Pressure mounts on the Gillard Labor government

 

The Gillard government holds power by just one seat, and that includes her reliance on the Greens and the three Independents. In fact, many of their decisions have been influenced by the Greens and their leader, Bob Brown.

 

Here are three things causing Julia Gillard and the Labor government a lot of angst…

 

1. Craig Thomson MP - and allegations of improper use of his union credit card

Prior to his election as a Labor MP in 2007, Mr Craig Thomson was the secretary of the Health Services Union. Allegations have been made about his misuse of his union credit card, for the purposes of paying prostitutes.

 

Mr Thomson denied he had used the prostitutes – he has claimed that other people had access to his card and that the signature on the credit card slip was forged.
The Sydney Morning Herald, which first printed the allegations in 2009 (read 2009 article from SMH), has now detailed further allegations (read SMH article).
One of the new allegations is that Mr Thomson’s union mobile phone was used to call brothels and also senior Labor figures on the same night (making it unlikely that someone else had the phone for part of the night) (source).

Some of these have been obtained through court documents in a defamation action that Mr Thomson took against Fairfax – but that action was dropped by Mr Thomson in early June 2011 (source).

Another allegation is the unauthorised withdrawal of $100,000 in cash advances from Mr Thomson’s union credit card (source).

 

The Coalition is calling for Mr Thomson to resign – or be sacked by the Prime Minister Julia Gillard and the Labor government. The Coalition started revealing these allegations in parliament in mid-June 2011 (source).

However, the government holds power by a single seat. Prime Minister, Ms Gillard, continues to say she has ‘complete confidence’ in Mr Thomson (source).

Last week, Mr Thomson’s Register of Interests was amended (late) to show that the ALP gave him $90,000 in May 2011 to help pay his legal bills resulting from his attempted defamation lawsuit (source). That was to save him from being declared bankrupt.
Of course, if Mr Thomson is declared bankrupt, he cannot be a federal MP!

 

As well as calling on Mr Thomson to resign – or be sacked - the Coalition has called on the NSW Police to investigate. Today, the NSW Police have announced they will conduct an investigation to see if there have been any criminal activities (source).

 

As they say, a day is a long time in politics. Prior to the 2010 election, Labor questioned whether or not to re-endorse Mr Thomson. Mr Thomson apparently assured them he was telling the truth and was innocent – and was planning to take legal action against Fairfax for defamation (source DT and Misha Schubert SMH article) Perhaps the ALP is now wishing it had listened more carefully and dis-endorsed him….

If a by-election is held, the seat would most likely be won by the Coalition as it only has a 5.1% margin.
That could well mean a change in government, which would allow the people to decide where our nation is heading!
Read Antony Green's (ABC election commentator) comment on what might happen if Craig Thomson loses his seat - click here. 

2. Carbon tax

The opposition to Julia Gillard's so-called 'carbon tax' is growing.
Last week, a rally was held outside parliament with an estimated 5,000 people present to protest against the carbon tax.
There were several key speakers - you can watch two of their speeches online...
Dr David Archibald - scientist.
Dr Art Raiche, CSIRO Chief Research Scientist (retired) (on the 'independence of scientists')
This week, hundreds of trucks and other vehicles travelled in a 'Convoy of No Confifdence' from more than a dozen parts of the nation. They all wanted to tell Julia Gillard they DON'T WANT a carbon tax! 
Not as many as expected arrived in Canberra - partly because it was a huge cost in time and fuel to travel to Canberra.
Report of the planned convoy. (Read report in The Australian)

 

3. Labor falls lower in Newspoll

In the latest opinion poll conducted by The Australian, Newspoll, Labor has fallen even lower in popularity. Source
The latest results show:
Labor: 27%
Coalition: 47%
Two party preferred basis: Coalition - 57 %; Labor - 43%.

Preferred Prime Minister:
Julia Gillard equalled her lowest rating as preferred prime minister - 38 per cent.
Opposition Leader Tony Abbott - 39 per cent
Satisfaction rating:
Prime Minister Gillard - dropped from 33% to 29% - and dissatisfaction rose 3 points to 61%.