MetaFilter posts tagged with Australia and australianpolitics

The Soapbox.

Effigy2000 — Thu, 25 Oct 2007 23:12:06 -0800

The Soapbox is a collection of photographs, texts of speeches, transcripts of debates and political ads from Australian election campaigns (both State and Federal) from 1901 to the present day. More materials will be added when they become available.

Australian Federal Election 2007 on November 24

Effigy2000 — Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:48:36 -0800

And we're off! Prime Minister John Howard has set the date for the Australian Federal election as November 24th, meaning we're up for a long six-week campaign. With Kevin Rudd leading the PM by between 16 to 18 points (depending on who you read) in recent opinion polls, this election seems the most likely to provide a change of Government since Howard was first elected 11 years ago. Antony Green's usual excellent election guide is up and running here, along with an excellent calculator which shows which seats are up for grabs dependent on a 2 party preferred swing. You might also want to check out the Vote-O-Matic, a fun but entirely disposable quiz which aims to help you decide who you'll vote for. Metafilter's international readers unfamiliar with the Australian political scene will likely be scratching their heads when trying to figure out just what the hell is going on over here, but this page offers a useful guide as a starting point. It can be handy to read over whether you're from outside Australia or a true blue Aussie yourself. Some other excellent Australian election resources include; Links to some of the contenders web pages; Australian Labor Party (plus the Kevin07 website). Liberal Party The Nationals Greens Australian Democrats Pauline Hanson's United Australia Party And here's some links to some excellent blogs which will no doubt continue to annoy the mainstream media throughout the campaign. Oz Politics Poll Bludger Possum Comitatus The Road to Surfdom Larvatus Prodeo Tim Dunlop's Blogocracy Mind you, the following two blogs are by mainstream media pundits, and right wing columnists Piers Ackerman and Andrew Bolt. Piers Ackerman's Blog Andrew Bolt's blog. And finally, Google's election guide, seen previously on Metafilter. The next six weeks are going to be long, grueling and if the experts are to be believed, incredibly negative. Strap yourselves in, folks. It's going to be one hell of a ride.

Poo Bum Dicky Wee Wee!

Effigy2000 — Thu, 23 Aug 2007 18:51:44 -0800

People vandalising Wikipedia is hardly a new thing but now even the office of the Australian Prime Minister, John Howard, is getting into the act. Website Wiki-Scanner (previously) has traced several edits to Wikipedia articles by the Prime Ministers staff, according to Australian newspaper The Courier Mail. And they aren't confined solely to the Wikipedia entry on the PM himself; there was even an act of vandalism on a martial-arts related entry, in which one of Howard's ministerial staffers wrote, “Poo bum dicky wee wee” on the page. Not good news on the eve of a federal election that the PM is largely expected to lose. Meanwhile, 'new media' is being put to good use at Opposition leader Kevin Rudd's website, Kevin07, where a recent blog entry compiles Youtube's 'best' political videos. Hours of fun for the whole family!

John Howard in 'Cabinet: The Movie.'

Effigy2000 — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 04:06:52 -0800

Cabinet: The Movie. Starring Australian PM John Howard and a bunch of chickens. [more inside]

The Political Power and the Passion (or Back Benches Are Burning)

wendell — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 19:59:14 -0800

AustralianPoliticsFilter: Congressman John "Orleans" Hall has nothing on Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett, who quit singing political rock to start rocking politics, was elected to the Aussie Parliament in '04 and has now been named the Labor Party's "Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Reconciliation and the Arts" (whew, what a title). But it's not all "Blue Sky (His)": he's been attacked by a former environmental activist ally in the Green Party and mimicked by Treasurer Peter (no relation to Elvis) Costello. At least he's healthy, unlike some Australian singers (or singers in Australia).