Reply #3: I really think it would be a bad move to allow legislation from the Opposition benches.

[Matilda]

While in this case, Labor can't claim a clear mandate on anything, drafting legislation in line with party philosophy is one of the perks of being in government. It's very hard to imagine where the idealogy of the Greeens and the Coalition would coincide to enable passage of legislation not favoured by Labor. As things are now, both Greens and the Independents will have the opportunity to put their own bills on the table for an open vote, and that should satisfy them.

Given the Coalition's recent and current behaviour, I don't see Tony Abbott as a credible leader at all. Refusing to have his Budget properly costed by Treasury was an act of sheer irresponsibility and insulting to the public. All he did was have a private firm add up his figures to make sure there wasn't an error in the maths – they were never analysed to probe their feasibility, but Abbott, Hockey and Robb then claimed their figures had been audited. They were not, and to make that claim is simply a lie – enough to have the company in question now the subject of an enquiry by the Institute of Chartered Accountants.

Now the catch-cry is that Labor isn't a legitimate government – that's bollocks, and no more applicable than if the Coalition had gained power by the same means. The truth is that the people couldn't decide which major party was the worse and sent a clear message to both of them. But it's Abbott back to his old bovver-boy tactics, and it's not a pretty sight.