Why would anybody want to re-elect this government?
Voters must have an intense dislike of asylum seekers.
The latest Morgan Poll is great for the government, which sees them leading the opposition 56.5/43.5.
Taking away personalities (ie, disregarding that many people obviously like Malcolm Turnbull), it really is hard to see what the government has going for them.
If re-elected, they will make life harder or more miserable for near on all of the population. “Yes we can” says the poster. And yes they will. For example, if re-elected they:
- will be doing nothing to address climate change
- will possibly increase the GST, costing each family about $4,000 a year
- will continue to ignore science of any description
- will be doing nothing about housing affordability
- will be doing nothing about the high unemployment levels
- will be providing us with internet speeds that are the worst in the world
- will continue to tighten the screws for people on welfare or income support
- will still be giving billions to the mining companies
- they will do nothing about the huge gap in wealth inequality (quite the opposite, they will continue to pander to the rich)
- will do nothing to help the disadvantaged in our society (they will probably cut funding even further)
- will continue to beat around the bush as far as same-sex marriage goes
- have intentions of changing the media ownership laws which will give Murdoch even more control of our media (and they’ll probably cut funding to the ABC even further)
- will continue to demonise innocent people (Gillian Triggs is a good example)
- will make it more costly to see a doctor or a specialist
- if economists are correct, the government will lead us into a recession
- will keep ripping coal out of our beautiful country – coal that nobody wants
- will make tertiary education unaffordable
- will strip away our citizenship if (as a dual citizen) we do as much as destroy a government owned coffee table
- will spy on our every movement
- will jail anybody who dares report on atrocities committed by the government
- . . . and on and on the list goes
But . . . they will keep telling us that they’ve stopped the boats and we’re safe from all those murderous would-be terrorists that did sneak through because they’re all locked up now on Nauru or Manus Island and with any luck they will either rot to death or be sent to a country with an unpronounceable name where they can perish without our knowledge.
And no matter how much misery this Coalition government casts over our own lives we will vote for them because of their asylum seekers policies.
And it’s got me beat.
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Return to home pageFor the same reason they voted them in-brainwashed and boganised by TV and Radio Shockjocks
They believe anyone was better than Abbott. They don’t realise they are getting exactly the same just a difference face and body. Their policies will still disadvantage ordinary Australians is the GST is increased. Maybe if people are going to be hit in the pocket by this lecherous government they may start thinking twice. Nothing changed under Turnbull and if the believe anything will then they are deluding themselves big time. Liberals don’t bloody care about the man in the street, the battler. They don’t care about this country and it’s future.
Abbott used to say that he “learned from the master” aka Howard, however the true student is Turnbull. Howard’s method was to stay as squeaky clean as possible and then send in his attack dogs, one of course being Abbott to do all of the dirty work for him. Where has Turnbull been lately? Mysteriously aloof from it all with Morrison and Dutton being Turnbull’s equivalent of Howard’s attack dogs. And why do the msm let Turnbull get away with it by failing to ask the PM himself questions about say, the appalling way the raped refugee was treated. Why just ask Dutton, why not ask the person who is really responsible for current policies.
UnhappyNovember 3, 2015 at 3:57 pm
Who is the They,Unhappy?
The IPA who endorse all LNP changed horses in full knowledge of what THEY do.
THEIR media spruik their bullshit and most swallow it asking for more.
The last five words in your piece says it for me as well. It has got me beat as well,i dont understand i really dont how anybodty could vote for them,it may be asylum seekers or it might be apathy or maybe after two years of Abbott they are making sure he has no chance of ever being in that position ever again.”
Just saw your post, brickbob
“And it’s got me beat.”
Me too. But not beaten, not yet. Thankyou Roswell. Take care
At the moment, polls are reacting just on leaders. I would like to think that, as we get closer to an election, people will pay more attention to policies. A great deal will depend on Labor’s ability to show how much worse off average Australians are and will be as a result of the Coalition’s policies.
Turnbull will be campaigning for a regressive hike in the GST. Labor needs to show how they will get revenue from the big end of town. They should also back a Federal ICAC but I won’t hold my breath on that one.
Malcolm won’t be silly enough to do a downright lie “no cuts” speech. He can’t blatantly lie and dismiss facts as Abbott did even though his Ministers seem to have no trouble. We will have had Paris where hopefully there will be a lot of pressure brought to bear which will put Malcolm in a difficult position with his party.
And then there is the NBN.
Labor must get young people motivated.
Abbott was so awful that people are just grateful to have what they perceive as a ‘nice man’ in charge. Hopefully the rose coloured spectacles will be taken off as policies (or lack of policies) become more apparent.
Masochism seems to be rife in the Australian voting public
“Voters must have an intense dislike of asylum seekers”
I think that’s a fair statement. But the ALP has shown that it can also be heartless and unscrupulous when it comes to punishing those innocent, vulnerable, powerless, isolated, traumatised people. Maybe it’s the Coalition’s blatant cruelty that wins them the votes.
The asylum seeker question is a tough one for Labor because they too have a disgraceful record. They can salvage something by a real plan for increasing the intake, speeding up of processing, and appointing independent oversight of detention facilities and access for media. If the centres are too bad to bear scrutiny then they must be closed though I don’t know how much more proof they need.
You do know what`s happening on November 10?
Ask your question after that Kaye
The ALP is part of the system. It plays along, the upper echelons get their incomes and the bolder types get winkled out if dissent occurs. And yes, dumbing down, the information vaccuum and MSM make the masses easy targets for manipulation as the most basic instincts are instead appealed to, as the capacity to think clearly is destroyed.
For the rest, read Carol Taylor’s post.
What we have now is the consequences of a process that has been underway for some time, financed by vested interests and implemented by opportunist barbarians and witless functionaries.
Apathy. And the effects of being brainwashed by reality TV and voting for the winner.
“ Why would anybody want to re-elect this government?”
Wouldn’t one logical follow-up question be: Why wouldn’t everyone elect an ALP government?
It’s got me beat too.
Politics as the art of the possible is understood, but the ‘possible’ will always be debateable and subject to imagination. Leadership becomes crucial.
Australia is ‘engaged’ in the Middle East. It’s political masturbation writ large. Shorten should promise an immediate exit. Provide leadership.
Abbott promised to buy 73 ‘lemons’ at an outrageous cost. Shorten should promise an immediate cancellation. Provide leadership.
Australia provides tax exemptions to certain charities which aren’t in the least ‘charitable’. Shorten should promise to close the loopholes. Provide leadership.
Australia provides all types of subsidies to mining companies, including those who export profits overseas. Shorten should promise to end same.
The list of possibilities is almost endless.
Shorten should try to do a Whitlam and redefine the ‘possibilities’.
Whether the GST should be x or y is so trivial compared to what other debates are possible. Imagination is required.
I suggest the following explanation:
A significant portion (perhaps 10%) of the Australian populace is effectively brainwashed by the all pervasive corporate owned mainstream media – their general voting patterns are the result of careful, skilful ‘education’ and coaching by self serving partisan media.
The media select and present simplistic advantageous issues, suppress or omit disadvantageous issues.
Advertising works, media empires are built on that fact – the electors/people they target are the politically disengaged – those without the time, the interest, or perhaps the intellect to understand or question the issues presented. The NBN is a perfect example of how media and lying politicians ‘sold’ a clearly inferior product.
The other ‘solid’ 40% (that form the LNP base support) vote according to financial/ideological self interest come broadly from Australia’s two top income quintiles – who are doing very nicely thank you.
No matter how incompetent/outrageous Abbott performed, the self interested wealthy never strayed far from the party that preserves their financial advantage.
A topical article by Robert Parry at Common Dreams:
(I have replaced just a few ‘US’ words with their Australian near equivalent)
“…The “[Green/Left] media” accusations prompted the [LNP] to suspend its relationship with [the ABC] regarding future [live discussion panels]. ….
That [the ABC] would become the new faux standard bearer for the “[Green/Left] media” might be considered comical, but the furor is indicative of how millions of [Australians] have accepted the Right’s decoupling from the real world and have surrendered their political judgment to demagogues like [Jones/Bolt/Hadley] and corporate masters of the universe like Rupert Murdoch.
How this happened is, of course, complicated and includes the failure of the mainstream press to defend the times when it has fought on behalf of the [Australian] people to keep them informed with important information so they can do their job as citizens in a democracy.
Instead, the mainstream media seems significantly disengaged from the public, treating [Australians] like a commodity to be manipulated rather than the “We the People” owners of the democratic [Nation] to be respected and served.
Given the arrogance and elitism of many top news personalities, there is an understandable distrust and disdain for the major media. But that populist revulsion toward the overpaid talking heads has been exploited by skillful right-wing media figures who have rallied millions of confused [Australian] to become foot soldiers in an ideological army that marches to defend a wasteland of false and factually flimsy information.
The answer to this dilemma must be a recommitment among journalists to get back to the basics — providing citizens with information that they need to do their job — and to take on the powers-that-be in the name of the people.
Fat chance of that last para being implemented by Australian MSM journo’s.
On the broad subject of voter deception, there is an informative article by Paul Buchheit here:
“Bernie Sanders is More American Than Ayn Rand”
“We Americans have been deceived by the notion that individual desires preempt the needs of society; by the Ayn-Rand/Reagan/Thatcher aversion to government regulation; by the distorted image of ‘freedom’ as winner-take-all capitalism; by the assurance that the benefits of greed will spread downwards to everyone.
Our current capitalist-driven inequalities will only be rectified when people realize that a strong community makes successful individuals, not the other way around……”
I fear that realisation will not occur until after the nation experiences a very hard economic ‘landing’.
Well written JB,but alas I`m afraid the apathy runs deep in Australia,sort of like the grooming US citizens received from 1955-80.
Here we`re on speed dial apathy now where even most can`t see the realism of this >>>
http://www.photoonica.com/media-temp/u4rTGBk-0.jpg
JohnB, the links are really insightful. A ‘must read’.
While there’s nothing new, at one level, the examples certainly are!
Please, please wake up Australia because this is the end of this country as you know it. A meaner, harsher, crueler future is that really what you want?
I live in a rural area dominated by LNP voters. They have total faith in their choice because they have been told by parents, grandparents, neighbours and the bloke down the corner to vote for the coalition from the day they were born. Their general knowledge about politics is minimal, they do not understand the workings of the public service and they believe everything the leader of the LNP tells them. When you attempt to point out the lies, broken promises and mismanagement you might get a shrug of the shoulders or a comment like “they are better than them other lying pricks”.
While Murdoch controls so much of the media with Twiggy and Gina adding their 2 bobs worth it will not change. When you consider a typical dairy farmer who works a split shift 7 days a week for 10 months of the year, gets shat on by cows and earns a couple of dollars an hour by the time the bank and the bills are paid is it any wonder they despise unions that demand penalty rates? Local trades are expected to service dairy farmers needs 7 days a week and to charge an after hours call fee would ensure it was the last callout that business would receive, in fact it could be the last job ever performed in a dairy.
Labor must change the culture of rural people, forge the benefits of award structures, show that unions benefit everybody and expose greedy corporations for what they really are. Maybe it is time for farmers to pour the milk down the drain until the factories lift the price.
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Why do so many women remain in abusive relationships?
stephentardrew:
Sadly, for too many Australians, it’s not an issue…. as long as someone else does the suffering.
What utter rubbish this piece is. I’m not even a Liberal voter and this sort of writing annoys me. Let’s go through things one point at a time.
will be doing nothing to address climate change
Says who? Turnbull is known as a serious believer in tackling the issue and has already made noises in the right directions. He can’t say much just now to protect himself from his own far right wing but once he has won an election and has more of a mandate I suspect things will change rapidly. We saw this already last week with his choice for the new chief scientist and what that man was allowed to say at his press conference with Turnbull standing in shot directly behind him. Don’t think this wasn’t carefully planned.
will possibly increase the GST, costing each family about $4,000 a year
It will only cost families money if nothing is done to compensate them with corresponding reductions in income tax which they’ve already said would be done and very generous. And labor clearly supports raising the GST and is too spineless to do it. Just this morning they admitted if the coalition does get changes through they wouldn’t alter them. That tells you all you need to know.
will continue to ignore science of any description
Also rubbish, see comments about of choice of new chief scientist last week. Can you imagine and of this happening under Abbott? A whole new world.
will be doing nothing about housing affordability
And what is Labor’s plan?
will be doing nothing about the high unemployment levels
No of course they won’t. That’s why Malcolm Turnbull spends every single press conference talking about job creation.
will be providing us with internet speeds that are the worst in the world
You clearly don’t spend much time in africa.
will continue to tighten the screws for people on welfare or income support
As they should. Some of the rorting in this area is biblical.
will still be giving billions to the mining companies
Unlike Labor who let the mining companies write a mining tax that was so pathetic it didn’t actually take anything off them and ended up actually costing the government money to administer!!!
they will do nothing about the huge gap in wealth inequality (quite the opposite, they will continue to pander to the rich)
Not true. There have been several hints from the top that superannuation loopholes will probably now get closed and there was the proposal over the weekend to stop heavy rebates on child care for high income earners. Expect more to come…
will do nothing to help the disadvantaged in our society (they will probably cut funding even further)
What exactly do you want them to do?
will continue to beat around the bush as far as same-sex marriage goes
No. They’ve said they will have a plebiscite (not something I agree with) but this is action none the less and have said if the people vote in favour of it it will become law.
have intentions of changing the media ownership laws which will give Murdoch even more control of our media (and they’ll probably cut funding to the ABC even further)
Let’s see. Malcolm Turnbull was the biggest friend to the ABC in Abbott’s government
will continue to demonise innocent people (Gillian Triggs is a good example)
Oh and Labor or the greens have never demonised a decent person who disagrees with them?
will make it more costly to see a doctor or a specialist
Says who? No policies on the table at this point that would do that. Are you psychic?
if economists are correct, the government will lead us into a recession
If economists are correct, whoever is in power will lead us into a recession.
will keep ripping coal out of our beautiful country – coal that nobody wants
Coal that millions of people want and are paying a fortune for. Clearly, or nobody would be mining it!!!!
will make tertiary education unaffordable
They just shelved the changes abbott wanted. No new proposals are on the table so WHERE IS YOUR EVIDENCE
will strip away our citizenship if (as a dual citizen) we do as much as destroy a government owned coffee table
Labor supported all those anti terror laws!!!!!
will spy on our every movement
See above!
will jail anybody who dares report on atrocities committed by the government
What rubbish….
By all means be anti Right wing governments but do yourself a favour and write a piece with some merit. This sort of drivel is utterly unhelpful to the national conversation and only leads to further dumbing down of arguments and spreading of total bollocks.
You may not be a Labor supporter either but let’s face it, one or the other will be in power and on many of these issues there isn’t a scrap of difference in their beliefs.
Stewart
“It will only cost families money if nothing is done to compensate them with corresponding reductions in income tax which they’ve already said would be done and very generous”
Are you serious, what about single low income earners? How will they be compensated? And until the compensation is on the table how can you say it is fair or generous? If it is not going to increase revenue and/or shift tax revenue from rich to the poor why do it?
You only have to look as far as the original white settlers of this country to understand why orstrayn voders continually vote against their own best intrests. The liberals are right! You can’t leave it up to a bunch of uneducated, retarded riff-raff to govern the country.
The MEGA rich for their own self(ish) interests. (A minority.)
&
The MEGA stupid. Gullible,ignorant and easily manipulated by the Libs MSM. (A majority.)
Democracy does NOT work when the masses are asses.
What happened to the Somali woman Dutton said she was coming back. Haven’t seen any reports that she has.
Stewart, I find it hard to believe you’re not a Liberal voter. Smells like bullshit to me.
Roswell, I’m absolutely not. I’m an open minded swinging voter who has voted in every conceivable position over the years. Right now, I can’t fathom how anyone can think of Bill Shorten as being preferable to Malcolm Turnbull. I believe with this latest change we may have finally got it right after seven years of total disaster. For the record I voted for Labor in both Rudd and Gillard years (she was a terrible Prime Minister but is a thoughtful and highly intelligent public servant who I respected) but as much as I couldn’t bear Tony Abbott voted liberal in 13 as I felt the country couldn’t possible function with the chaos and embarrassing childs play of the labor party. I hoped desperately Abbott’s wiser and more moderate colleagues would squeeze him into a moderate mould that would be functional. How wrong that proved and thankfully they’ve now sent him packing.
As the cards sit right now I think the Turnbull option gives Australia the best hope for sensible and competent government. It’s quite clear from the union royal commission that Shorten is a grubby operator who is not fit to be in the house let alone Prime Minister. Labor needs to get their house in order and I grieve the departure of Stephen Smith who I thought was a deeply impressive character. I can’t bear Tanya Plibersek who is far too righteous and don’t think Albo has the right face for the top job either. Personally I’m most impressed by the work of Chris Bowen who is perhaps still a bit young but could be a very worthwhile asset to them in top leadership in years to come.
I just yearn for a debate on issues that isn’t deeply dripping with cynicism, doesn’t massively over simplify reality and looks at facts.
I don’t find Stewart’s comments all that bad. Sometimes the articles on this site do stretch the truth and cherry pick. The site though needs to be looked at in its entirety and when I do that I see a quite reasonable argument as to why this coalition government is not deserving nor fit to govern.
Malcolm Turnbull may seem to be an ideal candidate but don’t judge him by his words, judge him by his deeds. For the last five years he has been supporting the actions of the Abbott/Hockey team including all their lies and two faceness. Now he has seemingly changed faces again. He may have put lipstick on the pig. He may be filming it through Vaseline smeared lenses. This government is still a pig. It is still aiming at the less well off and benefiting the well off.
Stewart, I’ve made a few errors/assumptions that you have rightly pointed out.
I must point out though that this is merely an opinion piece, which is why I published it under ‘Your Say’. And that basically is what it is – my say.
Roswell,
You made far fewer “errors/assumptions” than Stewart did.
Malcolm has “talked” about a lot of things but to date, little has changed. He signed a contract with the Nats that he will never introduce a price on carbon so the ‘wait and see’ idea doesn’t look good. There is criticism today again about the secrecy surrounding the ERF auction so the madness continues.
On tertiary fee deregulation, they only agreed to not start it next year because the unis had to know one way or the other. They are still talking about 2017.
I started to go through Stewart’s comment but my response was turning into an essay that all of you already know and he, I suspect, would not be interested in listening to.
Thanks Kaye. I apparently got a couple (arguably) wrong, but I as sure as hell got a lot right.
Malcolm may live up to expectations but all he has done so far is change the window dressing. He had to make a lot of promises to the right wing faction (not that they have one) so, unless we get rid of them at the next election, he will continue to be hamstrung.
For pity’s (and sanity’s) sake, could we pleeease get rid of that fool George Christensen. And could the supposed West Australian ‘scientists’ who are calling for an inquiry into anthropogenic global warming be sent back to school. I am hoping that Kevin Andrews and Eric Abetz will go soon but we will have to shove Bernardi and Fierravanti-Wells out the door kicking and screaming if we ever want to become a secular state again. Why are religious people so anti-science? Connie is still saying that C02 is plant food. Perhaps she thinks that will benefit the vegetables like Dutton who occupy the Front Bench.
Stewart, I am interested as to the ‘basis’ for your voting behaviour. Is it the ‘image’ of the leader? Is it the ‘policies’ on offer? Is it your ‘class’ location? Are you influenced by their ‘histories’? About which classes they ‘punish’ or ‘reward’? Or is ‘class’ irrelevant? Or perhaps not a valid concept? Is Australia a ‘classless’ society?
Am interested. Seems to me that you put some work into your posts and it would be a pity to stop at that. Have a conversation.
Will be interesting to see if the charm offensive works in Paris. PM meets Obama, along with Merkle before that? Wonder what the body language will tell us.
As much as I have little time for the present PM, it is nice to see him mixing with people. Something that Abbott was never game to do in his six or more years asw leader
On housing affordability:
Labor’s plan is to run scared, like they do on any issue that even remotely smacks of the possibility of socialistic market manipulation or control, and the housing affordability crisis in this country demands exactly that – doesn’t it? Meh, maybe it doesn’t.
They at least have tried to discuss things: http://www.alp.org.au/housing_affordability