The ALP was started to keep out the bosses and foreign workers, they started the white Australia policy to keep out foreign workers and they have no social conscience left at all.

Any party that thinks it can flog refugees off to other countries where they know they will be tortured is not much of a party.

Labour is indeed on the nose. Branch stacking and corruption have destroyed the credibility of the Labour movement. The list of corrupted labour politicians is scary. From Al Grasby to Rex Jackson, Orkopoulos, Ian Macdonald, Gibson, Palazano, Angela D’Amore, Tripodi etc the list is without end. The political system that allows this class of people to present themselves for election should be dead in the water.

It is the calibre of the people who are presented for election that is the core of our problem. It probably comes back to local branches and the types of people they chose for endorsement. There are too many lawyers in politics, I have argued in the past that we need to close the law faculties in our universities and put the effort into engineering and science. We do not need lawyers running our country, they are more successful at corruption and they can phase a denial to make it seem an agreement. Replace the civil libertarians with doers who are not afraid to make a few waves and upset the minority groups.

Well, blow me down, Siller, but I thought we HAD a PM who wasn't afraid to make unpopular decisions.

As for the other side, Mr Abbott has nothing to gloat about. In the past few days I saw an article where he was attacking Wayne Swan, saying that some of the cuts would be to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme. It seems he has forgotten that two days before the 2010 election, he stated a policy to do JUST THAT.

Now he's insinuating that someone else is going to do it. Funny that. The day after he made that claim, several items on the PBS were actually lowered in price.

It's good to someone sticking up for Labor, Benjamin, and I have to agree that considering the pressure on the party to follow a populist line, they've done admirably. They've got up the nose of the mining barons and exacted a modest tax--not bad considering their own constituency has deserted them--and they're trying to act on climate change when the fighting against their own demographic as much as against the conservatives. The only backing Labor has on the issue is from the educated Labor and Liberal demographic, but these pale in comparison with the hysteria from both sides over the economy. No one wants to believe the parties over--and I don't mean Labor.
But if "a serious period of self-reflection" is in order, it should be to reflect on Labor values. Labor ought to occupy the backbenches, for twenty years if necessary, and regrow the grass roots of dissent against the neoliberal machine that drives all ideology before it.
Labor should sit back and give the people what they think they want. The conservatives and libertarians don't need an opposition, give them all the rope they want.

Arjay,

You noted that

"This is all about a communist world Govt instigated by the UN backed Global Reserve Banks and the Green Movement.They already own and control Greece and Italy."

Gosh, they must think they've got a bargain with Greece and italy, don't you think ?

Cheers,

Joe