Yep, it’s official. The man of steel has been flogged by a girl from the ABC. The ex-prime minister’s personal defeat so teems with symbolism that it belongs in a novel, or no doubt several instant history books, and one day a movie. Fancy Bennelong being created in 1949, the year of the great conservative victory by Bob Menzies! The seat hasn’t been out of Liberal hands since, until now. The forgotten people have finally forgotten, or something, which feels like squaring for Ben Chifley and Jack Curtin, and the end of the Liberal Party of Australia. Maxine McKew has plunged the stake through the dark heart, as Paul Keating would say. And dig this fact, according to Max, “the primary vote at the 2004 election was around 28 per cent, our primary vote this time was around 44 to 45 per cent.” That’s a primary swing of 60 per cent, an almighty rush to help this courageous woman remove John Howard’s head from the lists. This week, she will join the first Labor ministry to accept commissions since Keating’s government in 1993. Maxine, you’re a bloody legend. Ask. It’s yours.
Club Troppo
Fearlessly dispensing political, legal and economic analysis (and some whimsy) since 2002
Gracious of Maxine to put him out of his misery yesterday, in what must have been the longest week for a politician.
We now have a Tweedledee and Tweedledum of Australian politics.
Instead of Stanley Bruce hanging out there on his ownsome, only to ting a quiet bell for the odd historian from long time to time and loom spectre-like to ring loudly into the ears of the very few (PM’s since) come elections, he now has a buddy.
dig this: bennelong is virtually a new seat thanks to the redistribution, that explains the massive change in voting patterns.
it had nothing to do with maxq but everything to do with the electoral commissioner who was involved in a massive conspiracy to defeat the howard government.
notice how all the boundary changes always seem to favour labour…
keating would have said this…howard losing his seat was all his doing just like everything good that happens to the economy, but the bad stuff you can blame on howard.
Keating said of Howard losing his seat:
There is a God (I knew that, but here is pudding proof for the doubting Thomases). And life most certainly is stranger than fiction. Who could have concocted such a twist to end this apocryphal tale? Maxine worked Bennelong tirelessly. At their Granny Smith festival, she looked like she was having a lot of fun doing it. She fully deserved to win this seat, no matter who from.
I overheard a woman in a cafe who said its just wrong (that he should lose his seat). She was also it seems a climate change sceptic, (she’d been looking into it) shorter version, she was a twit. Other commentators, more esteemed, said they thought deserved to keep it. Why FFS?
With Rudd making clandestine visits to homeless people shelters, and Maxine knowing and clearly touched, by just about every one of her constituents personally, this government is clearly going to be completely different from the mean tricky, dark, days of the John Howard years.
Massive conspiracy to unseat the Howard government? You betcha buddy.
caroline baby, who do you think you are calling other folk ‘twits’ just cause they have a different opinion??
you sound like one of these stuck up, snooty nosed elitists who think they have a birth right to rule the world simple because they live in trendy inner suburbs, drive latte and munch on quiche.
and furthermore sweetheart, if you want to engage in intelligent debate please dont regurgitate mindless party political pap otherwise you lose all credibility.
Is there any reason why Howard has not conceded the seat and congratulated his opponent? His concession to Rudd was gracious (in contrast to elements of the crowd). But he has refused even to say Maxine McKew’s name. Is this the difference between governing “for all of us” and “for all Australians”?
Maxine’s effort will go down in history as one of the gutsiest, ever. It was doable, like the resurrection of Chrysler by Lee Iacocca, but only just. I read somewhere she personally knocked on 15,000? doors–that’s dedication, but oh what a worthy cause in eliminating a latter day purveyor of political bubonic plague.
Helping run an honest accountable government will be a breeze compared to pushing Howard’s incumbency up and over the Stanley Bruce cliff-face into the political oblivion beyond.
Maxine, you’re tops.
(Maybe Chris you should do a Shorter Hendo illogical analysis of this cataclysmic event?)
John Howard was a big girl’s blouse not to do the honourable thing and concede defeat days ago.
Good on ya, Maxine!
And the commercial opportunities are there for the taking. (I must call my patent attorney and the ABC’s “Inventors” immediately)
“Maxine” brand “Rat Expello”
The focus here is on Maxine winning. What does this grinning dummy stand for?
I’ve been listening since she announced her candidature and still can’t discern anything other than an ear-to-ear grin and generalities about what a good bloke Kevin is?
Maxine is (at best) a political joke.
I can’t credit the 15,000 doors knocked. You get chatting when you doorknock. That’s kind of the point of it isn’t it. How many doors can you knock in an hour. It’s not leafleting you know.
Yes Harry, I also think they voted against what she doesn’t stand for – overreach. Kicking corpses (union thugs, political correctness, etc) ain’t a good look.
But I don’t get how a political unknown (apart from the questioning and presentation skills amply demonstrated in her previous career) can be said to be “(at best) a political joke”. Let’s await the taste test.
Alphonse, People who vote for a grin and jolly, stupidity deserve what they get. Politics should not be a pure beauty contest. Yeah I think it is crazy that someone with over 30 years in politics and immense knowledge could be displaced by a positionless nonenity whose main virtue was understanding that if she opened her mouth that her stupidity would be as obvious as that of Nicole Cornes.
But there were other choices in Bennelong if you didn’t want Howard or McKew.
I think it is fantastic that Maxine won, but she better pay very close attention to her claim “the voters of Bennelong will never be taken for granted again.” Howard’s Battlers have become the real force in Australian politics. They have transcended being rusted onto any political party and will show no loyalty.
Shorter Harry: Democracy is crazy for not re-electing those whom I consider exemplars.
Her position, even if comatose and redolent of a two toed sloth for the next 3 years could be easily forgiven. She rid us of a festering pustule on Australia’s body politic and for that, many, including myself are extremely grateful.
Herr Howard ist kaput Harry. Deal with it.
The only comfort I get from knowing that there are people like you out there is from wondering how long it will take you to be deeply disappointed by Rudd.
Patrick, I take great comfort in knowing that the probability of Rudd becoming anywhere near as bad a PM as Howard is so low that it can be immediately dismissed.
(I’ll refrain from derailing the thread to list Howard’s serial iniquities and how his lust for power was ruined by his ideological asshattery)
What does Maxine stand for? Gee, that’s a really tough question. Maybe a visit to the public library might help solve this danged mystery. You could, say, look up:
- Australia, Politics, Political Parties, Australian Labor Party, 1891-present
Once more, for those in the slow lane:
Bwhaaahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!
John Howard has made this nation party to an aggressive war which has cost countless people’s lives and maimed many more. He is a war criminal of the highest order and can count his blessings that he’s not prosecuted for his dirty deeds.
X-mas came early this year. Thank You Bennelong & Maxine for showing this rotten creep the door!!!
Partisan bickering aside, I think McKew would be a formidable opponent in any marginal electorate. Have a close look at the transcript of that impromptu election night speech again, Harry – it was anything but vacuous, complete with its hints about how decrepit her opponent was without actually saying so. If such underestimation of opponents is common throughout the Liberal party it’s no wonder they lost.
It’s true that the job of good local candidate and good cabinet Minister need quite different skill sets, and she is inexperienced. But she is also very smart so we’ll see how it goes.
I live in Bennelong, Eastwood to be exact and Max was a very impressive campaigner.
She always knew her brief and was very personable. she in fact was very impressive whether it be at school fetes or dinners with chamber of commerce.
I wouldn’t have made her a PS but then I am not leader.
I tend to think once Bennelong has gone ALP this time it will always remain ALP.
Harry has gone right off the cliff during the election and is possibly the only person in Australia who thought Dr Haneef should be deported.
Have sympathy guys
What does Maxine stand for? Well, purging the hard right neo-con influence from Australian politics. With Howard, Ruddock, Downer, Abbot and Costello all either shown the door or stampeding for the exits, the Libs can drift back to the moderate centre. If Maxine does nothing else in politics, it’s still a job bloddy well done.
Zap, little man, if your facetious and ill-informed attack on me was aimed at inflicting personal injury, and why else would you bother, ? I can inform you, you have succeeded. Well done. This perhaps makes me look weak and thin-skinned, and perhaps today I am, although I dont think youll find anyone who has met me who would readily concur.
You can go to bed tonight safe in the knowledge that you have needlessly hurt someone today and demonstrated to the world at large, what a nasty piece of work you most certainly are. I dont, save when defending myself, engage in personal written attacks aimed at people I have never met, am never likely to meet and with whom I essentially have no truck with other than to be in complete disagreement with their anachronistic political stance. Are you for real? I understand the personal attack in the blogosphere to be a pointless, nasty, futile exercise that serves only to confound the attacker in his pointless, nasty, futility. Such attacks speak volumes more about the petty motives of the big brave man (always it seems it is a man) sitting alone in his darkened room, sniggering to himself, marveling at his own remarkable wit, than it does about the person he is attempting to denigrate with his completely erroneous assumptions.
What I do know about you, is that there is no way you would ever look me in the eye and repeat your comment to my face. I also suspect, but couldnt possibly know that you are somewhat below average height and have a very, very, very, small dick.
Caroline, your post #3 was spot on. It’s been a tough week for the bovver boys with all their heroes being put out to pasture so they’re a pretty snarky bunch right now.