The biggest loser
Despite the headlines on Sunday morning, it seems that the vast majority of the attendees at Mardi Gras last weekend were in fact ‘feeling the love’
police said the overall behaviour of 120,000 spectators and 12,500 participants on Saturday night was “pleasing”.
There were no major incidents other than the arrest of the seven men and two women.
Rev Fred Nile, who made a political career out of praying for rain on the night of the Mardi Gras must be singularly unimpressed. Those arrested were protesting a lack of ‘queer solidarity with Palestine’ and not the parade.
It’s actually wonderful that a group of over 130,000 people can gather together in a major city with so little in the way of disruption. While the Mardi Gras started off as a protest rally, it’s now a celebration and certainly a boost to the Sydney and New South Wales economy. It also demonstrates that there is a lot of good in humanity – arguably something that is completely missed by political operatives.
There have been many reports of the campaigning that occurred in the lead up to the Dunkley by-election. While both sides claim to have won, the reality is the swing to the opposition was within the usual expectations for a by election and governments vote didn’t do what it usually does in a by-election and go backwards. The new Member of Parliament will also be sitting on the government benches, so it’s not that easy to find any validity in the opposition’s claim of a famous victory.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had been visiting the electorate and in his usual practice making statements before the facts were checked,
It was question time on Thursday, two days out from the Dunkley byelection. Victoria Police had just confirmed the arrest of a man released from immigration detention who was issued with four assault and stalking charges.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, made the alleged incidents in Richmond the centrepiece of the Coalition’s question time attack; soon after his deputy, Sussan Ley, tweeted an inflammatory claim about “foreign criminals”.
But just hours later, Victoria Police conceded they had got the wrong man. After reviewing footage, they no longer believed the person involved was someone released from immigration detention.
The was also a concerted campaign by a conservative activist group Advance, who according to Crikey, introduced a ‘new, nastier brand of politics’ in an attempt to win the Dunkley by-election for the opposition.
According to Crikey, Advance’s advertising claimed that the ALP ‘engineered’ the High Court decision to release the refugees and asylum seekers that had been placed in ‘permanent detention’. Not only that, but the implication was that every one of them was going to reoffend, despite not all of them offending in the first place. In the same article, it’s claimed that Advance spent $350,000 in Dunkley in the lead up to the by election and as we know now it didn’t affect the outcome at all.
Advance’s ultra-negativity is reasonably new to Australian politics and is a reflection of the conservative right in the USA. The difference in the USA is that elections are not compulsory, so if there is an increase in voters, organisations similar to Advance (as well as organisations such as ‘Occupy Democrats’ and ‘The Lincoln Project’ from the progressive side) can arguably claim that they increased the number of people voting, which is seen to be good for democracy.
Advance’s problem is it can’t point to any evidence that it increased the number of people voting or changed the vote outside what would be expected at a federal by-election. While super aggressive advertising may appeal to a small sector of the community, to most it is just another reason to turn away from any interest in politics whatsoever. We need people to be involved so that a representative group of people are sitting in our Parliaments making the laws for us all.
The biggest loser from the Dunkley by-election seems to be Advance. The unfortunate thing for all of us is they will probably ‘double down’ and try to be angrier and more aggressive next time around. We don’t really need or want US style politics in Australia, despite the aggro and hate, it leads to the ridiculous situation where the Democrats in the USA reckon they have a chance of getting an endorsement from Taylor Swift, who has already suggested to her fans that they should enrol to vote. And the Republicans Donald Trump is courting the Christian religious broadcasters in an attempt to gain support from their listeners. At their National Convention (despite their ‘tax-exempt and non-profit’ status prohibiting political comment)
Trump promised to create a new taskforce to counter “anti-Christian bias” by investigating “discrimination, harassment and persecution against Christians in America”. He vowed to appoint more conservative judges, reminded the audience of his decision to break with decades of international consensus and move the US embassy in Israel to Jerusalem, and assured them a future Trump administration would take particular aim at transgender people – for example, by endorsing policies to restrict access to gender-affirming healthcare.
While some things that are made in America are good, political marketing isn’t one of them. And before anyone suggests that the progressive side of politics in Australia wouldn’t stoop so low, some of the advertising from the ALP and Greens for the upcoming party political Brisbane City Council election (which is the Coalition’s last toehold of power on the Australian mainland) isn’t too far behind the efforts of Advance and the Coalition that we have been criticising here.
It’s time for the political parties in general to tell us what they will do better, rather than tearing the other side down. Sure, tearing down is easier – but it leaves us with a diminished understanding of the ideals and policies of the eventual victor.
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12 comments
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Lawriejay -
Phil Pryor -
Terence Mills -
corvusboreus -
GL -
Terence Mills -
corvusboreus -
LambsFry Simplex. -
corvusboreus -
corvusboreus -
Terence Mills -
corvusboreus
Return to home pageI think ‘Advance’ should be given some kudos for capturing the Hanson One Nation and Clive’s Party votes and handing them to the LNP, they did provide the LNP with the ‘swing’ that was celebrated so vigorously by Snookums Ley and Sen. Hume??
Three cheers for Harlotta Hanson, and Advance (in order to retreat) and to Dogshit Peter Duckwit-Futton, who knows the policy of lying to lose…the Australian right wing conservative crappery, cloddery, cringeing cruddery, sewer filling simpletons…
Lawriejay
I can’t agree that Advance did such a good job : the One Nation and Palmer United votes were going to go Liberal whatever as the two former parties failed to put up a candidate.
There was nothing that the Liberals did to achieve ‘a swing’ they would have been looking crook if Hanson and Palmer had put up a candidate and, never forget, that the ALP actually increased their first preference vote.
It’s the Greens who must be wondering what happened to decimate their vote in Dunkley as was also the case in a previous by-election for Fadden.
Dunkley https://tallyroom.aec.gov.au/HouseDivisionPage-29778-210.htm
Fadden https://results.aec.gov.au/29422/Website/HouseDivisionPage-29422-159.htm
I would personally like to congratulate future PM Dutton on managing to resonate so soundly with the Dunkley electorate by staying the phuq away.
TM, On the drop in Green primary, my guesstimate, based on numbers and past form is that, while they were jumping up to bite at Labor, they were dropping votes to the AJP, VicSoc and the Indi.
As for Fadden, looks like Legalise Cannabis happened (7.95%).
The LC are a serious new force in politics, achieving impressive numbers of upper house votes in most states & territories last election (eg >5% in Qld).
With the LNP, Advance and all the other RRWNJ’s here it’s “Monkey see, monkey do.” with regards to the Yank right wing scumbaggery and Trumpism style of politics that is so prevalent. As long as Der Spud and Annabelle are in charge then absolutely nothing will change
corvusboreus
I understand that the legalise Cannabis Party don’t actually want to legalise smoking the stuff as they know it’s a carcinogen and likely to cause lung cancer ; so if I’m understanding their quest correctly it is for cannabis in the form of a suppository to be legalised. Is that correct ?
Terrence,
Immediate aspirations seem to be a moratorium on arrests for personal possession/cultivation, amnesty review of prior convictions (especially incarcerative) and reform on how THC & derivatives interact with traffic laws (especially where medical prescription is involved).
Beyond issues of personal use (or abuse) they are also seeking a general opening up of attitudes to the myriad swathe of beneficial uses (medicine, fibre, oil, bioplastics) that can be derived from the different plant parts of the two identified species within the Genus Cannabis.
https://www.legalisecannabis.org.au/party-policy#:~:text=An%20immediate%20moratorium%20on%20all,%2C%20not%20presence%2C%20is%20tested.
PS most SERIOUS medicinal prescription (eg for life-threatening hyper epilepsy) involves a small dosage.oral ingestion of an extract oil, no requirement for Ben Dover.
Back to the Mardi Gras,
Much different when it started as a protest movement, often these involve clashes with phobes and police
Current Mardi Gras are big inclusive; about a celebration of victories hard won going back over the years, a very different vibe.
LFS,
The hon MLC rev Fred Nile, a long term opponent of the Sydney G&L+ Mardi Gras, stopped praying for the almighty to piss on the ‘poofter parade’ when he realised that the addition of excess moisture seemed to cause the participants to clump together and writhe around like clusters of overstimulated eels, an image which led him down feverishly self-flaggelating paths..
He subsequently redevoted his earthly attentions toward articulating how public education offering classes in civil ethics was completely incompatible with Christ-ian values.
https://www.bunburymail.com.au/story/932159/nazi-ideology-in-ethics-classes-says-nile/
(Courtesy Bunbury Mail)
Terrence Mills,
Out of curiosity, do you happen to recall where you got those incorrect misimpressions from regarding Legalise Cannabis policies?
This and other recent articles have touched on the subject matter of disruptive agencies deliberately muddying electoral waters with pollutive misinformation, and it might be interesting to know where the seed of your ‘suppository’ notion was originally sourced from.
Cheers, cb
CB
The dangers of inhaling cannabis : https://www.cdc.gov/marijuana/health-effects/cancer.html
The health benefits associated with cannabis suppositories : https://www.alternaleaf.com.au/post/what-are-cannabis-suppositories-benefits-effects-and-more
Terrence,
Inhalation.of the concentrated smoke from any burnt matter is going to drop bad shite into the bronchi & lungs.
One artifact I common find on my urban restoration sites is the ‘orchy bottle bong’.
Visualise an internally stained soft plastic drink bottle with a piece rubber garden hose stuck into the side att an angle and, often as not, a ‘cone’ made from a piece of coke-can aluminium jammed into the hose.
The user is not only inhaling burning cannabis, but even-more toxic tobacco is also often added, and the smoke also contains fume additives from flame-heat applied to painted aluminium and transferred into poly-rubber.
Probably not an overly healthy cocktail for the lungs.
I gather Legalise Cannabis policy regarding smoking in general is “they’re your lungs”.
My personal view is that voluntary inhalation of any smoke is much less of a pressing public health issue than looking at active means of lessening levels of involuntary exposure to an often ever present but much more covertly insidious delivery driver of respiratory carcinogen; fine particulate diesel fumes.
https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/workplace-cancer/diesel
Regarding suppositories, if I needed or wanted to take a canniboid extract or similar, I’d sooner take it mixed with honey on a spoon than shoved where the sun don’t shine.