Never say never

It all looked so rosy back when Kevin07 was just setting out on his glorious revolutionary road.

Those were the days. John Quiggin, November 25, 2007:

FOR once, my electoral predictions haven't turned out too badly, so I'll offer one more before we get back to policy: The Liberal Party will never again win a federal election.

How times change. Quiggin on August 21:

IN place of the usual weekend reflections, here's a forum to discuss the election. I'm feeling gloomy about the outcome, but I don't claim any special insight and my gloom may just reflect the awfulness of the whole business.

Simon Kearney and Linda Silmalis in The Sunday Telegraph:

IN an outburst that will undermine Tony Abbott's chances of forming a stable government, Liberal Alby Schultz unleashed on the rural independents.

Tony Windsor puts it in perspective on Insiders on Sunday:

BARRIE Cassidy: Tell us about the phone calls from Alby Schultz.

Tony Windsor: Oh, well, actually Tony Abbott is right. Alby is a mate of mine. And I think we all know that Alby gets a bit on his bike occasionally. He's been ringing me through the week, wishing me well actually and hoping I'm OK and concerned for my welfare. But he did make one call that he suggested we should get back to the polls and get on with it. But I'm getting advice from a lot of people. So I take Alby's advice in the spirit in which it was meant.

All in the family? Andrew Bolt on his blog:

ON our MTR 1377 show today, independent Tony Windsor dodges around my question: if a call he got from a Liberal mate, Alby Schultz, was no big deal at all, how did it come to be a front-page leak about Liberal threats and dirty tricks? Windsor does not answer my question about whether the leak came from his cousin, Labor spin merchant Bruce Hawker.

Good value? Total Environment Centre on its website, August 25:

TEC today congratulated the NSW government, householders, and the solar industry on the outstanding success of the Solar Bonus Scheme which has triggered a rush of consumers to install roof top solar power. The tariff, which is both generous and effective, has so far paid 30,000 householders 60c per kilowatt hour to sell their energy back to the grid, which is four times what it costs to buy energy, said Mr Jeff Angel, executive director of TEC. This has meant that householders are able to pay off their investments in record time. It's a win-win for all.

Sinclair Davidson on Catallaxy Files:

EVERYONE wins except the taxpayer and perhaps future consumers of electricity. The problem with this sort of thing -- beyond the immediate waste -- is that it undermines incentives to provide cheaper energy.

Alan Anderson, adviser to former treasurer Peter Costello, in the AFR on Saturday:

WHEN I hear "consensus government", I reach for my wallet -- it means I'll have to pay for all the crazy ideas instead of just half of them.

Mexican hat dance or hokey pokey? Former Liberal treasurer Troy Buswell quoted in the AFR on Saturday:

[WA opposition leader Eric Ripper] is a bit like the old political pinata swinging in the breeze. Once the [October 2] Armadale by-election is out of the way, [union leaders] Dave Kelly and Joe Bullock will hoist him up on the old Hill's Hoist and all of the opposition will have a bash at him. Who will fall out of that pinata as the next leader? Will it be the last contender in the field, the member for Midland [the opposition's spokeswoman on education, Michelle Roberts]? I think she is factionally challenged. That is right, member for Girrawheen, she joined the New Right. The New Right was okay when it was in with the Left. The New Right is now out with the Left, the Right is with the Left and the New Right is left right out. That is going to be her problem. She is left right out.

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