Part 2 in the quintology: Aborigines and Foreign Affairs
Today comes Part 2 of my list to vote Howard out. Today, the portfolios of Aborigines and Foreign Affairs. So today we’re dealing with Amanda Vanstone and Alexander Downer as well as little Johnny.
Aborigines
18a. Abolished ATSIC
18b. Replaced ATSIC with an unelected, unrepresentative board of “dignified” (read “wear suits and act like whitefellers”) yes men who will act in a purely advisory role (read “the Aboriginal people will be ignored”). The real Australians’ only representation to Howard is a bunch of well-paid people who will tell Howard whatever he wants to hear or risk not being listened to.
19. Returned Australia to assimilation policies under the name “practical reconciliation”. In other words, throw money at em and hope they become like whitefellers.
20. Comment by one Coalition Parliamentarian that the Aboriginal people were an inferior race. That helped a lot!
21. ignored the Bringing them Home Report and the Aboriginal Deaths in custody report, leading to the continuation of huge suicide rates and abuse problems
22. Had the world-renowned Aboriginal Tent embassy ripped down, which was an affront to free speech as it was the only way the Aborigines had of making sure they weren’t ignored by the Coalition. This symbol had been on the lawns of Parliament House for a quarter of a century, and tearing it down shows Howard’s general contempt for the Aboriginal people.
23. General inaction, relegation of the issue of reconciliation, and near complete inaction.
24. Refused to say Sorry to the stolen generations, unlike millions of Australians who actually have a heart that beats.
25. Health for Aboriginal children has gotten even worse under Howard
Foreign Affairs (possibly the Liberals’ biggest weakness)26. Reduced our diplomatic representation in Asia so that our relations with our own potentially lucrative region have been undermined. We need representatives to reassure our neighbours and maintain relations.
27. Created a lot of tension with our neighbours by failing to consult with Indonesia (and possibly others) before announcing Australia’s plans to buy long-range air-to-surface missiles. This has been seen as a hostile act by Indonesia’s foreign ministry. What’s more, Downer lied that he had consulted with Indonesia.
28. JH upset our Asian neighbours to the extreme when he called Australia the US’s Deputy Sheriff in the region. Aligning ourselves with the US this strongly undermines our relations with Asia.
29. JH commented that if we suspected a terrorist action in an Asian country that we would launch a pre-emptive strike!!! Way to make Asia nervous, unwilling to trust us and angry at us!
30. The best way to prevent instability and attacks in the region is to maintain good diplomatic relations with the Asian nations. Howard has failed. Take a look at APEC photos. Howard was very comfortable talking with Bush, but hardly bothered talking with any of the Asians. APEC is a chance to strengthen ties and make connections. We need these ties because the US will always stick by us in dire straits, but the Asians are understandably not so easily inclined. Howard has almost no diplomatic relations with Asia.
31. haven’t addressed the lack of spare parts for Defence vehicles (potentially fatal)
32. despite the oh-so-altruistic concern they demonstrated in Iraq, they have done nothing to stop Sudan Government-sanctioned ethnic cleansing.
33. done nothing to lobby the UN to act on Mugabe.
34. has tried to prevent the much poorer East Timor from receiving the money they deserve from sea oil situated between our two countries.
35. Alexander Downer should have been imprisoned for contempt of court when he commented on a huge imported illicit drug case that was in progress.
36. Talks between Australia and Indonesia and many other Asian nations has broken down. Not surprising given Howard’s anti-Asian comments of the 1980s.
37. Trumped up evidence about WMDs in Iraq and distorted figures about Saddam Hussein since GW1.
38. :> JH caused a diplomatic nightmare with Sri Lanka when he called the greatest bowler in cricket history a chucker. It was not JH’s place to comment and it was stupid of him to cause such a rift over such a trivial issue. Silly as it seems, Sri Lanka’s cricket-mad PM reacted angrily. As a result we will not get the chance to see Murali bowl in Australia when Sri Lanka visits.
39. Showed complete disrespect for the UN, deciding that Australia and the US matter more than the combined wisdom of all our other Allies.
40. taken to rolling over and letting America rub his tummy. ANZUS did not force us into the Iraq War. ANZUS requires us to consult with Washington if they are under attack. They weren’t under attack, they launched an invasion. Hawke’s Labor (esp. Beazley) showed how it is possible to keep a good relationship with the US without being all the way with LBJ/joining the push for Bush.
41. Diverted resources away from breaking up JI to conquer Iraq
Still not convinced? There’s more to come!