Julia Gillard doesn't follow my advice!

I'm channelling my inner shock jock here, and expressing my outrage that the Prime Minister simply just doesn't do as I tell her.

I advised her via this blog to stop giving airtime to the leader of the opposition, saying;

Stop referring to coalition spokespersons by name. at most use their titles. Mr Abbott is never Mr Abbott, he is the leader of the opposition, Joe Hockey is just the shadow treasurer. Using their titles will show up the absence of substance.

Also as far as possible try to refer to them as "the alternative government" or simply "coalition" rather than opposition or liberals. Don't feed their brand.

And above all just don't mention them if you can avoid it. When asked about the carbon tax explain it without trying to talk about other points of view. Talking about the coalition means ascribing to them a policy credibility that they don't have on their own.

Then at the launch of the NBN she goes and mentions him a zillion times.

Let's face it there are people out there who doubt the worth of the NBN. Don't feed Abbott by giving him the position of being the logical home. Acknowledge the concerns of those who might doubt the value, identify the value and move on.

Meanwhile her comments have largely overshadowed the good work the shadow Treasurer did in admitting that once there is a Telstra/NBN Co agreement there really isn't a viable alternative policy for the coalition. This perhaps reflects the reality that their coalition partners are probably telling them they have no hope in regional Australia without it.



Novae Meridianae Demetae Dexter delenda est