The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Rudd’s real tests to come > Comments

Rudd’s real tests to come : Comments

By Stephen Chatelier, published 6/12/2007

Perhaps the lack of critique of Rudd’s policy was a result of the left wanting only the demise of Howard’s government.

  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. All
Perhaps Stephen is too young or has a selective historical memory but in the 1996 election campaign John Howard and the Liberals deliberately made much of the fact that they didnt have any real detailed policies in place.

So why the seeming outrage at the lack of examination or questioning of the policies of the Labour Party during the recent election campaign?

And lets remember too that Howard and co never ever mentioned their far reaching Work "choices" legislation in any election campaign. Why? Because they would never have been elected with such a policy.
Posted by Ho Hum, Thursday, 6 December 2007 9:10:06 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Stephen

This is a sad article. I wondered where your voice has been for the past decade.
Posted by FrankGol, Thursday, 6 December 2007 9:41:31 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
i almost feel sorry for this guy. he gives a good description of why simulated politics in a parliamentary state is boring, and leads to depression and passivity.

but it's the only game in town if you want to pretend to be a citizen. best to get a hobby where input gets results. i recommend gardening.
Posted by DEMOS, Thursday, 6 December 2007 10:19:16 AM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
“No, I found it tough because there was nothing that inspired me to vote.”

I can certainly empathise with your feeling of emptiness and loss, Stephen. I did not, if fact, cast a formal vote in the lower house, and stuck with the Senate. Not voting is a powerful tool, if only more people would use it.

Normally a Liberal voter, I decided that Tweedledum and Tweedledee had really come to town, and my sitting member (Liberal) is a real dropkick, anyway.

You are totally correct. The campaign was a most boring and insincere exercise in blatant vote-buying, sans policies. The frenzy of the balloteers and media was the most disgusting and irritating that I can remember, and John Howard – until now the best PM since Menzies - really blew it.

Ideally, I would have liked the Coalition returned, with them then moving back to the right where they belong. However, I can live with the ALP – for not too long, I hope – and am, actually, looking forward to the stuff-ups and disillusionment of the ‘true believers’.

Judging from you comments on the ‘sorry’ nonsense and Kyoto, we are opposites; but I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to read your article which makes sense, irrespective of the beliefs of the reader – if the reader has the sense, that is.
Posted by Leigh, Thursday, 6 December 2007 10:19:28 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The amount of handwringing and whining about how bland the conduct of this most recent election has and continues to amaze me.

What did everyone expect?

Brazen and outspoken policies? Speeches that challenge us and make us think about where we are and where we'd like to go?

Not in Australia- not anymore anyway.

Face it- Australians are VERY conservative voters. With most media heavily invested in the conservative point of view by virtue of their owners personal interests and the natural inertia inherent in our reluctance to change government, then Labor was ALWAYS going to run a 'nothing controversial' campaign.

Aside from that, there seems to be a large amount of agreement in the community about the correct way to run the country. The time, we are told, or great divisions in the ideology of running nations is over.

Market/democracy is the winner, end of story. Fukuyama's 'The End of History' said so.

The only places left in the world where fiery orators proclaim and declaim great changes to social fabrics is in developing nations like Bolivia and Venezuela. The rest of us are stuck with the same broad policies from both sides. The major differences are limited to whether or not the 'winning' ideology has room for social justice or is it just a robotic juggernaut crushing everything else in the name of 'efficiency'.

Yes, Rudd may eventually turn out to an inspiring visionary. Or he might turn out to be a cold clone of Howard. Either way, we are never going to see it in our elections because, as a nation, we won't allow it.

Don't blame the pollies for being who we allow them to be. To change them we need to change ourselves. Let THAT be where we ask the hard questions!
Posted by mylakhrion, Thursday, 6 December 2007 10:24:23 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
The author got one thing right - many people voted against Howard rather than for Rudd. In my case I would have voted for Ghengis Khan if by doing so I helped get rid of that odious little man who reduced our once proud workforce to beggerly status, allowed children to rot in tropical hell-holes, yoked our foreign policy to that developed by the by the American neo-conserative right, put no meaningful government funded projects into force in his eleven years of rule, pandered at every opportunity using taxpayer money to the bible-bashing nut case fringe, and made Australia an international joke with his idiotic antics on the world stage. The man could not even walk ten steps without falling over. One more look at those skinny knees and I would have thrown up.
Posted by GYM-FISH, Thursday, 6 December 2007 11:10:26 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. Page 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy