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Who do you Trust?

In a time of unprecedented deceit, telling the truth has become a revolutionary act.

Whether an early election is imminent or not, the signs suggest the ALP should get ready. The Liberals have already fired the first salvo with an advertisement on YouTube, trying to paint Bill Shorten as untrustworthy. If that is not the height of hypocrisy, I don’t know what is.

Given the government’s own untrustworthy record over the past two years, any reference to trust by them is really stretching the limits of our imagination. It goes beyond hypocrisy; it is pure evil, born of guilt.

One can only imagine what further acts are in the planning stages, all designed, no doubt, to try and blunt anything that Labor might let loose on Tony Abbott. And as we all know, there’s plenty to choose from.

Labor should, and can, absorb any existing and future propaganda that comes from the Liberals and blow it right back at them. The Liberals will focus on Bill Shorten and it will be weak. Bill Shorten is up to the task. And as for not backing the government’s pension changes, that is a mixed bag.

Those that lose out might well admire him. Regular polling tells us that those that would have lost out if he had been successful, don’t vote for Labor anyway. But who really knows?

The Royal Commission into Trade Union corruption has been a disappointment for the government and particularly, Tony Abbott. So far, nothing of any damning significance has been uncovered. As yet, there are no scalps. Abbott is desperately hoping Shorten’s upcoming appearance will change all that.

It won’t. It will be an anti-climax with nothing of significance discovered. So, what of the issue of being trustworthy?

At a time when deceitfulness by this government is being advanced to an art form, telling the truth has become a radical act. There certainly won’t be much by way of truth coming from the conservative side of politics in any upcoming election campaign.

And when deceit becomes the Liberals default position, Labor should grab it by the throat and vigorously demonstrate by example, the two year history of broken promises and the cheap and nasty way they approach the most vulnerable in society. They simply need to expose the Liberals for what they are, and ask: who do you trust?

The behaviour of the government over the past two years, in what they have said and done should provide not just a smorgasbord of material Labor can use to remind voters of how untrustworthy they are, but also how they have failed to act in the best interests of the nation.

Whether it be in the area of social services, the economy, defence, education, health, climate change or international diplomacy, the government has demonstrated not just how untrustworthy they are, but also their immaturity and vindictiveness on a whole range of levels. It is sufficient to capture one’s breath.

The extent of their ignorance, arrogance, ineptitude and opportunism has been extraordinary.

Little wonder therefore, that all their attention and energy is currently invested in national security. It is the only issue they can engage with any confidence. “It’s coming after us,” Tony Abbott says in a threatening reference to the Daesh ‘death cult’. What a churlish remark.

This is the message the prime minister has for us and it is this sort of extreme rhetoric that is directed squarely at those who might be sufficiently frightened as to change their vote.

If the issue of trust becomes central to any election campaign (and it should), Labor should have a field day. The treachery of the government, particularly on the economy, health and education is so blatant that it cannot be ignored or played down.

brokenThe question to be asked of Labor is, how well can they exploit it? If the government fails to get a poll boost from this week’s unrelenting efforts to win support on national security, Labor can capitalise by making sure the central issue of an election remains Tony Abbott’s deceitfulness and broken promises.

On the issue of national security, what more can be done that is not already being done? National security should not be an issue. The current campaign by the Liberals is a desperate attempt to create an atmosphere of fear and uncertainty and to deflect attention away from their abysmal record of dishonesty. It is gutter politics and should be exposed as such.

 

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24 comments

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  1. Clive Manson

    Who would you trust with National security?

    Certainly not someone who tell our enemies we are coming, what specialty and armament they bring, and when. Certainly not someone who broadcasts a siege to the world to promote extremism, certainly not someone who stands in front of working intelligence maps to ensure our suspects know we are looking at them!

    Certainly not Abbott!

  2. mark delmege

    A word caught my attention – it seems we will get no truth on this one – even when it it staring us smack in the face.

    Hypocracy – yeah that would be like invading and destroying Iraq and creating a lot of angry arabs and then attacking and bombing the shit out of Libya and allowing it to be taken over by a lot of angry arabs and then creating an army of angry arabs to destroy Syria – all the while using your media and politicians to justify these half baked plans while destroying three countries by arming training funding and protecting these same angry arabs

    and then saying these same bunch of angry arabs

    They are coming to get us.

  3. makeourvoiceheard.com

    But that also depends on an MSM that is prepared to step up and tell that truth. So far, they don’t seem to. Annabel Crabb’s article yesterday reveals just how far embedded the press gallery is. They won’t overtly criticise the government for fear of public backlash/disapproval. But they seem more than happy to tear into Shorten whilst not publicising some of his very pertinent and powerful speeches. Unfortunately the MSM control the message, and if that is that Shorten can’t be trusted, then that is what a significant number of the electorate will decide. Hang the facts! People just want to make judgements!!

    Last nights Q&A was interesting in that the only people who were willing to call it as it was were the two externals (and what an excellent job they did – I hope the viewing figures were good). What was considerably concerning was that Paul Kelly appeared to have more details of how the legislation about removing citizenships had been developed/distributed than the deputy leader of the opposition. The propaganda wing of the LNP/IPA is clearly part of the very inner sanctum.

  4. townsvilleblog

    Shorten is untrustworthy, Australians are not silly they can see what Shorten has done to his own AWU members, they won’t trust him with the Prime Ministership, which is sad for Labor. Labor deserved Albo to win the ballot for leader, after all he did receive 58.6% of the vote, only scuttled via a gerrymander which saw Shorten win against the popular vote.

  5. Edson Masden

    The truth is the government is the most inept anyone can remember and the PM is pathological in his lying. Their agenda is clear but no-one seems to be able to articulate this amidst all the bluster and distraction. It is worse than laughable that the main issues in politics are frequently asylum seekers and terrorism, as if these represent some real immediate threat to our way of life.

    Meanwhile in reality our society continues to follow the prescriptions of the neo-liberal revolution that demands nothing less than total world acquiescence. This is what really threatens us, this is what will significantly limit the future of most Australians.

    We can’t afford pensions, we can’t afford universal public health, we can’t afford decent educational opportunities for all, we can’t afford the NBN, we can’t afford to fight climate change, we can’t afford to expand infrastructure at the required rate. Yet we are one of the wealthiest countries on the planet at the tail end of an unprecedented boom. Furthermore we have commited trillions of dollars that could have been used productively for a whole range of things (including adequate retirement benefits) to compulsory superannuation which has led to enormous asset inflation and contributed in no small part to growing inequality.

    Make no mistake the ALP is as guilty in bringing us to this point as the other mob. During the last government the Gonski reforms were to be introduced so that the main increases fell outside the forward estimates and were largely unfunded (but you know funding is a fallacy John – that’s another story) – even then Gonski wasn’t allowed to recommend anything that would halt the gradual privatisation of education; Julia Gillard’s major social reform the NDIS was similarly introduced without adequate provision in the budget – and remember how she chose to balance the books earlier by hitting sole parent’s (the feminist who couldn’t support gay marriage because she was so radically opposed to marriage in general).

    The whole basis for how we measure economic success is deeply flawed – GDP is like any KPI, it can never provide a complete picture of economic performance and its mere introduction means that things are arranged to the benefit of what it measures while ignoring many other equally important matters.

  6. Möbius Ecko

    …and remember how she chose to balance the books earlier by hitting sole parent’s

    Damn it shits me when commentators come out with this furphy time and again.

  7. Mark Needham

    Truth.
    Always in very short supply from all of us.
    At least that is true, Hey!

    and don’t forget to moderate this comment.!!!!!

  8. Edson Masden

    I am not a commentator but someone who remembers when she lowered the maximum age of youngest child for which sole parent payment would be paid. Did this not happen, did she not justify her opposition to marriage equality on the grounds that she didn’t support marriage generally, did she not underfund education reforms (even taking money from tertiary to pay for inadequate secondary increases), do they still not support off shore processing because they care about asylum seekers so much they don’t want them to die.

  9. Ken Butler

    The new spelling for “trust” is “1984”!!!
    We will form your mind for you.

  10. Edson Masden

    The change to sole parent payment was that those already on the payment would be moved to newstart when their youngest turned 8. Is this not true?

  11. Möbius Ecko

    True, but what was the reason she bought that in? Not the one you gave.

    I didn’t agree with what Gillard did as she should have addressed Howard’s two tier system by going the other way and not levelling it by going to the lowest denominator. She has been mercilessly bashed over this by all sides, especially the Abbott opposition who in government have kept her policy. But the reasoning of that bashing has almost always been on the wrong premise.

  12. Gangey1959

    I vaguely remember the last Federal election. 2014 was a long time ago.
    The then opposition leader promised us all just ONE thing. A lnp government would “STOP THE BOATS”
    Just a quick recap on what they have achieved in their years in office.
    They stopped the foreign owned mining companies paying for anything.
    They stopped foreign investors using Australian personnel and services.
    They stopped the cars.
    They stopped Australian Renewable Energy investment and development.
    They stopped average Australians being able to buy houses.
    They stopped Australia having a decent and fair education system.
    They stopped Australia having a fair and equitable Health and Welfare system.
    They stopped our submarines. (We may or may not require them, but that is a different argument)
    They stopped the Navy Shipyards building our sips and patrol boats.
    In 2014 I assumed he meant the “boats” full of refugees. Silly me.
    The lnp government has not stopped them. They just go somewhere else, or get turned back..
    PS. I met a bloke last night down in St Kilda. He is working on deepening Port Phillip Bay, so that bigger ships full of foreign crap can get in more easily. He is working for a New Zealand owned company. Apparently the Australian quote involved local employment.
    Have a fun day.
    Remember Rule 10.
    PPS. The hon??? c pyne is not a twat. Although I don’t use the term, twats are useful.

  13. Kaye Lee

    Edson,

    I assume you are aware that it was Howard that made the change in 2006 to move sole parents onto Newstart when their youngest turned 6. He put in a grandfather clause so it only applied to new applicants but even those remaining on the higher payment were required to apply for jobs from when their youngest turned 6.

    Gillard changed the age to 8 and made the same rules apply to everyone.

  14. Johnnydadda

    “Suffice it to say then that to mistake Abbott’s calculated use of the politics of fear for madness is to fail to understand the very clear-cut witch hunting strategies that have kept him in power despite the ineptness of his government and the cruelty of his social policies, and his Ur-Fascism — specifically, his traditionalism, his contempt for science, enlightenment values, and the boundaries set by the Magna Carta, his championing of ‘Direct Action’ without reflection on the shortcomings of his ascientific approach, his equation of criticism with treason as in the continuing Zaky Mallah incident, his ‘stop the boats’ xenophobia and his appeal to white skin privilege and male privilege, his extreme nationalism and exaltation of sacrifice (ie. death) at the Centenary of the Gallipoli landings, his worship of the false idol of infinite growth, his sporting machismo complete with ‘budgie smugglers,’ and his general abuse of language to serve his own purposes — the tendency common to all authoritarians to invoke freedom as an absolute, rather than something limited by the equal freedom of others, such that he regards any check to his class, gender, or racial privilege as a challenge to his rights being a prime example.

    Add this Abbott’s general inability to demonstrate compassion, remorse, the ability to reflect on his conduct or a willingness to accept responsibility for the consequences of his behavior, and one can only come to the inevitable conclusion that transgression and malfeasance by design in invoking the ancient fantasy [witch hunt] is the only thing keeping him in power. The madness in this situation is of those who continue to vote in a process that produces leaders like Tony Abbott despite the resulting disappointment as acute as it is inevitable.”

    Tony Abbott’s Australia: Madness or Design?

  15. Möbius Ecko

    Thanks Kaye, I was not going to repeat that as I’ve posted it and sources to what Gillard and Howard actually did so many times now I just couldn’t be bothered anymore. This is not the first time you’ve expanded on one of my retorts to those who regurgitate the furphy of why Gillard changed the sole parent legislation.

    As I stated, I don’t agree with the direction she went with, but what she did was redress a divisive imbalance deliberately implemented by Howard, I just wish she had redressed this imbalance the other way.

  16. Rosemary (@RosemaryJ36)

    I feel secure in the knowledge that I am not alone in thinking this is the worst government that Australia has ever had and that things may well get worse before they ever get better.

  17. Mark Needham

    Rosemary (@RosemaryJ36)
    You feel what……….?

  18. Mark Needham

    Moderator.
    Thank You.
    Yes, Freedom of speech, does have responsibilities.
    Responsibilities, which, I shall respect.
    Thank You.
    Mark Needham

  19. Joe Eisman

    Sorry, but wasn’t this article about trust? I don’t understand how anyone can trust any politician from the major parties. If Labor runs an election campaign on ‘who do you trust?’, that will surely bite them in the bum. Please, everyone, vote for an independent or for a minor party. ALP and L-NP are filled with career politicians, many having been pre-selected for their seats as a reward for service to the party or the parties’ backers.

  20. Morpheus Being

    Seems like we are entering/have entered the world of double speak. “We don’t tell lies, but other people do”. The meaning of truth and truthfullness depends on who uses it.

  21. Matthew

    the whole idea of making shorten seem untrustworthy I thought was just to counter the future campaigns that will focus on Abbotts broken promises, in short saying “we both lie but we are strong and they are weak” They know no one can defend their record of broken promises and lies so they arent trying it that way.

  22. Graeme Henchel

    I think you are on to something here Mathew. Abbott is trying to paint Shorten as “weak”, indecisive, flip floppy and this is also the line of attack of Shorten’s opponents on the left who say they need a head kicker (supposedly Albanese ) Meanwhile Abbott is all about maintaining and extending the Putinesque tough guy persona protecting us all from the boogie men. So it won’t be about trust per se it will be about “strength” and “toughness” about who is in “control” Although it should be easy for Labor to win on the issue of “trust” if the electorate comes to the conclusion that no-one can be trusted then this “strength” argument may be successful for Abbott. Labor, in my view needs to spend less time on talking about the lies of Abbott and the coalition (that is now a given ) they should spend more time talking about the actual crap policies the coalition is trying to introduce and the complete incompetence they have shown on key issues such as the economy, climate change, health, education.

  23. eli nes

    graeme you should go on the stage. shorten is painting a picture of a weak, indecisive flipfloppy opposition by agreeing with the rabbutt in meta data and not with cuts to nontax paying retirees and by listening to the speech of gillard’s labor spending like ‘drunken sailors’ and leaving a debt crisis without challenging those lies.
    He is as unelectable poor as beazley was unelectable nice. Contrast little billy’s avoidance of the morning shows by terri butler’s handling of karl baby, the rabbutt’s mate, questions this morning with a smile and an answer.
    Rosemary’s feeling that things may get worse is right in labor’s lap they cannot get rid of shorten beyond the proverbial bus but they can get tanya and penny revitalised and on the morning shows and can get the grass roots primed with answers to the abbuttian slogans and they can get a consistent slogan about the rabbutt’s economic borrowing, robb’s dumb about FTAs and ….wtf who in Australia cares??? We are rich, we are selfish, we are greedy and we are alright, jack so take lady hillingdon’s advice until the shearers strikes give rise to a labour party to challenge President Abbutt government.

  24. Pingback: Who do you Trust? | THE VIEW FROM MY GARDEN

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