Mixed Ramblings about the past few days of the campaign
My good friend Rachel Williams wrote this to editors of broadsheet papers the other day and as she doesn't have a blog, I thought I'd post it here.
John Howard is certainly spending up big for the election. And I know these promises are genuine. I know this from past experience. John Howard said he would protect Australia's borders and not let in any of those queue-jumping refugees. You know, the ones that were shipped at a cost of millions of dollars to Nauru and the like. Now I hear most of those have been silently allowed to settle here. And he's also promised protection in case we are ever attacked by terrorists. So far all I've seen is a little frig magnet and this doesn't fill me with any real confidence. John Howard also said he was getting rid of provisional tax. But yesterday I got a bill from the tax office for what is essentially provisional tax (same tax, different name) - and I'm trying to survive on a disability pension. Thinking back a bit, there's my friend's grannie who had to sell her home to get into a nursing home...after John Howard promised an end to this pol icy. Honest John also promised me he would protect the economy so interest rates wouldn't rise. But it costs me a lot more to buy a home and everything else I do now, thanks to the GST. I remember when he was treasurer we finished with a $10 billion dollar overspend. Now with the rash of current election promises, I really worry about how big the overspend will be this time. Or will they all become non-core promises? It's a worry.
And from me:
John Howard says Pauline Hanson has no relevant policies for today’s political debate…but Family First does?! They can’t even get one seat in Parliament and already they’re going to be helping to create Liberal Party policy. Talk about pandering to a vocal minority!
Don't get me wrong. The Assemblies of God are all well and good as a religious practice. An...interesting interpretation of the Bible, but fine if they keep to themselves. But what ever happened to freedom of religion? Howard has already made several moves that attempt to enforce elements of right wing Christianity. Now it seems there will be more. That's fine for the right wing extreme Christians, but what about us heathens! Take pity on us now. You're about to spend your eternity in Heaven, the rest of us are about to go to Hell. We need to make the most of what we have here on Earth!
Before you vote for them, if any of you are considering it, may I suggest you check out their website. http://www.familyfirst.org.au/south_aus/policies.html
I've never seen more vague statements. Apparently they're in favour of health. And they're in favour of families. They reckon housing should be affordable. They even think education is a good idea. Come on! Even Hanson was clearer on the detail than this! And Hanson was less extreme.
And finally, the Democrats have been getting like petty little scrag fighters lately with their attacks on the Greens and then choosing to place the Greens below the aforementioned right wing extremists in their preferences. Andrew Bartlett says "you have to work with Government". And that is precisely why many people are deserting the Democrats and moving to the Greens. Since Meg Lees, the Democrats have become no more than a rubber stamp for Howard. The party that used to be the most democratic party in Australia, with consultation with all its membership over many key issues, has now become the party that ignored 86% of their members who were opposed to the GST. If the Dems can bring back Natasha Spot Destroyer and get united behind her (that is, sack the current sitting members and get some other people from the membership who are true Democrats in) then the Dems may enjoy a resurgence. Bring back the ideals of Chipp, Coulter, Haines & Kernot.