Hi Producer,

I was a little over simplistic about monitory governments. We often forget that the Coalition is just that, a coalition between 2 parties. The "dominant" Liberal Party and the "subservient" National Party which without checking scores around 6% of the vote, but fortunately for them their supporters are concentrated in a small number of seats and thus they win a disproportionate number, including a swag in Queensland with the Liberals. The reliance on a 2nd party has lead to the Nationals, once known as The Country Party, having far more influence in government than they deserve. Their old time leader John 'Blackjack' McEwan going as far as vetoing the election of Billy 'Big Ears' McMahon as PM.

It is amusing to read Greens supporters holding forth in this thread. Of all of the political interests in Australia the Greens would have to be the very last to be concerned about seniors.

The only times the Greens Party seems to give any attention to the aged is to demand a return of death duty, to demand that the old be tipped out of their homes to make way for younger generation and to promote euthanasia of course.

With the Greens as sidekicks in the Gillard Labor government the kites were flown on all of the aforementioned and especially the elderly being required to sell their family home to pay for their aged care. Rather than lead lives of self-disciplined conservation and saving the old would have been better off having enjoyed themselves and squandered it all. Or so it seems.

Producer, what the hell does the *ethnic group* Australians being White have to do with “Terra Nullius”?

Whether Aborigines (who are not the *ethnic group* Australians) "owned" their land or not has nothing to do with the FACT that a distinct "people" developed here over the last few centuries with their own culture, a native offshoot/revision/evolution of British/European culture.
Those people are White.

Paul1405 "Didn't Jesse Owens disproved that for you in 1936, and The Fuhrer marched out of the stadium?"

Wrong on both counts.
One exceptional individual doesn't negate the general tendencies of "populations" as reflected in GDP-per-capita and HDI.

Running really fast doesn't exactly improve the GDP, does it?

The scene with Hitler is a deceptive edit used in anti-Nazi propaganda.
In the original Riefenstahl footage, he applauds.

Owens, along with all other winners, was invited to a reception at the Reich Chancellery, where Hitler shook his hand.

I bet you still believe in the skin lampshades.

American Blacks have 30% European DNA anyway, so I wouldn't be at all surprised if they excelled at some things.

"You forgot to tell that to the likes of Galmahra or Truganini."

Again (exasperated sigh), before British settlement there were no "Australians".
The term and concept/identity didn't exist.

There were many peoples, all with their own tribal names.
I'm not discussing them.

Yes, One Nation still exists and its vote have been diluted to the same extent as its policies.
They should be called One Nation Lite.
I didn't vote for them in 1998. I was still among the brainwashed sheeple then.

"Even when one side proposes minor changes, like a tax for example, it is met with strenuous opposition."

Precisely because of the two-party model.
Opposing for the sake of opposing.

A proportional system would encourage genuine debate and negotiation.
That would become the norm, not this Salt/Pepper posturing.

Now can either of you actually address my comments about our (that's "Australians" the White ethnic group, not Aborigines or naturalised aliens) right to exist and perpetuate our bio-cultural distinctiveness.

Or is stealth genocide acceptable in your "noble" philosophy?

Paul1405 – Simples good, more understand and there’s less noise.

For the record the makeup of the coalition is:

Liberal - 30.02%
LNP – 9.92%
The Nationals – 4.29%
Country Liberals - 0.32%
Giving them a total of 45.55% (a minority)

The minor parties of the coalition only have a disproportionate amount of power in the parliament because of the current preferential system is open to manipulation and rorting. It’s great for the major parties when it’s in their favour. When it isn’t such as the situation with the senate election they have a big grizzle. They want their cake and eat it to.

Anyway I said earlier: The green team would have the most to gain from a proportional system as it would have 13 seats in the House of Representatives. For the greens to support the current preferential system not only fails Australians, democracy but the green party itself.

I wouldn’t mind an insight on the green logic on this. The party did receive 8.65% of the vote and have only one representative.

Thanks for the enlightenment Shocker! So poor Adolf was just misunderstood.
"Owens, along with all other winners, was invited to a reception at the Reich Chancellery, where Hitler shook his hand."
He very well couldn't invite them to the Reichstag, in a fit of democratic zeal Adolf had the joint burnt down.
"I bet you still believe in the skin lampshades" sure do.

Beach, The Greens are a party of compassion towards our old folk. However in your case we could make an exception if you really insists.
In one post you will say Gillard said The Greens were the bad guys, and in the next post you say Gillard is a Fabian and you can't believe a word any Fabian says. You can't have it both ways.

Why all the huff and puff about what Christine Milne thought of Martin Ferguson, the bloke was a sell out, all for his own personal gain. Read about him, an opportunist is ever there was one. The bloke went as far as backing Abbott's 'Work Choices'.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-10-07/milne-ferguson-lobbying-code/4997304

Paul1405,

If only the Greens had given the aged a fraction of the support they gave to activism on gays and whales, huh?

The Greens leader stands convicted by her own words for trashing people as past it when they reach 60 or near enough. That doesn't apply to her though.

Now you admit that the very person Milne was bucketing as old and past it won a plum, responsible position on his own merit.

The Greens are just a protest party, for whom anything goes for a mean headline. It will be a very blue moon before the Greens give a hoot about the old.