At least no one was hit over the head with a cane!

Close the

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Close the angle bracket blockquote close angle bracket. Thanks.

While Bartlett getting physical is an unusual occurance, name calling isn't, in the normal run of the mill parlimentry sittings, it's pretty much a lang name calling and shouting contest interrupted by a few speeches. While most ppl think that it's quite childish, I do think that at least it tests the mettle of our politicians.
Another thing about our parliment is that all those who sit have 'parlimentry privilege' which means they cannot have civil actions lodged against them as a result of what they say in parliment. This feature is used (abused?) fairly commonly.

Hi.

I'm not sure that there's any kind of bad trend or negative generational change going on.

It's true that basic civility in Australian politics is an option, not an obligation. But it's an option the present Prime Minister, John Howard, chooses to exercise, even though his predecessor Paul Keating set standards of invective that in those days seemed unlikely ever to be surpassed. (Paul Huntington, in _The Clash Of Civilizations And The Remaking Of World Order_ even lists this aspect of Australian culture, and the chainsaw-like verbal brutality of Keating in particular, as a key factor in dooming Keating's effort to redefine Australia as an Asian nation.)

Mark Latham is probably the worst sewer-mouth ever to hold a such major post of responsibility. He gets right up the noses of people who don't take offense easily. But in between Keating and Latham as leaders of the Labor Party (for Americans, Labor=Democrats, Liberal=Republicans) came Kim Beazely, a rare polite and kindly soul.

True, Andrew Bartlett is a record-setter. But then, politically, he's also a dead man. The Australian Democrats (for Americans, Australian Democrats=Greens/Nader) are among other things a femocrat party, and also (formerly) proud of their (one-time) ability to resolve problems in the party with sharing, nurturing and numerous cups of tea. Andrew Bartlett could not have more comprehensively demonstrated his unfitness to lead such a party. When you kick the third rail and die politically, that is not part of a trend to incivility.

For Australia -- you have to absolutely love a country where their unofficial national anthem (their equivalent of "God Bless America" or "America the Beautiful") is about a hobo who steals a sheep then commits suicide rather than get arrested.

If I were not born an American, I would hope to be born an Australian.

“....is about a hobo who steals a sheep “

Oh well, at least it’s not about having sex with a sheep! Isn’t Russell Crowe an Australian? I guess that explains everything.

Hi.

Yes, Russell Crowe is an Australian, and a very recognizable Australian type at that.

And good for you, Anthony. :)

Hi.

To my great surprise, Senator Bartlett did survive the first leadership challenge. No matter how brief or useless his post-incident leadership career is, he will have one, and that definitely does represent a collapse in at least the Democrats' standards. Some things do change.