5 - # of Straya threads or # of times Melbourne has been crowned world's best city

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Ahahaha it seems the feds really fucked this one up. The Victorian police minister just released this statement, per the Guardian live blog: Chaos in Melbourne as Australian Border Force cancels visa crackdown after protests – live | Australia news | The Guardian

The state government was notified this month that Victoria police would lead a joint-agency operation this weekend in the CBD aimed at keeping Victorians safe.

We were advised it would target antisocial behaviour and commuters to ensure people got home safely. The community’s safety and wellbeing is always the government’s priority.

Operation Fortitude was intended to be a standard police operation.

We fully support the decision by Victoria police to cancel the operation after the unfortunate and inappropriate characterisation by the Australian Border Force today.
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Next time, they'll probably lay the groundwork more carefully. We'll be hearing plenty more from the 'Australian Border Force'.
 
Incidentally, us here may see this as obviously farcical, but I can tell you that at least half the callers and texters into 'Hack' on the notoriously left leaning :rolleyes: ABC triple j voiced support for the planned operation. At least half, probably more.

Nope, we'll be hearing more from the boys in black. And they won't be taking any lip next time.
 
Really? I suppose I live in an Age/Guardian cocoon, but I've seen and heard nothing but unbridled derision.
 
There's plenty of 'well we all get stopped all the time anyway, right?' and 'border police need to be proactive' and 'if you're not a criminal you've got nothing to fear' comment too. Often from quite young-sounding folk.
 
I love the "if you're not a criminal you have nothing to fear" line because (apart from its general inanity and naivety) you really do if they're going to hassle people at random in the streets. Do you carry your passport on you at all times? Didn't think so.
 
Anyone who doesn't carry their LNP party card on them at all times has only themselves to blame. Anyone who doesn't wave the wattle on command shall be liquidated. We have enemies without and within, and we must purge them!
 
Tonight's Q&A was great, although it was so obvious they brought on a generic neocon in Switzer (he was ridiculously out of touch) to try to avoid more accusations of being biased towards the left.
 
Oh balls, I forgot it was Monday and missed Media Watch.

I'm not watching that video, but let me guess, Franga line?
 
This was so fucking refreshing to watch. I vote Greens, although I don't think they are perfect in any way. I am also always far more willing to play devil's advocate and go "well yeah Bolt raised this point what do you think" than many of my fellow lefties. I really, really like Richard Di Natale, he doesn't back down but he's also measured, he's willing to be conciliatory and indulge in give-and-take rather than just shout down or not show up or be condescending, which makes so many on the left look bad and lessens the room for genuine good debate. This is really good, and it's nice to see Bolt sweating for a change. And the very end of it - "I thank you very much for coming on" "any time" - makes me really hopeful that we'll see more of this and we might actually see some actual good debate for fucking once.

 
Bolt is an entertainer in the Rush Limbaugh mold. Good luck with that. It's what he says when Richard isn't in the room that counts.
 
For me, it's

a. moderately amusing to watch
b. of little real consequence. This government must be buried, whoever its nominal head.

It will be interesting to see what a post-Downfall Abbott might get up to though. He doesn't strike me as a company man.
 
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Oh man here we go.

I'm barracking for Abbott to survive a spill by the narrowest of margins. His leadership will look pitifully fragile, speculation will continue, and the Libs will lurch to the election in the poorest shape possible.

On the other hand, if Turnbull does win now, at least there will be heaps of time before the election for people to wake the fuck up and realise that just because he supports marriage equality and wears leather jackets doesn't mean his economic policies are any less reprehensible than the rest of his colleagues.
 
Social media is the best on days like this.

Kieran McConville said:
For me, it's

a. moderately amusing to watch
b. of little real consequence. This government must be buried, whoever its nominal head.

It will be interesting to see what a post-Downfall Abbott might get up to though. He doesn't strike me as a company man.
Click to expand...

Moderately amusing? This is the most fun I've had in days. Turnbull's speech was phenomenal. Just spent five minutes burning Abbott with a flamethrower, it was fucking great.

Also I think it's of huge consequence. Turnbull wins over disillusioned ALP voters as well as flaky Greens voters who only care about same-sex marriage and the environment. Maybe that gets evened out by losing the hardline conservatives, but a Turnbull-led Lib govt would be hugely different, in terms of presentation, but...

Axver said:
On the other hand, if Turnbull does win now, at least there will be heaps of time before the election for people to wake the fuck up and realise that just because he supports marriage equality and wears leather jackets doesn't mean his economic policies are any less reprehensible than the rest of his colleagues.
Click to expand...

Yes. And on top of this, he's already announced that he'll hold the party line on same-sex marriage and climate change, so people should realise that pretty fucking quickly.
 
cobl04 said:
Social media is the best on days like this.



Moderately amusing? This is the most fun I've had in days. Turnbull's speech was phenomenal. Just spent five minutes burning Abbott with a flamethrower, it was fucking great.

Also I think it's of huge consequence. Turnbull wins over disillusioned ALP voters as well as flaky Greens voters who only care about same-sex marriage and the environment. Maybe that gets evened out by losing the hardline conservatives, but a Turnbull-led Lib govt would be hugely different, in terms of presentation, but...
Click to expand...

A Turnbull leadership potentially breathes second-term life into this government, and for me that is extremely bad news, as I consider this an evil, economically hopeless government regardless of who sits at its head. The socially retrograde stuff isn't even the beginning of what I find wrong with this hopeless, hopeless outfit that is doubling down on the last fumes of the Thatcher/Reagan revolution. They're huffing from the exhaust pipe. Labor isn't much better, but they are a little better.
 
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My ideal outcome at the next federal election would be another minority Labor government with Tony Windsor and a few Greens holding the whip hand.
 
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