On the Home Front

Labours three-mine policy. If ever a Labour politician personified what is wrong with the ALP it has to be Martin Ferguson. In a small article in todays Australian Kevin Foley, South Australia’s Labour Treasurer calls on the ALP to scrap their ‘idiotic’ three-mines policy and Martin counters that the ALP’s three-mine policy is not a three-mine policy. See if you can work this out. He says;

Contrary to what some people think, Labour does not have a three-mines policy. The policy of the Labour Party is that whatever mines are in operation at a time at which a Labour government is elected will remain in operation. At the moment there are three mines.

He then clears up any confusion by finishing his three-mine policy statement with this; The only other barrier I see (to importing uranium to China) is an absolute shortage of tradesmen in Australia. All clear? Good No joy for ALP as Coalition widens gap In a totally unconnected article (maybe) Newspoll has news for Labour and it’s all bad.

Labor is failing to gain any traction with voters. The ALP’s primary vote has softened to just 36 per cent, lower than it recorded at the October 9 election. But the Coalition’s primary vote is at a commanding 47per cent, delivering a two-party-preferred vote of 54 per cent, according to the latest Newspoll, conducted exclusively for The Australian.

It appears the voters may be nervous about interest rates but are not showing any signs of blaming the Coalition. All Beazley’s lies about how Howard lied is simply not believable. The voters know that Howard never said interest rates wouldn’t rise under the Coalition as Beazley and Swan repeatedly asserted. He only said they would be lower under a Coalition government and people do believe that. Paternity no longer in doubt I have to feel sorry for Tony Abbott with his recent roller-coaster paternity issues. He had a son, and now he doesn’t. DNA says so.

But the rights and wrongs of Mr Abbott, as a young man, giving up a child he believed was his own for adoption now takes on a different texture in the reality that the child was never his. His personal tragedy becomes even more charged.

Some years ago a girl fell pregnant at my wife’s work place. She was having an affair at the time with a co-worker who was more than happy to pay maintenance even though the relationship had subsequently faltered. The guys mother insisted on a DNA test and everyone was staggered when it came back negative. Advice to the young. Check it out – DNA testing only cost $600 which could be a whole lot less that years of maintenance. Oh, and always listen to your Mum.