Tony the clown is taking the attention from his other failings.

Tony has finally managed to exceed the laughter limit.

Mr Abbott, with his recent unilateral decision to knight Prince Phillip, has managed to make it impossible for anyone to take him or his government seriously.  Unfortunately we still have ~ 18 months of this lunacy before we can finally get rid of the doddery old fools in the Liberal Party.

However for all his faults as a leader, you cannot deny that Tony Abbott is very skilled at the political game and knows how to tweak the public image to look as though he is actually doing something.  Pity that all his posturing is leading to many defeats for his policy changes. It is also a shame that Libs persist in thinking that financial prosperity comes from the top down.  The reality is that it gets tied up at the top end of town and the average person sees little of it.  Better to give a small amount to a wider range of people, resulting in more people being able to spread the wealth.  A good place to start is by looking at charging tax rates on family trusts that match with personal income rates. Also to look at some of the superannuation benefits.  The problem is that the Libs have this image of the "Dole Bludger", a guy who does not work, has a house full of kids and spends more time dealing drugs and committing burglaries than looking for work.  Reality is that there is no such thing as a generic person on the unemployment benefit and the majority would prefer to be working if they could.

 Mind you the reason Labor haven't been in the news is because they are keeping their heads low and madly currying favour with the independents. The moment that Tony announces the election, I foresee much jockeying within the Labor ranks to ensure that the appropriate people are sitting on the appropriate seats in the new government. Until the Labor party can convince everyone that they are not just a front for the Trade Unions, then they will continue their slide into irrelevance.

I'm thinking that the next election will be fought on the principles of local issues first and there will be a number of independents that make up the next government.  Whilst this may sound like wishful thinking, with today's technology it is much easier to run a successful campaign without having to have the large budget.


Addendum:  This post was written before Malcolm Turnbull's successful spill, and many of the issues have been overrun by recent events.  I suspect that the Section 44 Dual citizenship issue may have a bearing, but more than that, will be the low wage growth and increasing pressure on those that form the engine room of the economy, the middle income wage-earner.