Thread: BOOM!

It'd have to be moved to the soapbox before I could comment.

Originally Posted by akelly

Bob Carr to join Senate, replace Kevin Rudd in foreign affairs | Herald Sun

Discuss....

Let's hope that before people discuss this that they read up on the history of filling casual senate vacancies and on the convention that applied up until 1977 and the change that came into effect that year.

Otherwise we will be subjected to the same uninformed drivel that made up many of the comments that followed the article in that link.

Originally Posted by vnx205

Let's hope that before people discuss this that they read up on the history of filling casual senate vacancies and on the convention that applied up until 1977 and the change that came into effect that year.

Otherwise we will be subjected to the same uninformed drivel that made up many of the comments that followed the article in that link.

I selected the rant-iest version of the story I could find!

I didn't live in NSW for most of Carr's time - he seems to have been fairly unpopular though. I wonder what theory the PM is using in this appointment. Will anyone be pleased, other than die-hard NSW party members?

Originally Posted by akelly

I selected the rant-iest version of the story I could find!

I didn't live in NSW for most of Carr's time - he seems to have been fairly unpopular though. I wonder what theory the PM is using in this appointment. Will anyone be pleased, other than die-hard NSW party members?

Carr wasn't always unpopular, the wheels fell off towards the end but he and his party did a lot for the state- remember the Olympics?
Many feel he could have done a much better job, but thats what happens when there isn't really an opposition to keep things competitive.

Originally Posted by isuzutoo-eh

Carr wasn't always unpopular, the wheels fell off towards the end but he and his party did a lot for the state- remember the Olympics?
Many feel he could have done a much better job, but thats what happens when there isn't really an opposition to keep things competitive.

I do remember the olympics. I also drove the M5 daily for 4 years and use Sydney public transport pretty regularly. Seems like he led a government of 'bread and circus' rather than one of capacity building and forethought.

Originally Posted by akelly

I selected the rant-iest version of the story I could find!

I didn't live in NSW for most of Carr's time - he seems to have been fairly unpopular though. I wonder what theory the PM is using in this appointment. Will anyone be pleased, other than die-hard NSW party members?

It is probably inevitable that a Premier who serves as long as Carr will upset some people and governments generally seem to be on the nose with voters if they are in power long enough. Carr does hold the record for being the longest continuously serving Premier and he did win big majorities in 1999 and 2003.

I think he had a lot of support for a long time and much of what he did was beneficial.

For the benefit of you youngsters who weren't around or who weren't politically aware when Carr was Premier, this link gives some idea of his achievements while mentioning some of his failings like the rail system.

[ame="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Carr"]Bob Carr - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia[/ame]

My recollection was that it was quite a while into his term as Premier before there was widespread satisfaction.

Anyway that is all ancient history now and really tell us nothing about how effective he will be as Foreign Minister

there certainly were good reasons for Carr's unpopularity

but...

FWIW...

..... senior bureaucrats will prefer Carr (their other preferable choice would have been Combet) because he will have more commonsense and be less self-centred and less US-centric than the two previous incumbents (Smith & Rudd)

Smith hasn't been good for Defence

Rudd seems a bit of a show pony - sort like well dressed version of Abbott - unfortunately neither of them show any promise of being good for anything

Originally Posted by 87County

..... senior bureaucrats will prefer Carr (their other preferable choice would have been Combet) because he will have more commonsense and be less self-centred and less US-centric than the two previous incumbents (Smith & Rudd)

Smith hasn't been good for Defence

Rudd seems a bit of a show pony - sort like well dressed version of Abbott - unfortunately neither of them show any promise of being good for anything

I always got the impression Carr was a US fan-boy?

Agree totally with you that Smith has not been good for defence - the ADFA debacle destroyed his credibility within the department. No good work he does (and I'm sure he does good work) can ever paper over the cracks he created by sacking a bloke based on hearsay.