the payoff for them by making the cost of their activities too great through our resistance and legal action...

Mnemonic wrote on Aug 6^th, 2012 at 8:07pm:

I would like to see less ad hominems in Parliament. I think ad hominems like "the Labor Party has a poor track record because of its mismanagement of X and Y" don't help the political debates. Both parties are just as human and can be just as stupid as the other. Each is equally likely to make mistakes. Policies, not parties should be the subject of debate. Failure to implement important policies or financial blunders should be investigated by an independent organisation. It should not be the job of the Opposition to point out policy blunders without a proper investigation having taken place. A lot of the two major parties' criticisms of the other are unproven. There should be an independent organisation to investigate the claims they make in Parliament and any misconduct by the governing party(ies).

auditors?
charter of budget honesty?

seems most people like the current system then, how sad,  very inefficient, whole country will slowly go down the toilet whilst countries with a sense of national unity will eat you guys.

i see in south korea when the country was in trouble,(asian financial crisis) 100,000 families donated all their jewelry to be melted down to help the government get the country back on track,  now they re ahead of us.

big taxing, big spending bad ideas governments like both sides currently will have us another greece,  the greece of asia when the mineral boom runs out.

wonder how much the australian people with a lifetime of selfish leadership will get behind a recovery.  or will they just throw molotov cocktails like the greeks and spanish. ;) ;)

best of luck with your adversarial politics.  cant see it working for your kids though. 

Shut down the bar at parliament.

Replace it with a boxing ring.

... wrote on Aug 7^th, 2012 at 10:00am:

Shut down the bar at parliament. Replace it with a boxing ring.

You seem to be suggesting that Parliament is a man's world. But there's plenty of women in it.

Angry?

They're not angry

It's all a pantomime

Tell me you already knew that, please

Mnemonic wrote on Aug 7^th, 2012 at 9:03pm:

... wrote on Aug 7th, 2012 at 10:00am: Shut down the bar at parliament. Replace it with a boxing ring. You seem to be suggesting that Parliament is a man's world. But there's plenty of women in it.

You seem to be suggesting that women don't drink, nor box.

Dass sexisssss

PZ547 wrote on Aug 7^th, 2012 at 9:07pm:

Angry? They're not angry It's all a pantomime Tell me you already knew that, please

Very true, the politicians just treat us voters as fools.
Its all a charade.
Haven't we all seen how uniform they act when the Remuneration Tribunal suggest a wage rise for politicians.
Soon they will get Royalty titles, because their incomes are close to Royalty.

But I thought you all said that a minority government would bea wonderful thing? Were you wrong?

aquascoot wrote on Aug 6^th, 2012 at 4:16pm:

it is sad to see the elected "leaders" spending so much time raining down the hate on the other side and having little time left to running australia efficiently and for the benefit of all.

Actually gillard hardly ever "rains down hate" on abbott. She only mentions him when she is asked a direct question that concerns him.

SOB

Quote:

will eat you guys.

Quote:

cant see it working for your kids though.

Where are you that you can look down on us?

SOB

Mnemonic wrote on Aug 7^th, 2012 at 9:03pm:

... wrote on Aug 7th, 2012 at 10:00am: Shut down the bar at parliament. Replace it with a boxing ring. You seem to be suggesting that Parliament is a man's world. But there's plenty of women in it.

You seem to be suggesting that women dont box

SOB

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 9:18am:

aquascoot wrote on Aug 6th, 2012 at 4:16pm: it is sad to see the elected "leaders" spending so much time raining down the hate on the other side and having little time left to running australia efficiently and for the benefit of all. Actually gillard hardly ever "rains down hate" on abbott. She only mentions him when she is asked a direct question that concerns him. SOB

Her office organised a literal riot against him - only to be caught in it herself. Gillard spews invective against him every time she opens her mouth. and your last sentence is flat-out wrong. She mentions Abbott everytime she opens her mouth. It is perhaps her worst attribute that she gives Abbott far more air play than the media do.

gold_medal wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 9:37am:

Sir Spot of Borg wrote on Aug 8th, 2012 at 9:18am: aquascoot wrote on Aug 6th, 2012 at 4:16pm: it is sad to see the elected "leaders" spending so much time raining down the hate on the other side and having little time left to running australia efficiently and for the benefit of all. Actually gillard hardly ever "rains down hate" on abbott. She only mentions him when she is asked a direct question that concerns him. SOB Her office organised a literal riot against him - only to be caught in it herself. Gillard spews invective against him every time she opens her mouth. and your last sentence is flat-out wrong. She mentions Abbott everytime she opens her mouth. It is perhaps her worst attribute that she gives Abbott far more air play than the media do.

Hahahhaha. Can i have some of what you are on?

SOB

Sue their freaking 'rses off...

aquascoot wrote on Aug 6^th, 2012 at 4:16pm:

it is sad to see the elected "leaders" spending so much time raining down the hate on the other side and having little time left to running australia efficiently and for the benefit of all. applying some sound business principles (and less face it running the federal government is equivalent to running 100 bhp's) i have come up with a few suggestions to get them co operating, at least a little, for the benefit of all. here are the proposals 1  hostility is often  born of ignorance and unfamiliarity so at the start of each parliament. all memebers will be divided into teams (biggest loser style)  a red team and a  blue team with mixtures of members randomly assigned. they will then have to do a variety of challenges (the usual stuff like building a creek crossing, carrying a log up a hill) pitch camps and sleep liberal and labour together in tents and sit around the campfire and tell each other stories. 2  all members of parliament will be expected to car pool and travel to work , liberal and labour together. if they have kids to drop off at canberra schools, they will be expected to pick up kids from opposing sides homes and take them as well. its hard to dislike a kid and this should cause some inter family bonding. 3  on birthdays of members, the other side will be expected to make a cake and then the men from both sides will stand around the barbie and cook whilst the women from both sides will prepare the salads. 4  on friday afternoons, in the interest of sportsmanship and team bonding members will play in mixed teams a game of touch football or a similar sport. and so on with quite a lot of ideas. if adopted i think this could have a very positive effect on the running of the country and , hopefully reduce the hatred and vitriol cheers

they are good ideas scoot.

Is the speaker of the house mean to keep the discussions on track?
He should be trained in fallacies and crack down on those.

Sprintcyclist wrote on Aug 8^th, 2012 at 10:42am:

aquascoot wrote on Aug 6th, 2012 at 4:16pm: it is sad to see the elected "leaders" spending so much time raining down the hate on the other side and having little time left to running australia efficiently and for the benefit of all. applying some sound business principles (and less face it running the federal government is equivalent to running 100 bhp's) i have come up with a few suggestions to get them co operating, at least a little, for the benefit of all. here are the proposals 1  hostility is often  born of ignorance and unfamiliarity so at the start of each parliament. all memebers will be divided into teams (biggest loser style)  a red team and a  blue team with mixtures of members randomly assigned. they will then have to do a variety of challenges (the usual stuff like building a creek crossing, carrying a log up a hill) pitch camps and sleep liberal and labour together in tents and sit around the campfire and tell each other stories. 2  all members of parliament will be expected to car pool and travel to work , liberal and labour together. if they have kids to drop off at canberra schools, they will be expected to pick up kids from opposing sides homes and take them as well. its hard to dislike a kid and this should cause some inter family bonding. 3  on birthdays of members, the other side will be expected to make a cake and then the men from both sides will stand around the barbie and cook whilst the women from both sides will prepare the salads. 4  on friday afternoons, in the interest of sportsmanship and team bonding members will play in mixed teams a game of touch football or a similar sport. and so on with quite a lot of ideas. if adopted i think this could have a very positive effect on the running of the country and , hopefully reduce the hatred and vitriol cheers they are good ideas scoot. Is the speaker of the house mean to keep the discussions on track? He should be trained in fallacies and crack down on those.

thanks sprint cyclist   
though he always seems to be going off to fetch lunch for the members
all i ever hear him yell is
order order :)

congrats to anna meeres too by the way