Dear Belly,

What you say may well be true. It is possible that most Australians hate, despise and don't want the Greens.

That is not an argument against the Greens or their policies.

Australia used to have a white Australia policy hating and fearing people of other races and other ethnicities.

The opinion of most Australians in my opinion was wrong then, and I think the opinion of most Australians regarding the Greens is wrong now.

I think both Labor and the Coalition are bankrupt parties whose main object is to get, keep and retain power. However, most Australians are used to voting for one or the other so the two bankrupt parties will probably continue to get, keep and retain power.

Come on guys, we do not have one left wing political entity left in Australia. If there was even one politicion who made any pretense of such they would be fighting tooth and nail to overthrow the neo-liberal free market domination of our country. Make no mistake we are being screwed on the one hand by capitalist profit making from our resource sector and on the other by flooding our retail sector with cheaply sourced imported product. Political points scoring in this country will make no change to this fundamental fact. Good luck and wake up Australia.
Den71

I find those three post extremely interesting.
My long time opponent SM, you continue to baffle me.
I dislike your one eyed views but have always considered your understanding a bit above some others.
Davidf is a nice bloke letting his heart rule his head.
DEN? not sure yet.
SM however did you want that thought to represent you?
Greens,and we both know it, are 50% Labor refugees, the senate votes has been solid but lower house always comes back to Labor.
It is an undeniable truth,Lib /Lab leaders are unwanted.
And that this boat people thing is driving us both down, how long can Abbott refuse to even talk about a solution?
BUT greens could first day of sitting, pass a bill, they kill them selves by not doing it.
We will, again, do the work your party should do, get rid of the clowns.
We must! or like Abbott abandon forever the thought politics is about the people.

SM, you say:
"I do consider myself conservative but far from right wing as I do not associate with any of the nationalist tendencies. I favoring equal rights and responsibilities for individuals. I prefer small government that provides regulation to guide rather to control, fiscal conservatism, rather than the free spending of the left. etc. The socialist policies that the greens espouse have been an abject failure in Europe, and are largely responsible for the troubles they are having now."
As I don't know you, only from your posts, what you say above does not surprise me what so ever. I don't know your age or what life experiences you have had. As a political activist I get to meet lots of different people and I come across many Liberals who when it comes to social justice issues are quite radical, please don't confuse radical in this context with extremism. However on economic issues they are rather conservative. This group are mostly young, well educated and in a good income career, living a middle class life, mostly in well to do apartments with a mortgage or high rent.
I come across lots of Labor voters who we call 'rusted on', they tend to be older, less educated, blue collar, in skilled or semi skilled employment, relatively financially secure people, living in their own home without a mortgage, who on social justice issues are very conservative. An example of a a social justice issue is gay marriage, which gets far more support from progressive Liberals than it will ever get from conservative Labor.

Dear Belly,

You have charcterised me as a nice bloke whose heart rules his head. However, I think the notion that such a thing as sustainable growth can be continued is an example of not using one's head at all.

When I go to a Green meeting I meet a lot of people who are as nice blokes as I am. I don't think I am an especially nice bloke, but I won't deny your characterisation. You have remarked that most Australians hate and despise the Greens. There must be something wrong if people hate and despise a bunch of nice blokes.

Certainly the Greens make mistakes and are sometimes wrong.

However, what of Labor and the Coalition? Australia is supposed to be a representative democracy. Labor and Coalition members do not represent their constituents. They vote as the party room tells them ignoring the wishes of their constituents, their conscience and the good of Australia and the world. You have called us a party of mad dreams and unachievable thoughts. Perhaps it is a mad dream that members should stop ignoring the wishes of their constituents, their conscience and the good of Australia and the world. Nevertheless I have that mad dream and try to be a nice bloke.

Belly,

As far as the asylum seeker policy is concerned w.r.t human rights, the difference between on shore processing and off shore processing is the access to Australian courts where virtually no one is refused. A camp in Nauru is not significantly different from Aus, where safe and comfortable accommodation is provided, with high quality health care, etc. Malaysia is another matter altogether. The UNHCR camps provide scant accommodation, little to no protection, sanitation, medical care, schooling etc. The camps are not guarded at all, because if the asylum seekers leave them, they are not allowed to work, and are beaten by non governmental militias.

Given that Juliar was the principle architect of Labor's policy of dismantling offshore processing because it was inhumane, the hypocrisy of the Malaysian solution is breathtaking. The coalition having very clearly made that point, cannot be party to the legislation proposed by Labor to completely strip asylum seekers of all rights.

On a purely practical side, the Malaysian solution is doomed to fail simply because the 800 quota (which Malaysia is disinclined to increase) is likely to be full in a couple of months. Labor's legislation would allow any government to send any one any where with no protection whatsoever, and when the Malaysian solution fails, there is nothing to stop Juliar implementing another loopy policy.

The coalition's position is that the previous policy that worked as little as 4 years ago of off shore processing in Nauru and TPVs are available today, and that irrespective of any decreased efficacy are infinitely better than what we have today. Juliar's refusal to compromise is based on hubris rather than the national interest.

As far as the greens are concerned, their policies are simplistic but have no regard for the consequences. They are like a likable drunkard, fun to be with, but under no circumstances should be allowed to drive.