State by state, Crikey has taken the political pulse of talkback callers on the first full day of the Election ’07 campaign. They’re talking about climate change, WorkChoices, inexperience v experience, the Iraq war, whether Kevin Rudd is s-xy, and John Laws just called a listener a f*ckwit.

We’ve highlighted the salient points for your perusal:

NSW:

2UE (Sydney), Mornings 10:30AM Compere: John Laws
Caller Kevin wonders if Oppn Leader Kevin Rudd could get the states to increase GST. Laws says it’s within Rudd’s power, but Rudd has said ‘over his dead body’. 

2UE (Sydney), Mornings 10:25AM Compere: John Laws
Caller Brian hasn’t decided who he will vote for yet. He has always voted Liberal. He listened to the interviews with Oppn Leader Kevin Rudd and PM John Howard earlier, and thought Laws was very nice to Rudd and antagonistic to Howard. Brian asks if the Labor Party is funding Laws. Laws asks if Brian is being funded to be a ‘f***wit’. Brian says he is.

2GB (Sydney), Mornings 10:41AM Compere: Jason Morrison
Caller Wendy says a young girl wrote to the Daily Telegraph a few days ago and said she would vote for Kevin Rudd, Federal Opposition Leader, ALP, to pay John Howard, Australian Prime Minister, back for the NSW Health system. They agree that many young people do not know anything. Morrison thinks that there is a trend to think Howard is ‘not cool’. Wendy thinks young people should do a test before being allowed to vote. Morrison hopes they are in a minority.

2GB (Sydney), Mornings 10:22AM Compere: Jason Morrison
Caller Jean says she heard an 18 yo girl told a survey she would vote for Kevin Rudd, Federal Opposition Leader, ALP, because he is s-xy. She wonders why she is allowed to vote. Morrison says that not all 18 yos are imbeciles. He says this is the nub of the issue now. He says people are now voting for the future and young people will base that vote on one of them being ‘cooler’ than the other.

2UE (Sydney), Mornings 10:11AM Compere: John Laws
Caller Ben says the choice between Labor and Liberal is a choice between ‘a queue card drone’ and ‘the war criminal’. They debate how big a disaster the Iraq war is and the number of deaths. Ben says he would never vote for Kevin Rudd. He says if Rudd really believes AWAs are unfair, he should have the guts to abolish them when he comes into power. They argue about Rudd’s position on AWA and WorkChoices. Laws says you can’t cancel a legal contract and Rudd’s position is reasonable. Ben says Rudd hedges his bets over the Iraq war. He says if he believes what we’re doing there is immoral and evil, he should pull troops out immediately.

2SM (Sydney), Mornings 10:09AM Compere: Leon Delaney
Caller Ray says the Austn dollar is rising but we shouldn’t be concerned, as Kevin Rudd, Fed Oppn Leader, will fix that up. He jokes that we could soon be trading in beads. Ray says if John Howard, PM, has tidied up his house, he knows that he will lose the election. He says Howard’s neighbours have complained to their local council in recent years that he hadn’t been sufficiently cleaning up his house. He says there are three kinds of ‘deros’ in the world – those who live in parks, those that live in buses, vans and cars and then the floating deros that live on yachts.

2SM (Sydney), Mornings, 15/10/2007 09:55AM Compere: Leon Delaney
Caller Luke says Barack Obama, Democrat candidate for the US Presidency, has been doorknocking on the issue of Iraq in Iowa and that’s something John Howard, PM, and Kevin Rudd, Fed Oppn Leader, should copy. Luke says that John Howard, PM, was a key supporter of the war against Iraq which is a continuing mess and it should be a major issue in the Austn election. He says they should court marshall Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney.

VICTORIA:

ABC 774 Melbourne (Melbourne), Mornings 09:58AM Compere: Jon Faine
Caller Jane wonders why nobody is talking about the Heiner reports in The Australian newspaper. Faine explains it refers to allegations of a cover up in Qld which some people are trying to link to Labor Leader Kevin Rudd, but the whole thing imploded as the Australian established there is no substance to the allegations. Faine says he always regarded it as a ‘long bow’. Jane says Piers Akerman has carried the story. Faine says it has imploded on he and Alan Jones.

3AW (Melbourne), Morning 11:43AM Compere: Neil Mitchell
Caller Judy says she would like to hold John Howard at knifepoint (a play on Melbourne shopping centre Highpoint being called knifepoint) and asks him about taking GST from op shops.

3AW (Melbourne), Morning 11:23AM Compere: Neil Mitchell
Caller Toni says she is not a Liberal Party member but she wants PM John Howard and Treasurer Peter Costello to get back in as she thinks of them as ‘Team Australia’. Mitchell says they don’t even think of themselves that way. Toni says she has lived in Box Hill all her life and Labor Leader Kevin Rudd should listen to what she has to say as Chisholm is a marginal seat.

3AW (Melbourne), Morning 09:19AM Compere: Neil Mitchell
Caller Richard wonders why John Howard, Australian Prime Minister, is warning of the danger of ALP being in power in all State and Fed Govts. Mitchell asserts that State and Fed Labor Govts do not always agree.

ABC 774 Melbourne (Melbourne), Mornings 09:22AM Compere: Jon Faine
Caller Isaac believes issues of hypocrisy and honesty will shape his vote and says he cannot forget statements by John Howard regarding weapons of mass destruction and children overboard.

QUEENSLAND:

Easy Listening 846 AM (Cairns), John Mackenzie 09:56AM Compere: John MacKenzie
Caller, Tim, on the Federal Election, says there are so many union work-rights’ ads by the side of the road that he wonders if they have a candidate. Mackenzie believes IR and WorkChoices will be a most-important election campaign issue. Tim says the unions are wrong for putting out signs in that only candidates are allowed. Tim says Howard has been head of a fantastic Federal Government and Tim urges people not to vote for minor parties. Tim says Federal Labor Leader, Kevin Rudd will not change WorkChoices that much so there is no point in voting him in. Tim says WorkChoices is good for business despite Queensland Labor Government bureaucracy.

ABC 612 Brisbane (Brisbane), Mornings 09:29AM Compere: Madonna King
Compere is asking listeners how they view the election campaign opening speeches by Kevin Rudd and John Howard yesterday. Caller Richard has two kids who will be voting for their first time in this Fed election, he says they both went to a private school and they will both be voting for Labor because they are concerned about the environment. Richard voices his concern about Australia’s level of foreign debt.

ABC 612 Brisbane (Brisbane), Mornings 09:27AM Compere: Madonna King
Caller Louie says being a Queenslander he is very reluctant to vote for a Labor Govt. Louie (who has just turned 18) says he will voting for the Coalition. Louie say he always liked the Nationals. Louie says he went to a private school and most of his friends will be voting Liberal.

ABC 612 Brisbane (Brisbane), Mornings  09:23AM Compere: Madonna King
Caller Ray says comments Fed Shadow Environment Minister Peter Garrett made recently about the pulp mill in Tasmania were like a “kick in the teeth” to him, he doesn’t think the consequences of the pulp mill have been fully thought through. Ray says the environment is important for everyone. Ray says Garrett’s stance has turned him off Labor, he will now give his vote to the Greens. Ray says he disgusted with PM John Howard and the Liberal Party.

ABC 612 Brisbane (Brisbane), Mornings 09:15AM Compere: Madonna King 
Caller Clarke says that while the economy is going very well there are huge social problems developing underneath the surface of Aust society. Clarke is concerned about climate change, he thinks the ALP is focused on addressing this issue but he won’t be voting for them. Caller Anne says yesterday PM John Howard didn’t mention climate change at all whilst Kevin Rudd only made a small mention of the issue. Anne says she has seen Liberal and Labor candidates speaking recently nominating climate change as the number one issue for this election. Anne says she believes what the CSIRO and Australian of the Year Tim Flannery are saying about climate change.  

ABC Wide Bay (Bundaberg), Morning Show 08:53AM Compere: David Dowsett
Caller John says we have heard nothing on the issue of policy on national unity. Any leader who gets up talking about national unity would get his support. Caller Darryl says he knows who he will be voting for, he doesn’t want nuclear power and wants renewable energy. Darryl wants to know how we can have a Coalition when Parliament has been dissolved. Caller John says he would like to know if there is anyone else running for the Labor Party other than Kevin Rudd. John says we have heard nothing from any other candidates. Would like to see some debate about who is going to do what.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA:

AA (Adelaide), Mornings, 09:25AM Compere: Leon Byner
Caller Mark says there is a lot of fresh thinking by Kevin Rudd but he’s not fleshing out what these ideas are. He says he’s rolling back Workplace Relations but he doesn’t says what he’s going to do to replace it. He says he is talking about education in a general way too. He says it seems Rudd needs to convince voters why he should be the preferred PM. He says he knows what Howard stands for. He says the Govt offers WorkChoices and Kevin Rudd is not giving an alternative. Jaensch says WorkChoices were modified so they are softer for employees. He says Labor was promising to tear WorkChoices out for good but now they have just softening their view as well. He says we have two parties saying Me Too all the time and there isn’t much difference at all.

5AA (Adelaide), Mornings 09:34AM Compere: Leon Byner
Clare says ‘the will of the people’ was completely ignored because the majority of Australians were against the war in Iraq. She says thousand protested the war. Jaensch says Clare still has no exact idea of those who opposed the war. He says there is no such thing as the will of the people. He says it is hard to establish a majority opinion. Byner says a lot of people have been upset about going to war on a lie but this lie was not John Howard’s — it was the CIA’s lie. Jaensch says most people look at Iraq and say it is a shame that the war ever began in the first place because it has turned into a mess. He says Iraq is looking very much like Vietnam.

TASMANIA:

ABC 936 Hobart (Hobart), Statewide Mornings 09:17AM Compere: Tim Cox
Cox asks listeners which issues they will be voting on in the upcoming Fed election. Caller Chris talks about France’s loss to England at the Rugby World Cup. Chris says that we have been in election mode for eight months ever since Kevin Rudd, Federal Opposition Leader, ALP, took over the leadership of the Fed Oppn. Chris says that the issue will be whether people feel secure enough to trust an untried team with a lot of talent or if they will feel insecure enough to hold on to someone who has been there for too long. He says that regardless of Govt there will be another interest rate rise. Chris says that he was distressed to read in the Mercury that 55,000 people in Tas live below the poverty line. He mentions that the Police and Ambulance workers as well as the nurses deserve pay rises. He says that the PM tells us that we have never had it so good but that nobody has yet published a deconstruction of the last ABS working figures. He says that the figures will reveal that we have a gigantic underclass. He says that it is ridiculous to count people as employed if they are only working for one hour per week.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA:

6PR (Perth), Morning 08:58AM Compere: Simon Beaumont
Caller Phylis says she likes John Howard, PM and cannot work out why his rating is so poor.

ABC 720 Perth (Perth), Mornings 08:54AM Compere: Geoff Hutchison
Caller Bob says John Howard’s argument about inexperience means that there would never be a change of government. Bob says he will not vote for the Coalition because of WorkChoices.

ABC 720 Perth (Perth), Mornings 08:52AM Compere: Geoff Hutchison
Caller John says John Howard will be judged for bringing in the GST. John says Howard’s comments about Kevin Rudd’s inexperience do not hold firm.