Home » Posts tagged 'Howard Government'
Tag Archives: Howard Government
Hilarious genuine Green party production..
This little clip just has to qualify as comedy gold, watch in awe as these three Greens prove how stupid and naive the party is on this issue and how the patronise the public in their attempt to paint all asylum seekers as noble victims of circumstance. Sorry to say that this is not a parody or something made to mock, its a genuine Green party production..
Hilarious Comrades
Related articles
- Cruel to kind in the right measure (iainhall.wordpress.com)
- Nauru described as cruel and degrading (bigpondnews.com)
- Asylum seeker debate hits ‘new low’ (abc.net.au)
Gillard’s “Climatechoices” begins today
Well July 1 has dawned and of course the sky has not fallen in with beginning of Gillard’s Carbon tax regime but rather than marking the beginning of something good for Labor what it really means is that Labor have jumped into the political waters with a huge weight around their necks and while they may furiously paddle their arms, legs and mouths defending this new tax regime I am absolutely certain that that weight is going to drag them down sooner rather than later.
I am reminded of the way that Liberal supporters tried to defend the greatly unloved “Workchoices” they put up a valiant defence and even though some of the ideas of that scheme had merit it had enough downsides for it to never get the unequivocal endorsement of the public. In the end despite being an otherwise competent government it was Workchoices that did for John Howard’s government. With The Carbon tax Labor have created their own electoral suicide pill.
Of course there are some aspects of the mish-mash of changes that Labor have disingenuously rolled into the Carbon tax bills, like raising the tax free threshold which is something long overdue but I don’t think that they will be sweetening the political cyanide enough to save this country’s oldest political party from oblivion at the next election. As I see it after their resounding defeat at the next election it won’t be homosexuality that will be “the love that dare not speak its name” it will be any mention of the Carbon tax. The few Labor members that remain will all insist that they always had reservations or that they only ever supported it because they had to in the name of party solidarity. Some will blame the Greens and the new leader of the opposition may even insist that it is “dead buried and cremated“.
Like the Howard government did with Workchoices Labor have over reached here with this tax especially in the light of the “there will be no Carbon Tax under a government that I lead” lie form Gillard prior to the last election. The sad thing is it was an entirely unnecessary back-flip because had she insisted when seeking the support of the Greens and independents that a Carbon tax needed the mandate of the people at the next election then she would have started off in a far better place.
Ah well, she is now reaping what was sown and we will see a flurry of hype from both sides of politics either denouncing or defending the Carbon tax. The true believers on both sides have already made up their minds and they will switch off to some extent but the swinging voters who hold the nation’s future in their hands are going to be convinced that the Carbon tax is evil every time they see prices rise, even if those rises are due to something else. which is precisely why Labor will be the losers in the long run
Cheers Comrades
Related articles
Bad idea to change the constitution if that change is ultimately divisive
- Joy … a Wiradjuri woman, Denise Markham, is comforted by the Indigenous Affairs Minister, Jenny Macklin, and Julia Gillard after the report was handed down. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen Read more: click for a typical Fairfax opinion on this report
There is something almost Orwellian in the recommendation from the expert committee that is suggesting a change change to “recognise” indigenous people in the constitution and to be honest it seems to me to be a great big can of worms that will divide more than it unites the people of this country.
Just look at the main proposals as described in today’s Oz:
- click for source (not paywalled)
Just look at what is being proposed in section 116A and think about it for a minute that is almost a perfect example of doublethink, If you want to eliminate discrimination then you have to ensure that all Australians are treated precisely the same under the law yet this proposal would allow anyone who claims to be indigenous to enjoy privileges and “affirmative” programs that would be denied to those who do not identify as indigenous, something that is already contentious in our society.
Then there is the matter of “recognition of languages”. long time readers of this blog may recall the debates that I have had about the teaching of and attempts to preserve the dying indigenous languages and I can’t help[ thinking that making the preservation of these fading tongues a constitutional requirement will just condemn subsequent generations of children growing up in the most remote and isolated communities in the country to a life sentence of isolation and exclusion from the mainstream society because with out total competency in English as the primary focus of schooling what chance do those children have of making a future in this country?
Frankly I tend to agree with Warren Mundine that the committee has exceeded its remit here and that this whole thing will be an absolute disaster if the Greens were to have their dream fulfilled. My view is that we are all Australians and that despite the history of this nation we have to have a constitution that treats all present Australians equally and anything that entrenches “affirmative action” into the constitution is bound to do more harm that good.
Finally I just can’t be sanguine about the idea of any change to the constitution generating lots of work for the minions of the legal profession in the shape of high court challenges. There are enough legal cases brought by indigenous activists as it is without giving them the means to pursue even more expensive court action that does nothing for the country overall except blow out the budget.
Cheers Comrades
Iain Hall's SANDPIT 