Katieo8,

While I think we're both on the same wavelength politically, calling people morons and losers is probably guaranteed at some stage to get your posts deleted on this forum.

(Just so you know:)

And Katie, getting deleted also gets you an automatic suspension from the forum for 7 days. No fun, I assure you. (Been there, done that.)

(Also, just so you know.)

Mind you, I think your views on the Libs are a trifle radical, and I can't imagine where or why you would have formed such a harsh opinion of them. Didn't like WorkChoices or individual or workplace agreements, I gather. A pet gripe? Some history there?

Just wondering.

Poirot, thanks for the correction, but I cannot help if the Labour
Party also cannot spell.

Don't worry about Katie, if she can start out calling me a moron think
what she will end up calling me later on.
She will probably join her idol and call me misogynist.

Thank you for your response, Saltpetre and Poirot. There have been times when I have not voted for Labor and have, on occasion, voted for the (now defunct) Australia Party. However, I refuse to ever vote Liberal because the ethos and ultra right-wing conservatism of the Liberal Party goes against everything I believe in and caters to the top 1% of earners who couldn't give a rat's behind about others, eg the Gina Rineharts of this world. The Liberal Party have a long history of privatisation of all our assets (which, I grant you, has also been adopted by some disappointing Labor State Governments), cut backs to vital services (health, education and transport); the ongoing leg-up to the big business end of town to the detriment of the working class; the dismantlement of workplace conditions that have been fought by Labor backed Unions over so many years eg equality in the workplace; equal pay for women; workers'compensation; aboriginal rights. From this comment, you may assume that I am from the working classes but you are wrong .. my husband and I are in the top 1% of earners in the country (in excess of $300K per annum), however, my family and I have always had a very strong social conscious and I believe people as fortunate as us have a responsiblity to assist those less fortunate. This used to be the Australian way. Now, it seems, that mean-spiritness is the order of the day and, sadly, the right wing factions of the Labor Party are just as selfish. Whilst there are certainly elements of the current Labor Party that need improvement, I believe that generally the ordinary people of Australia are better off under their leadership. Mistakes have been made but when Abbott hikes up the GST to 15% and introduces a slam dunk with Workplace Agreements, this is going to cause great hardship to many people who do not have the education, language skills or confidence to negotiate their workplace conditions.

Katie08,

You would have applauded the swinging voters who looked dispassionately at the Howard government's record and chose to change their vote accordingly. That is the rational and reasonable thing to do, cast a ballot on performance.

However you yourself are limited by family history and world views that were formed a long time ago and may not be applicable at all to modern times and recent events. So you have restricted your democratic choices to following habit and feeling disregarded and dissatisfied, not voting at all and lying to the Electoral Office to avoid a fine, or spoiling your vote. All are 'loser' choices to use the vernacular.

While urgers here will (wrongly) encourage you to disenfranchise yourself by not taking full advantage of all of your choices, that makes it simple and cut and dried for those sneaky lobbyists and noisy interests to influence policy instead (instead of you!). There are influences who would much prefer that citizens do not exercise their full rights. They win. That seems to be happening a lot with the present administration in Canberra.

Katie,

I am perplexed by your harsh assessment of Lib/Nat motivations and principles. In my view there are pros and cons on both, or on all, sides of politics, and I am a moderate, a centrist, believing in balance of aspirations, and moderation in all things. Too far one way or the other is, in my view, detrimental to long term best interests of the nation and the populace as a whole.

>.. the Liberal Party goes against everything I believe in and caters to the top 1% of earners who couldn't give a rat's behind about others, eg the Gina Rineharts of this world.<

The problem I have with this statement is not with your conviction, but that it ignores the great bulk of those actually 'represented' by the Liberal, the right, or centre-right ideology and philosophy, the mass of small and medium businesses, many of the self-employed, and the rural/farming sector. The 1% are only a miniscule component.

There are exceptions to every rule, and though Individual Workplace agreements may have caused problems for some, for other workers, in mining for example, it was a breath of fresh air, an escape from the Union stranglehold which fights to put everyone in the same basket, treat all as the same, equal in capability and ethic, and therefore worth. The Union view has its limitations, for all are not equal, not easily 'boxed'.

Another aspect of WorkChoices was to give small business some greater, and needed, flexibility in staffing, hiring and firing. Now, we know some employers went beyond the bounds of the actual legislation, and adopted some distinctly unfair practices. They were ultimately reined in, and the staff compensated with damages. However, that stain tended to colour the whole of WorkChoices as 'geared' to the employer side. This ignored the very real benefits in employment opportunity and flexibility to very many workers, particularly those wanting casual and part-time employment. The Union's focus on fulltime, permanent and long term security worked to the disadvantage of many workers and many small businesses. (TBC>)