Australia, Good and Bad

Post Reply New Topic

Is PM Kevin Rudd's last name pronounced rUHdd or rOOdd? Also, has he done anything yet about job security?

Ruhdd.

Dunno.

He's on the homelessness pulpit at the moment.

I heard that the Liberals are conservative in Australia, is that so?

I lived in Melbourne for about a year back when I was 9-10. Being a New Zealander (and being on the spectrum) made school especially difficult socially, as we have our rivalries.

I was fascinated by the transportation systems (seems to be an Aspie trait), in both Mebourne (trams, etc.) and Sydney (Monorail!!). I can even lay claim to have ridden the 4D train in Melbourne and the Puffing Billy.

sort of.

we have 2 main political parties, Labor (Kevin Rudd PM) which historically was trade union based and the Liberal Party (formerly Howard) which looks more to business for fundraising support, but both parties are very similar in policies.

Like choosing between Tweedle-dee and tweedle-dum (or a turd sandwich and a giant douche) but at least we got rid of that lying bastard Howard.

We differentiate liberals (as you know them) by calling them "small l liberals" as opposed to the more conservative (capital L) Liberal Party

However I will go out on a limb and say our Liberal Party is more similar to your Democrats than your Republicans.

Do you have any parties which generally hold moral values commonly held by morally conservative Christians?

Isn't the Labor party more morally liberal than the Liberal party?

LOL! That picture is funny.

Yes.

The Christian (in name) party is called "Family First". It's pretty small I think, only been around a few years. I think Australian politics differs from American in that our culture isn't saturated with religion in the way the US is. I think because the US was settled/founded by religious exiles it's become part of the social fabric there, whereas ours was a penal colony. We have 'preferential' voting here which means if you vote for a minority party, they can shift their votes to any other party of their choice. So really politicians have two votes here whereas the electorate only has one.

The Rev. Fred Nile is the leader of the Call to Australia Party has a couple of members of parliament in the NSW State Parliament. Outside NSW they may get about 2% of the vote and are not taken seriously. Here in Victoria Fred Nile gets some publicity when he tries to get the Sydney gay & lesbian mardi-gras banned. The vast majority of Australians I believe think that Fred Nile is a whacko.

The "Family First" party get a higher vote and has a couple of senators in the Commonwealth parliament. I think they are secular (no particular religion) but want government to put more focus on assistance to families and family values.

Most Labor party MP's are former school teachers or labor union officials. Liberal party MP's I believe have a more diverse background and are more likely to have their own opinions, (but John Howard wouldn't let them).

You appear to not like ex-PM John Howard. Aside from him, what has the Liberal party been like, what do they do, what issues do they support and which are they against, etcetera?

The Liberal Party was formed c1946 by Robert Menzies as a break away (?) from the United Australia Party (now defunct). The United Australia Party came out the the Nationalist Party c1930 (?) which was (if I remember right) very much in favour of free and unrestricted international trade, whereas the Labor Party was for import tarrifs, quotas etc to protect Australian industry/jobs etc.

Menzies is reveared saint-like in the Liberal Party. He was very much a monarchist (famous for saying in relation to Queen Elizabeth, "I saw her but passing by, yet I will love her 'till I die" (or something like that) and was very much an anti-communist. He had anti communist legislation he tried to get thru parliament but was defeated in the senate on libertarian grounds. Menzies committed Australia to Vietnam to support America (we were responsible for Phuc Tuy provence) and also established joint military bases in Australia that were part of the Omega network to show support for the military alliance. Doesn't matter what the cause is, if America is for it, we will support it. That type of attitude is still inherent in the Liberal Party, but less so (e.g. John Howard committing soldiers and a navy ship in token support for Bush's war in Iraq).

As for John Hopward, he is a liar. There was a web site www.johnhowardlies.com.au but this has gone with him. When asked about broken political promises, John Howard said he had "core and non-core promises" and that non-core promises didn't matter. But we would not say what he thought were "core promises". He also said he would "never ever bring in a Goods and Services Tax". Guess what, we have a goods and services tax. He would say and do anything to get re-elected.

I don't know that there's a huge difference between Labor and Liberal - prior to becoming a welfare state there was a significant difference, but with the rise of the middle class as the biggest voting block, both parties have to appeal to 'middle Australia' so they end up with very similar policies.

Historically Labor was the party of the lower/working classes, blue collar or poor people, unions etc and Liberal was the 'tory' party, the party of the ruling classes, big business etc. Those differences still exist a little bit, but as I said, with them both having to appeal to a middle class voter, they have become very same-y. I think it's similar in British politics.

I guess my opinions don't count.

it is funny. Any brown snakes are dangerous.

What's the internet services like where you are (country SA isn't it?)?

God, don't get me started on internet connections... Nanna's connection is horrible. They don't let her have unlimited downloads, so I can't download anything, because if I do, the internet slows down. She used to be with Bridgeonline, but they got bought from Internode, which sucks.