Showing posts with label parliament. Show all posts
Showing posts with label parliament. Show all posts

Malcolm Fraser Has Died

Today is a sad day for Australia. A past prime minister Malcolm Fraser has died aged 84. He was the last of the true Liberal prime ministers. He resigned from the Liberal Party five years ago because, he said, there were no true liberals in positions of authority in the party today. It is now a conservative party and there is no place for himself in it.
Malcolm Fraser dies
Malcolm in 1982
He has condemned the current government's policy of "turn the boats back" as racist.  All his life he was a strong supporter of multiculturalism in Australia.  He said look around you and people from all cultures live here.  This cannot be changed.  The policy of closing the door to true refugees is an anachronism.

Even John Howard was center right. He was never a liberal. When the Coalition gets into government it does the same thing every time - take from the poor and give to the rich, a conservative right wing policy. That is the reason for current problems in Government. The budgets are just too far to the right for senators to pass.

Malcolm Fraser did mend his falling out with Gough Whitlam over the "Dismissal". This is something that Prime Minister Tony Abbott will never do with his critics in the Labor Party and independents in the Senate. A video of Tony Abbott in the House of Representatives shows him shouldering aside Bill Shorten leader of the Australian Labor Party.

Tony Abbott is hanging onto power by being selfish, not stepping down when he knows the great majority of Australians hate him. Malcolm Turnbull seems to be a true liberal waiting in the wings. Tony Abbott's reign will be just a hiccup, a glitch, in history, a time of failures. No doubt the policy on boats will change with future governments.
Politics by Ty Buchanan
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Dictator Abbott?

By bringing back Dames and Knights is Abbott acting like Putin. The comparison can be made. Neither consulted his immediate political advisors before they acted. This is reminiscent of Kevin Rudd before he was shown the door. It could also be said about John Howard before he ignominiously lost his safe Liberal seat when he lost his last election.

Total power totally corrupts and Tony Abbott is acting as if he holds all the power. Of course, the Senate is controlled by Labor, the Greens and Independents at the moment, so he cannot do everything he wishes. It also seems certain that he will not fully control the Senate when the newly elected Senators take their seats. The worry is the leader and cabinet can do many things that do not have to be reviewed by the Senate. That is why they call it the executive. Leaders of some countries have even gone to war when this power has not been given to them in the constitution.

The "knee jerk" behavior of a leader is worrying. One wonders what will be coming next - a ban on gay celebrations? Cabinet is already planning to allow racial abuse by striking out legislation. While Coalition politicians argue that they are making things better, their arguments are on sandy ground. Instead of consistent laws they are making some legislation incompatible with other legislation. The High Court will get even more work to settle arguments over racial vilification.

Let's face it people do not like a dictatorial leader. Consultation with cabinet is expected in a democracy. There are worrying signs across the world of democracy being watered-down. Leaders are seemingly doing just as they please. However, there could be a price to pay. For example, will Putin win the next election if Russia goes into recession due to his shocking behavior?
Politics by Ty Buchanan
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No Freedom in Federal Politics

It seems very odd and even selfish for a leader to prevent a conscience vote just to get his own way. This is the only conclusion that can be reached when Tony Abbott, an ardent Catholic, will not give members of the Liberal Party freedom to vote as they like on same-sex marriages. It is common knowledge that the majority of the Coalition would vote to support it if freedom was given. Julia Gillard was just as bad when she was Prime Minister and would not allow the Labor party a conscience vote.

Australia is too conservative for the rest of the world on same-sex marriage. We have been left behind. Liberal senator Cory Bernardi is one of the "dictators". He says, there is "no room for a personal view". These fossils are living in 18th century mode. The whole world is going down the road of more freedom.

This issue will not go away. Private members' bills will continually be resubmitted, until rationality ultimately wins. Tanya Plibersek could ask Liberal Malcolm Turnbull to co-sponsor her proposal.

In a democracy as Australia claims to be, there is no democracy within political parties whose members are put there by the people. Politicians know if the issue was put to a referendum same-sex marriage would be passed. Though it is a peculiarity of Australians that they usually vote "No" to any referendum, this case is different. It is also time again for a referendum to make the Northern Territory a state, so the High Court would find it more difficult to overrule its laws.
Politics by Ty Buchanan
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Gender Equality in Australia Is Not on Mate!

The main problem with our Prime Minister is her gender. Australia still remains an "ocker" society where males see themselves as superior. Just how John Howard would have behaved in opposition to Julia Gillard is anyone's guess, because he epitomizes the Aussie male. Most lie in the center politically.

Australia's cultural heritage has left us with a very odd political system. There is a Coalition of a so called centrist party and a right wing party derived from pastoralists. Even in the centrist Liberal Party there are ultra-conservatives, mainly as they have nowhere else to go.

Labor is accused of being splintered into factions, but the Coalition is truly split between centrists and rightists. To put it bluntly they hate each other just as much as Labor factions. Some parliamentarians have left the National Party claiming that their rightist and in some cases center (tariff protection) policies are totally ignored by members of the Liberal Party. This is the main reason we have a Labor government. Two disaffected Nationals, now independents, joined with Labor to create the governing temporary coalition.

Getting back to gender problems, Joe Hockey, shadow treasurer, recently said about Julia Gillard that she “has never deserved respect and will never receive it.” This is arrogant. Even when John Howard ruled with an iron fist, he was respected by Labor politicians. Unfortunately, the present leader of the Coalition, Tony Abbott, tends to blatantly ignore Julia Gillard in parliament, sometimes not even responding.

Of course, he knows that he can behave this way. He has the next election in the bag. As a Labor politician said years ago: even a drover's dog could win.

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Conservation
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