Rudd weighs options for election date

Monday, July 08, 2013 » 01:59pm

Political analysts believe Prime Minister Kevin Rudd risks losing the honeymoon effect if he delays the election date to October.

He has already said the election date would not be a significant shift away from September 14, the date nominated by his predecessor Julia Gillard.

A source close to Mr Rudd says he has not yet settled on a date and is expected to discuss it with his cabinet on Monday.

The source says a longer timeframe could allow the government to make more policy adjustments.

But political academic Nick Economou, from Monash University, says an August election would allow Mr Rudd to 'flush out' Tony Abbott.

'If he goes now he would be rewarded as the man who got rid of Gillard and the longer he allows time to lapse then people are going to lose that enthusiasm,' he said.

Mr Rudd also faces the potential problem of his ministers starting to argue over policy and budget settings, the academic said.

He said Mr Rudd had seriously erred in 2008-09 by not calling a double-dissolution election over the carbon pollution reduction scheme.

'Previous form shows he is not good at calling elections and he may well stuff it up again,' Dr Economou told AAP.

University of Queensland's Dr Ian Ward said Mr Rudd was still in a 'honeymoon' phase, but would start to take some damage as the coalition rolled out its advertising campaign.

'When people start seeing that on their television screens before the election it may well remind them of what Rudd was like,' he said.

'He is going to wear some of the blame for not stopping the boats, the insulation scandal and so on.'

Australian Greens leader Christine Milne said Mr Rudd should announce an election as soon as possible.

'There are a lot of hypotheticals going on at the moment and no doubt Kevin Rudd is trying to play with the minds of the community,' Senator Milne told Sky News.

She said the recall of parliament should only go ahead if Mr Rudd planned to overhaul the federal budget.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott told reporters in Sydney it was time for Mr Rudd to decide whether he was 'governing or campaigning'.

'If he is campaigning, name the date, end the suspense, tell us when the election will be and then there will be a program of election debates,' Mr Abbott said.

Queensland University of Technology political academic Clive Bean said a late September or October poll appeared to be a more realistic option for Labor.

He said Mr Rudd and other ministers needed to get on top of their portfolios, develop a strategy and hope that some cracks begin to appear in Mr Abbott's team.

'Then there's the experience of 2010 when Gillard took over and most would say it was a misjudgment to go as early as she did,' he said.

'Weighing those things up it's probably more likely they will go later.'

Nov 16

I think he'll want to change it just so as it's not HER date.
Sept 21

It won't be in August. He needs at least 4 weeks for a campaign, and the regional discussions won't develop a policy until at least first week of August, after the talks have been held.  In fact, i'd say the longer they think about asylum seekers, the longer it will be before we have an election.

Do I get a prize?

Gee --- and to think there are still those who believe elections are supposed to be of the people, by the people, for the people, huh ?


Someone should tell them elections are actually a media rape-fest

devoted to dumbed-down sheeple being encouraged to engage in 'cele britty '


Because elections must be like Christmas and birthdays, huh?

When all your dreams come true

And tomorrow never comes


Just one big celebration

A party !

Idiots hunched before their plasmas, watching Antony Green fiddle with his graphs

Wow .... just like footie

only different !


And then what .................. ?


Then what ?

Quote:

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus says September 21 should be an option for the federal election despite it coinciding with the AFL preliminary final. News Limited papers say Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is considering three dates for the election: August 31, September 21 and October 19. The Saturday in September, which is also Mr Rudd's birthday, is said to be emerging as a favourite. Mr Dreyfus says preliminary finals are important but not nearly as important as the AFL grand final on September 28. 'I don't think you'll find a federal election being held on either the AFL grand final day or the NRL grand final day,' he told ABC radio on Wednesday. 'But other days I think have to be available.' Fairfax papers say busy sporting and international summit schedules mean November 16 is the most likely election date. Mr Rudd was tight-lipped when asked on Darwin radio about the fresh election date speculation. 'The timing of the election is defined by the Australian constitution,' he told the ABC. 'Mr Abbott can jump up and down as much as he likes. 'The laws of the country determine when these things are held, not the convenience or inconvenience of the leader of the opposition.' Health Minister Tanya Plibersek said it was 'absolutely standard' for Mr Rudd to announce the election date at his own pace. 'We've actually never had a situation where the election date was named as far out in advance as Julia Gillard did when she was prime minister,' she told reporters in Sydney. 'It's absolutely standard that a prime minister should take some time, think about it, make a decision when he's ready and announce it when he's ready.'

http://bigpondnews.com/articles/TopStories/2013/07/10/Sept_21_should_be_election_option_886640.html?cid=ZBP_NEWS_L_L1-1_Sept21shouldbeelectionoption_RSS_090713

PZ547 wrote on Jul 10^th, 2013 at 10:05am:

Gee --- and to think there are still those who believe elections are supposed to be of the people, by the people, for the people, huh ? Someone should tell them elections are actually a media rape-fest devoted to dumbed-down sheeple being encouraged to engage in 'cele britty ' Because elections must be like Christmas and birthdays, huh? When all your dreams come true And tomorrow never comes Just one big celebration A party ! Idiots hunched before their plasmas, watching Antony Green fiddle with his graphs Wow .... just like footie only different ! And then what .................. ? Then what ?

And when I picked 21/9 I didn't even know it was his birthday.

Im gonna suggest he will announce the election date tomorrow at the press conference/debate that Abbott wont be showing up to.